Amy Thatcher
An accordion virtuoso whose reputation as one of the UK’s leading folk performers and composers is garnered from her work with such luminaries as Kathryn Tickell, Sting, The Royal Northern Sinfonia, The Shee and Monster Ceilidh Band.
‘Amy is, and always has been, the most amazing Accordion player, my right hand woman!’ is how Kathryn Tickell describes their working relationship over the past decade.
Her exceptional playing has taken her across the world from The Royal Albert Hall to the Rainforest World Music Festival in Malaysia, performing with small instrumental groups to full orchestras. She has a diverse range of musical influences and experiences, including contemporary avant-garde composer Terry Riley’s compositions to a hugely successful Leonard Cohen Tribute tour.
In 2009 Amy had the pleasure of collaborating with Sting on his ‘Winter Song Book’ album and DVD, and also contributed to his Broadway show ‘The Last Ship’.
Amy’s musical upbringing owes much to Stockport’s highly respected Fosbrook’s Folk Education Trust where she trained from the age of eight on accordion, fiddle, piano and clog dancing. Her education there concluded at age 18 but not before being taught by, and recording with, gifted accordionist Murray Grainger. That first, now legendary album, entitled ‘Paper Bird’, was recorded when she was just 16 years old. Amy is a graduate of the prestigious Folk and Traditional Music degree course at Newcastle University.
2019 saw the release of her much anticipated debut album ‘Solo’. Co-produced with her husband Kieran Szifris, from Monster Ceilidh Band, it is a dynamic and expressive instrumental album exploring new textures and arrangements for the solo accordion.
‘…think of this album as an accordion fantasy… It reminds me almost equally of Karen Tweed and Martin Green’
‘It’s a whole band in one instrument, capable of accompanying beautiful melodies and creating its own contrapuntal interplay all on its own’
‘not just a superior showcase of the accordeon, more a personal expression of the emotional layers a single instrument can touch’
‘Amy Thatcher not only puts herself on the map as one of the masters of the accordion but she also further cements her reputation as a fearless experimenter within British folk music… a joy to listen to’
