In conjunction with the South East Arts Folk Network (SEFAN) the Celtic and Irish Cultural Society (CICS) are pleased to announce our involvement in the ‘Cross Currents’ Project.

This is Crawley’s new multi-cultural music project being launched at the Crawley Folk Festival on Sunday 26^th June with it’s first live performance at our 16th Annual Crawley Irish Festival on 28th August.  The project will be run in partnership between The Crawley Black History Foundation, the Gujar-Hindu Union and Folk Festival

This has been made possible due to funding from Arts Council England South East and support and assistance from The Hawth Theatre.

Brother and sister, Noel and Helen Mullen are no strangers to our audiences having performed regularly at our events including the Crawley Irish Festival and our RTE broadcast some time back will be representing the CICS.  They will  form part of a group of eight musicians in total and under the guidance of noted composer Robert Jarvis produce a unique piece of music in celebration of Crawley and its community.

The first stage of the project will see the nine players create a short piece of music that will have its First Live Performance at our 16^th Annual Irish Festival on 28^th August and be also performed at other events around Crawley over the summer and Autumn

In the second stage, Robert and the young musicians will work with as many as will to create a huge celebration of the cultural diversity to be found in this one small town.

The resulting 40-minute work will be premiered in a Special Performance at the Hawth Theatre in the winter.

This ground breaking project will bring together performers from throughout Crawley to work together on a unique musical celebration of their home-town. It will cross boundaries of culture, ethnicity, religion and age, and the participants will be given space to use their own musical voices whether they are trained or untrained musicians, amateur or professional.

The finished compositions will draw on the musical cultures of the performers but combine them into a new style. Robert Jarvis will ensure that they challenge the performers, the audience and himself, whilst still retaining an appeal to a general audience. This cultural mix has great creative value in itself, and will be enriching to participants and audience. However, it will also allow each of the festivals an excellent opportunity to find new audience from amongst the established audiences of the other four festivals.

The Cross Currents project will be a joyous celebration of Crawley’s inhabitants, and will highlight how to find unity of expression within a diversity of styles.

We see this as a landmark move in establishing a cultural link to the other communities here in Crawley and the Celtic and Irish Cultural society are proud to be part of it.

If you would like to know more about us or our activities please make contact via our website www.celtic-irish.co.uk