“On this CD, I have chosen works by composers drawing from the folk music traditions of their own cultures of origin. Each of the cultures represented here is also of personal significance to me, whether by virtue of ancestral background, a passport acquired, a feeling of kinship, or more than a decade of life lived.
It is thus music that also reflects my own origins, after a lifetime lived between an ever-growing collection of cultures.
There was a moment when my particular interest in folk music got switched on. I travelled through Andalusia in 2001 and befriended a group of musicians
playing Arabo-Andalusian music.
In researching this CD, I got to meet and speak with people from folk cultures around the world. I asked everyone on what occasions people in their communities made music. And I heard from everyone the same answer: whenever people gathered together, they made music.
I believe now that making music lies deep in our human roots. That the sheer joy it gives people to make music has helped us thrive through the ages. That
making music “in folk style” - without judgement, out of the spirit of the moment - is part of all of our origins.” - Julia Tom
