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| Young Tradition Foundation | |
|---|---|
| Name | Young Tradition Foundation |
| Formation | 1980s |
| Type | Charity; Arts organization |
| Headquarters | London |
| Leader title | Director |
Young Tradition Foundation is a London-based charity and arts organization dedicated to the preservation, promotion, and transmission of traditional British and international folk, song, and dance repertoires. The Foundation has acted as a hub linking performers, scholars, archives, festivals, and educational institutions to support revivalist practice, community performance, and scholarly study. It works across performance, publishing, archiving, and training, influencing practitioners associated with the folk revival and contemporary traditional arts sectors.
The Foundation emerged from networks formed during the British folk revival of the 1960s and 1970s involving figures from Ewan MacColl’s circle, members of The Watersons and contemporaries such as Martin Carthy, Anne Briggs, and early ensembles linked to Topic Records. It was established to continue projects initiated by ad hoc groups and to provide a durable legal and financial vehicle for activities reminiscent of the workshops organised by Sandy Paterson and the educational initiatives pioneered by Ralph Vaughan Williams followers. In the 1980s and 1990s the Foundation formalised relationships with institutions including the English Folk Dance and Song Society and the BBC folk programming teams, enabling archival transfers from private collectors such as Peter Kennedy and collaborations with academic units at University of Leeds and University of Sheffield. During the 2000s the Foundation expanded its remit, linking to international festivals such as Tønder Festival and Cambridge Folk Festival, and facilitating projects with European partners like Folkwang University of the Arts and the Institut für Volkskunde.
The Foundation's stated mission combines repertoire conservation, skills transmission, and access facilitation; it undertakes collecting and cataloguing field recordings, supporting performance revivals, and commissioning contextual research. It runs educational sessions modelled on earlier folk apprenticeship schemes associated with EFDSS and the Folk Music Clubs network exemplified by venues such as The Troubadour (London) and The Red Lion (Bexleyheath). Core activities encompass workshop delivery alongside museums such as the V&A and the Museum of Liverpool, public concerts in partnership with promoters like Operazone and Arts Council England, and residencies at venues including Royal Festival Hall and Union Chapel, Islington.
Notable projects include oral-history drives collaborating with the British Library sound archive and digitisation initiatives modelled on the Unlocking Our Sound Heritage programme. The Foundation has run mentorship schemes connecting elder tradition-bearers—linked historically to collectors such as Percy Grainger and Cecil Sharp—with younger practitioners active in networks around Fairport Convention alumni and contemporary artists associated with Bella Union and Topic Records. It has delivered community-engaged programmes at regional centres such as Brighton Dome, Manchester Folk Festival, and county museums in Cornwall and Cumbria. Cross-border projects have linked to Scandinavian and Celtic partners, building exchanges with organisations behind the Eisteddfod and Folk Alliance International.
The Foundation issues edited song collections, research monographs, and critically annotated liner notes in collaboration with publishers such as Oxford University Press and independent presses connected to Greentrax. Releases have included reissues of field recordings originally made by collectors like Alan Lomax and private compilations associated with The Young Tradition (group), curated albums that pair historical sources with contemporary interpretations, and booklets drawing upon archival material held by the British Library and the National Archives (UK). It has also produced documentary films and radio features broadcast with partners such as BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 4, and curated playlist projects for festivals including WOMAD.
Operating as a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee, the Foundation is overseen by a board comprising scholars, performers, and cultural-sector professionals drawn from institutions like Goldsmiths, University of London, SOAS University of London, and the Royal College of Music. Day-to-day management is led by an executive director working with program managers, archivists, and finance officers; voluntary governance includes advisory input from trustees with links to English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund. Funding streams have combined small grants from bodies such as Arts Council England and project funding from philanthropic sources connected to trusts like the Pilgrim Trust and corporate partnerships with cultural patrons linked to venues including Southbank Centre.
The Foundation’s network spans universities, broadcasters, archives, festivals, and community organisations. Longstanding collaborations include projects with the British Library Sound Archive, workshop series with the English Folk Dance and Song Society, and co-programming with festivals including Cambridge Folk Festival and Sidmouth Folk Week. It has provided expertise to museum exhibitions curated by the V&A and local history projects coordinated by county record offices such as Essex Record Office. Internationally, the Foundation has partnered with cultural bodies including UNESCO-linked heritage committees, regional arts councils in Scandinavia and Ireland, and academic centres at University of Oslo and Trinity College Dublin.
The Foundation has influenced repertoire trajectories within the British folk scene, aiding the survival and renewal of songs, tunes, and dance forms that might otherwise have remained obscure. Its archival transfers and digitisation efforts have enriched holdings at the British Library and university archives, while its training programmes have shaped practitioners who perform at venues such as Royal Albert Hall and festivals like Glastonbury Festival’s acoustic stages. The organisation’s publications and reissues have informed scholarship published in journals such as Folk Music Journal and conferences including those convened by the International Council for Traditional Music, securing a lasting role in the documentation and dissemination of traditional arts.
Category:Charities based in London Category:Folk music organizations