Bird Tunes - Miranda Rutter and Rob Harbron
St Mary's Church Guildford with Guildford Methodist Church, Guildford, GU1 3UA
Saturday 30th May 2026
Bird Tunes Musicians Workshop 2:00 - 4:20 pm Concert 7:30 - 9:30 pm
“Bird Tunes is, very simply, utterly beautiful. Nature and music in perfect harmony.” Tradfolk
Featured on Front Row, BBC Radio 4 and The Breakfast Show BBC Radio 3 (live from Slimbridge Wetlands Centre)
With bird song at its peak in May, we felt it is the perfect time to present Miranda Rutter’s exquisitely crafted Bird Tunes! The beautiful nave at St Mary’s Church will provide the perfect acoustics for her birdsong-inspired compositions. In the afternoon, she and Rob Harbron will be teaching a Bird Tunes workshop for musicians - we think this is going to be rather special!
Concert - 7:30 - 9:30 pm (doors 7:00 pm)
Fiddle player and composer Miranda Rutter is joined by Rob Harbron on concertina to present Bird Tunes, an exquisite new suite of folk tunes with birdsong at their core. Miranda has crafted every tune in the project out of fragments of birdsong which she recorded during woodland walks near her home. The suite is both a love-song to the intricacy and beauty of birdsong, and a timely reminder of the struggles with habitat loss and human-made dangers faced by migrating birds today.
Miranda explains: “This is a suite of tunes inspired by birds and their song. I’ve become so entranced by birds, I’ve found myself recording them in the woods, fields and wetlands near my home. Excitedly bringing home these slivers of sonic magic, I ‘transcribed’ or learnt to play snippets of these birds’ songs on the fiddle, then wove these fragments of melody into folk dance tune forms – my other musical fascination. In some of these tunes, I’ve purely pieced together birds’ phrases, in others I’ve written ‘answer’ phrases to their ‘questions’ and in others I’ve written the whole tune but been inspired by a bird in some way.
I follow in a long line of musicians through from prehistory, who’ve been inspired by birdsong – it being such an enchanting wonder of the world! For me, listening deeper, discovering intricacies and learning to recognise birds by their song has made me care even more about birds and their habitat. As so many species are struggling in this rapidly changing, human-dominated world, I hope that my contribution can help spark intrigue, spread awareness and in turn, generate action to turn the tide of fortune for these awe-inspiring creatures.”
Bird Tunes Workshop for Musicians 2:00 - 4:20 pm (includes 20 minute break)
We will learn a tune by ear (but have dots available if anyone is struggling) and explore how to play it with life and energy! We will then look at a harmony and chord options for all instruments and work it into an arrangement.
Suitable for players of all melody instruments and also guitar and other strummed instruments, but not percussion players. We can make it accessible for a range of abilities but not beginners. Ideally, you should be able to play your instrument at a level where you can pick up a tune and/or chords and be able to play at least a tune or two.
MIRANDA RUTTER
Miranda Rutter is a folk musician, fiddle and viola player, composer, performer and teacher. She performs with Methera who focus on making folk music through the voice of the string quartet. She has also performed with the English Acoustic Collective and Morris Offspring in ‘On English Ground’ and with Chris Wood in his ‘Listening to the River’. Miranda also regularly performs with Rob Harbron and Sam Sweeney for Boss Morris.
She is a much sought-after tutor, having taught on Newcastle University’s Folk Music degree course, at Folkworks’ Fiddles on Fire Festival, as part of the English Acoustic Collective Summer School team and as a core tutor for the National Youth Folk Ensemble.
ROB HARBRON
Rob Harbron is a uniquely skilled player of the English concertina, described by The Guardian as a ‘concertina wizard’ and renowned for his highly individual and harmonic style of playing. He is a member of Leveret (alongside Sam Sweeney and Andy Cutting), with whom he has toured extensively and released six landmark albums.
Known for his work with a wide range of artists including Jon Boden and the Remnant Kings, Emily Portman, Emma Reid and The Full English, he has also worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company. His debut solo album Meanders was released in 2019 and was followed by a tunebook of original compositions.
Rob leads the English Acoustic Collective Summer School and is regarded as an inspiring and supportive teacher. He has been extensively involved with the National Youth Folk Ensemble as a tutor.
Both the concert and workshop are suitable for all ages (we offer a 20% discount to under 25s. Although there are no age restrictions, all under 18s must be accompanied by a parent, guardian or responsible adult). If you have any questions, please contact us through our website https://www.folkinspiration.org/contact-us or email us at [email protected].
“Bird Tunes is, very simply, utterly beautiful. Nature and music in perfect harmony.” Tradfolk
Featured on Front Row, BBC Radio 4 and The Breakfast Show BBC Radio 3 (live from Slimbridge Wetlands Centre)
With bird song at its peak in May, we felt it is the perfect time to present Miranda Rutter’s exquisitely crafted Bird Tunes! The beautiful nave at St Mary’s Church will provide the perfect acoustics for her birdsong-inspired compositions. In the afternoon, she and Rob Harbron will be teaching a Bird Tunes workshop for musicians - we think this is going to be rather special!
Concert - 7:30 - 9:30 pm (doors 7:00 pm)
Fiddle player and composer Miranda Rutter is joined by Rob Harbron on concertina to present Bird Tunes, an exquisite new suite of folk tunes with birdsong at their core. Miranda has crafted every tune in the project out of fragments of birdsong which she recorded during woodland walks near her home. The suite is both a love-song to the intricacy and beauty of birdsong, and a timely reminder of the struggles with habitat loss and human-made dangers faced by migrating birds today.
Miranda explains: “This is a suite of tunes inspired by birds and their song. I’ve become so entranced by birds, I’ve found myself recording them in the woods, fields and wetlands near my home. Excitedly bringing home these slivers of sonic magic, I ‘transcribed’ or learnt to play snippets of these birds’ songs on the fiddle, then wove these fragments of melody into folk dance tune forms – my other musical fascination. In some of these tunes, I’ve purely pieced together birds’ phrases, in others I’ve written ‘answer’ phrases to their ‘questions’ and in others I’ve written the whole tune but been inspired by a bird in some way.
I follow in a long line of musicians through from prehistory, who’ve been inspired by birdsong – it being such an enchanting wonder of the world! For me, listening deeper, discovering intricacies and learning to recognise birds by their song has made me care even more about birds and their habitat. As so many species are struggling in this rapidly changing, human-dominated world, I hope that my contribution can help spark intrigue, spread awareness and in turn, generate action to turn the tide of fortune for these awe-inspiring creatures.”
Bird Tunes Workshop for Musicians 2:00 - 4:20 pm (includes 20 minute break)
We will learn a tune by ear (but have dots available if anyone is struggling) and explore how to play it with life and energy! We will then look at a harmony and chord options for all instruments and work it into an arrangement.
Suitable for players of all melody instruments and also guitar and other strummed instruments, but not percussion players. We can make it accessible for a range of abilities but not beginners. Ideally, you should be able to play your instrument at a level where you can pick up a tune and/or chords and be able to play at least a tune or two.
MIRANDA RUTTER
Miranda Rutter is a folk musician, fiddle and viola player, composer, performer and teacher. She performs with Methera who focus on making folk music through the voice of the string quartet. She has also performed with the English Acoustic Collective and Morris Offspring in ‘On English Ground’ and with Chris Wood in his ‘Listening to the River’. Miranda also regularly performs with Rob Harbron and Sam Sweeney for Boss Morris.
She is a much sought-after tutor, having taught on Newcastle University’s Folk Music degree course, at Folkworks’ Fiddles on Fire Festival, as part of the English Acoustic Collective Summer School team and as a core tutor for the National Youth Folk Ensemble.
ROB HARBRON
Rob Harbron is a uniquely skilled player of the English concertina, described by The Guardian as a ‘concertina wizard’ and renowned for his highly individual and harmonic style of playing. He is a member of Leveret (alongside Sam Sweeney and Andy Cutting), with whom he has toured extensively and released six landmark albums.
Known for his work with a wide range of artists including Jon Boden and the Remnant Kings, Emily Portman, Emma Reid and The Full English, he has also worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company. His debut solo album Meanders was released in 2019 and was followed by a tunebook of original compositions.
Rob leads the English Acoustic Collective Summer School and is regarded as an inspiring and supportive teacher. He has been extensively involved with the National Youth Folk Ensemble as a tutor.
Both the concert and workshop are suitable for all ages (we offer a 20% discount to under 25s. Although there are no age restrictions, all under 18s must be accompanied by a parent, guardian or responsible adult). If you have any questions, please contact us through our website https://www.folkinspiration.org/contact-us or email us at [email protected].
