The Traditional Arts Team Directors
GRAHAM LANGLEY
Graham has been involved in the folk movement since the late 60s when he was one of the founders of the Grey Cock Folk Club and a member of the Birmingham and Midland Folk Centre (the archives of which can now be found in Birmingham Library). In the 70s he was a founding member of Banner Theatre.
He was a performance arts teacher for 20 years and has since become a prime mover in the development of storytelling in the Midlands and further afield. He has produced the Midlands–wide Storytelling Cafés for 12 years – the most successful regular series of storytelling events in the UK, set up the National Storytelling Network and runs Peak Performance, a monthly storytelling school. He launched and directs Young Storyteller of the Year and is a leading member of the Federation of European Storytellers.
A much respected trainer and teacher, he has worked with teachers and young people in many settings including Palestine and South America where he pioneered storytelling in English Language schools. He regularly performs and runs workshops in the international storytelling sphere, most recently in Newfoundland, Canada and Rome, Italy. More info on Graham's website.
He was described by The Times as “a storyteller for the 21st century”.
PAM BISHOP
Pam Bishop has been involved with the traditional performance arts in many capacities. She has been a leading figure in the Birmingham Folk Scene for many years as a performer, collector, researcher and publisher, running the legendary Peanuts Folk Club and later the Grey Cock Folk Club. She was a leading light in the Birmingham and Midland Folk Centre and is a Trustee of The Charles Parker Archive housed at the Library of Birmingham. She has been music editor for three song books, and is one of the country’s leading players of the Duet Concertina. She is also an inspirational trainer – she has run concertina workshops for Kilve, Hands On Music and the Swaledale Squeeze.
She established the Traditional Arts Team alongside Graham Langley in 2000. Since retiring from academic life she has been very active in fundraising and promoting the traditional arts. Currently she is Music Director of Moseley Village Band, plays in the Mad Moll folk dance band and looks after the song/music/dance side of the Traditional Arts Team. She was editor of Folk Monthly until 2015, improving its quality and more than doubling its circulation since it began. Pam's website
