Eva Väljaots (EST) and Robbie Sherratt (ENG) write and perform music rooted in Estonian and English folklore. Their music, both modern and tradition-sensitive, combines the kannel, fiddle, and vocals in a colourful, rich and enchanting way. Sharing an affinity for improvisation and spontaneity, the duo’s communication and companionship captivates the ears eager to float and the toes yearning to dance.
They perform regularly in England, Estonia and Finland for both concerts and dancing. In 2019 they were semi-finalists in Kaustinen Folk Music Festival’s Konsta Jylhä competition and in 2020 won the Grand Prize of the Mooste Elohelü Folk Music Competition in Estonia.
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Eva Väljaots (EST) ja Robbie Sherratt (ENG) loovad muusikat, mille juured ulatuvad nii eesti kui inglise pärimusse. Põimides traditsioone ja omaloomingut, loovad kannel, viiul ja laul kõlavärviderikka ja võluva terviku. Duo kontserdid on tulvil improvisatsiooni ja spontaansust, nende muusika on samal ajal traditsioonitundlik ja modernne. Duo hea kooskõla ja ühine tunnetus paelub nii tantsumaia kui ka kuulates kulgeda armastava publiku kõrvu.
Eva Väljaots & Robbie Sherratt on andnud nii kontserte kui ka mänginud tantsuüritustel Eestis, Soomes ning Inglismaal. 2019. aastal olid Kaustineni Folk Music Festivalil Konsta Jylhä võistumängimise poolfinalistid ning aastal 2020 võitsid nad Mooste Elohelü pärimusmuusikatöötluste festivalil. peaauhinna.
Photos
Photos: Mikko Malmivaara
Click here to go to our dropbox where you can download our photos
Videos
Our performance at Mooste Elohelü in August 2020.
In 2021, Helsinki Stage filmed a selection of our songs and tunes and interviewed us. The songs included are:
Sõprade labajalg (Friends’ Labajalg) – A dance tune written by Eva.
Lõoke/ Skylark – In 1936, in Estonia, Mari Sutt was recorded imitating various birds’ song using nonsensical words and phrases. Being inspired by that, we used Mari’s imitation of skylark as the springboard for our own bird imitation.
Helevalge tuvi (A Dove Flew Over England) – A traditional counting game from Estonia which we set to music. It’s surprisingly topical for 2020-2021!
Select a video by clicking on the pictures below the video player. There are subtitles in English and Estonian for the interview and English subtitles in Helevalge tuvi (A Dove Flew Over England).
A couple of videos from Tallinna Tantsuklubi (Tallinn Dance Club), December 2019.
Music
Live recordings from Genevieve Tudor’s Sunday Folk on BBC Radio Shropshire and Lillie May’s Summer Saturdays on BBC Radio Stoke. These live sessions took place during our first UK tour in June 2019.
Quotes
“Peapreemia pälvisid Eva Väljaots ja Robbie Sherratt, kelle puhul tõsteti esile väga head koosmängu ja kaaslase tajumist, peent traditsioonitunnetust, oskust eri pärimusi ja meeleolusid tervikuks kokku siduda ja oma muusika helge mõju kuulajateni viimist.”
(The main prize went to Eva Väljaots and Robbie Sherratt, who highlighted an excellent sense of togetherness and companionship, an exquisite sense of tradition, the ability to combine different cultures and atmospheres and bring the bright influence of their music to the listeners.)
Articles/ Reviews
Social Media
https://www.youtube.com/robbiesherratt
Robbie’s Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/RobbieSherrattMusic
Eva’s Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/evavaljaotsmusic
Eva Väljaots & Robbie Sherratt Soundcloud
https://soundcloud.com/evavaljaotsrobbiesherratt