Think local, folk global! Starling Sessions is a global folk community orchestra, exploring traditional music from around the world through the people of Oxford. Each member of the band brings a song with them to share and together we create a musical mosaic of Oxford. Like the common starling, which makes its home anywhere and has a knack for learning the songs of other birds around it, we learn to sing the songs that have made their home in Oxford.
We meet weekly to explore traditional music from around the world through the people of Oxford. Each week we invite a different member of the group to bring a song/tune to share with everyone. We work on arrangements and perform at community events every now and then.
Run in partnership with Tandem Collective.
Starling Sessions is funded by Oxfordshire Community Foundation, Swan Mountain Trust, Stanton Ballard Trust, Asylum Welcome, and Oxford City Council, with support from Oxford Refugee Health Initiative and Old Fire Station.
Photo credits: Mark Hemming (cover image); logo artwork by Michael Hicks.
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These sessions have made me feel like anyone can get to be a musician and express themselves through music, and that has been an incredible and life altering experience.
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When you asked if I could teach a song, it made me reconnect with my culture but on my terms, and it felt like it brought down a long held and carefully built wall. It opened new possibilities for expressing my identity and for being fully me.
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Thank you, Starlings, for bringing joy of life back to me
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The experience of living in a foreign land is alienating….this group does so much to salve that...You guys have really made Oxford more welcoming and home for all of us.