There and Back Again

We have recorded an Album! To purchase it, please click here.

There and Back Again is probably the world’s only Folk Piano Trio. We take a classical form, a classical piano trio being violin, cello and piano, and ‘folkify’ it by replacing the violin with a whistle. Cunning.

There and Back Again was formed back in October 2009 when Owen and Yarden independently decided that it would be fun to play with a cello and coincidently a cellist presented himself to us. We’ve been playing together ever since, building up a repertoire of traditional and contemporary folk tunes.

Our style is semi-improvisatory; we take a tune, give it a chord sequence and then improvise around it. The bits that we like get kept, but in general every performance  is slightly different.  Our tunes are chosen because we like them and think that they have some sort of intrinsic musical merit – particularly ones that give Yarden an excuse to  obtain yet another whistle.

When we are not besieged with gig requests, we can be found practicing in Churchill College music room, courtesy of Mr Ash. Unfortunately Owen didn’t manage to sneak the Steinway out.

In 2011, There and Back Again reached the final of the New Roots folk competition, resulting in us being booked for St Albans Festival and Towersey Folk Festival in that year.  In 2012 we were booked for Broadstairs Folk Festival. We have also performed for May Balls all over Cambridge (imagine a black tie party in June which starts at 9pm and finishes at 6am), including performing on the acoustic stage at Kings Affair, playing in Kings College Chapel as the sun was rising.

If you are interested in booking then please get in touch through this website.

In 2011, There and Back Again recorded a CD. Go here for more details!

We have a playlist of videos on YouTube which can be viewed here.

The Trio

On whistle is Yarden Brody who discovered that the ‘cello was frankly too big, and the trumpet frankly too rubbish, so she settled for the whistle instead. She is a composer, conductor and performer. In her spare time she’s definitely a criminal mastermind, but is also studying for a PhD in Physics. Some of her compositions for computer games may be found here.

On cello is Pip Ash, who was a classical ‘cellist, then had surgery to remove an unfortunately placed poker at the beginning of his university days. Now he enjoys improvisation despite not knowing anything about chord progressions, and saying “sorry” a lot. Known for occasionally turning up on time. In his spare time he studied Law before moving on to higher things.

On piano is Owen Woods, who was trained classically, receiving his CertGSMD in piano performance in 2007. He has performed in the Purcell Room on the South Bank, but is now playing folk music instead, much more fun. He also performs solo on melodeon and plays for ceilidhs, performance and theatre with a variety of different groups. In his spare time he sleeps, wakes up, decides that this was a bad idea, and goes back to bed. He once studied Engineering.