Owen Spafford and support

Event information

Join us in the idyllic settings of St Paul Church gardens for an evening of the finest fiddle tunes with acclaimed and highly sought after musician Owen Spafford

Owen Spafford is a fiddle player and composer from Leeds who has performed for the leaders of the commonwealth states, toured with Giffords Circus and has
received a scholarship to study composition at the Royal Academy of Music. His installation ‘Welcome Here, Kind Stranger’ has been performed at the Rainy Days festival in Luxembourg alongside Sam Amidon, Brighde Chaimbeul and Annabelle Blott and at SeptemberMe festival in the Netherlands. Owen is also an All-Britain Fiddle Champion in the Fleadh Cheoil na Breataine and BBC Young Composer Competition nominee. Equally at home in a traditional session as he is in a free improvisation workshop, Spafford's understanding of the oral tradition and love for vernacular music from around the world enables an inventive and thoughtful musical style.

In 2022 Owen released a debut album with guitarist Louis Campbell which Martin Hayes described as “a beautiful, moody and tasteful recording that defies
classification. The arrangements and playing are truly subtle and the sounds are pristine.” The duo allows Owen and Louis to distill their love of traditional and experimental music into powerful, intricate and intimate music. Their music manages to orbit many different sound-worlds from traditional English dance
tune to chamber music and post-rock with influences ranging from field recordings, to The Gloaming, Bill Frisell, Ravel and Godspeed You! Black Emperor.
Alongside the duo, his band ‘The Weaving’ with Méabh Begley and Cáit Ní Riain explores his deep love for traditional Irish music.