Aortas

AORTAS (www. aortas.org. uk) supports & promotes original songwriting & the traditional musics of the British Isles and Europe.

AORTAS (Oral Traditions and Songwriting) is an umbrella for the activities of Dan Plews (teacher, performer and songwriter) including his work with other musicians.

This includes sessions, ceilidhs, songwriting workshops (UK, Austria, Romania, Ireland, Denmark, Poland, Germany, Slovenia), private teaching and open mics for songwriters, which we've run in different venues in Northampton, Buckingham and Milton Keynes since 2007 (or even earlier, we can't remember).

2011 saw the formation of the pan-european GRUNDTVIG-funded partnership 'Playing for Integration' and Aortas Education Ltd was founded.

Through this partnership with eight other countries AORTAS took UK learners to workshops in 8 different countries. The focus of the workshops was intercultural exchange, writing songs, and the translation of traditional songs from different countries. The process is the product, but we have also produced two songbooks of original and traditional songs which are at www. aortas.org. uk

April 2013 saw heats for a Song Competition whose winners played a sell-out concert at the Stables in Milton Keynes in October 2013, three of whom participated in a workshop with our Danish partners the Aarhus Sangskriver Werkstat, a 120-strong songwriting organisation from that town.

The winner was Jimmy Brewer
http://www. jimmybrewer. co. uk /
https://smithandbrewer.com/