Sophia Bidwell & Jeremy Brownbrooke

4th July 2010
Members $7 Non-members $12

Sophia Bidwell grew up playing classical piano. While studying music at the University of Canterbury she worked as a rehearsal pianist for Canterbury Opera and accompanist for many singers and instrumentalists. During her student years, in a flat without a piano, she began playing the accordion and discovered that she liked it much, much better…

Returning from a trip to Europe she began playing at a few local sessions and soon joined the Dublin Street Band as an accordion player. With several years of pub gigs, weddings, dances and sessions under her belt she retired from band work due to the demands of small children. She now plays at functions and concerts around Canterbury, and with Jeremy and guitarist Russell Gillies runs a Monday night celtic session in Christchurch

Jeremy Brownbrooke was press-ganged into the local Parish Choir, at the age of 9 or so, by his mother who thought it might keep him from wasting his time playing in the streets. This was totally effective, providing an initial impetus that led eventually to wasting time in MUCH more interesting ways involving eye wateringly expensive musical equipment. Following the ‘…and you can even get paid for it!...’ logic he became a professional musician in a plethora of pub bands in various roles until the advent of children in his life. The children won.

Nowadays he plays things with strings, mostly violin and mandolin and their ilk. He has years of experience in just about every kind of music, particularly Bluegrass-Celtic-Mediaeval-Country-Fusion, and a repertoire of interesting tunes about as big as the Great Outdoors. Has been known to write the odd tune, too.

Sophia and Jeremy first met during their time in The Dublin Street Band and have been playing together for the last ten years for weddings, pubs, ceilidhs, concerts and even a coronation. Somewhere along the way they even found time to get married. They will be familiar to folk club members as the core of the barn dance band and have recently played at the Waihi Bush and Canterbury folk festivals.

Fresh from several successful performances, including the Barocco Celtico concert and a sell-out St Patrick’s day show, they will be presenting loving renditions of Celtic and European folk music, original tunes, and songs.

Jonathan Le Cocq, lute player and early music specialist, will be joining them on guitar.

Club members, Fiona Cambridge and David Evison are providing a support act for Sophia and Jeremy