Artistic Leaders

Erik Rydvall

Ethno England is about young musicians, singers and dancers sharing their traditional music and dances with one another. To help this along, Ethno England bring together a team of some of the finest international folk musicians around, who can offer encouragement and guidance, as well as practical skills. These Artistic Leaders are in residence for the full duration of Ethno England.


2008 Artistic Leaders



N'faly Kouyaté  

N'faly Kouyaté (Guinea)

N'Faly Kouyate is a Guinean musician. He is a member of the Mandinka ethnic group of West Africa.
In 1994 N'Faly moved to Belgium and formed his ensemble Dunyakan (The Voice of the World). He has played the kora with the group Afro Celt Sound System since 1997.

Jo Freya

Jo Freya (England)

Jo is a multi-instrumentalist (saxophones,clarinets,whistles), singer and composer. Jo has played in some of the most influential bands in the development of English roots music e.g. Blowzabella, Scarp, Token Women and The Old Swan Band. Jo specialises in pan European music whilst having strong roots in the English tradition.

Kristian Bugge  

Kristian Bugge (Denmark)

Kristian has been playing fiddle since an early age and has met many young European musicians including the English/Finnish/Danish band Baltic Crossing. He has studied folk music at the Carl Nielsen Academy of Music in Odense, Denmark, and has had six months of lessons in traditional dance from Ami Petterson. In 2004 Kristian was the first muscian to receive the Radium Award). His debut album was nominated in four categories at The Danish Music Award - Folk 2006, in which Kristian received the awards as "Danish debut of the year" and "Danish Folk Instrumentalist of the year".

Past Artistic Leaders

2006 Artistic Leaders
Tim Van Eyken (England)
Jo Freya (England)
Shelton Sholla (Zimbabwe)
Jaswinder Singh (England)

2005 Artistic Leaders
Tim Van Eyken (England)
Erik Rydvall (Sweden)
Jo Freya (England)
Pieter Lenaerts (Belgium)
Guest tutor: Gary Hammond (The Beautiful South, England)

2004 Artistic Leaders
Tim Van Eyken (England)
James Fagan (Australia)
Erik Rydvall (Sweden)
Kristine Heeboll (Denmark)
Guest tutor: Nancy Kerr (England)
Tim Van Eyken

Jo Freya