Stroud Sacred Music Festival
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Nigel Shaw
​& Carolyn Hillyer


Nigel Shaw & Carolyn Hillyer

Music from Dartmoor and northern traditions
with flute, drum and images by this popular duo
 “Songs of Before and Beyond”

Music and songs inspired by the raw beauty, untamed spirit and primordial memory of sacred and ancestral land

ABOUT THE MUSIC
"After many travels in Arctic terrains, north has become scratched onto our bones and wrapped inside our music; over and again we have found ourselves dreaming, composing and writing about timeless ice, reindeer souls and the resonances of taiga and tundra. But the concept of north is also infused with the profound mythology of these islands, and we have spent most of our lifetimes travelling through the ancient memories of rock and forest and moor. In this concert we ask: what is the north we can give you?"

Nigel and Carolyn played instruments carved from wild woods and songs woven from a Bronze Age language as they shared a meandering journey through tender myth and feral dream to honour the primordial voices of this sacred land.
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ABOUT THE MUSICIANS
Carolyn Hillyer and Nigel Shaw are musician and artists who have lived on their ancient hill farm in the feral heart of Dartmoor for 30 years. Their live performances form a mystical weave of ancient instruments, wild songs and tender music, using many flutes and drums they have made themselves. They have travelled around the world with their music, including Australia, USA, Japan, Jamaica, Canada, Central & South America, Siberian Arctic, Russia, throughout Europe and Britain. Their concert tours have carried them from mountain temple to tundra camp, from festival tent to ritual cave, as well as and intimate evenings of music and myth on Dartmoor.

​GALLERY
Photographs courtesy of Simon Pizzey
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Past Sponsors

Logo of Renishaw with link to their website
Logo of Ragged Moon with link to their website
Logo of Stroud Town Council with link to their website
Logo of St Laurence: The Future with link to their website
Image of Mosaic and Intrigue of Stroud
Logo of BBC Radio Gloucestershire with link to their website
Logo of Sacred Music Radio with link to their website
Logo of Sarah Holder Design with link to website
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Plus wonderful support from the following
​
St Laurence Parish Church; Stroud Centre for Peace & the Arts (SCPA); Revd Simon Howell; Stroud News and Journal; Good on Paper; Manny Massi, BBC Radio Gloucestershire; Ela Pathak-Sen Commotion UK; Mary Wells and Williams Kitchen Nailsworth; Peter Baxendale; Andy and Avril Evans; Katie Lloyd-Nunn; Girish and Sarah; Millie and Clay Sinclair; ​Trish Dickenson; Stroud Farmers Market; Chris Head - and many more!
​THANK YOU ALL
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Archive
    • SSMF 2015
    • SSMF 2016
    • SSMF 2017
    • SSMF 2018
    • SSMF 2019
    • SSMF 2020
    • SSMF 2021
    • SSMF 2022
    • SSMF 2023 >
      • Review
      • Gallery
      • Morning Raga
      • Chant Space
      • Sam Lee
      • Nigel Shaw & Carolyn Hillyer
      • Tagna Groove
      • HOhME
    • SSMF 2024 Midwinter >
      • Full Festival Programme
      • Soumik Datta Arts
      • Acapellies
      • PILGRIMAGE
      • CHANT SPACE
    • SSMF 2024
    • SSMF 2025
  • Sacred Sounds
  • Contact Us