Folkus Pocus


Caroline and Dan Hollingshurst have been playing music together since they met at Cardiff University in 1997.

A regular at festivals and dances around the country, Caroline is well-known on the folk dance circuit as the fiddler with Stradivarious and ceilidh band Scotch Mist.  She was brought up (as Caroline Wright) surrounded by folk music and dance, and was a member of YoungFolk and the National Youth Folklore Troupe of England (NYFTE) dance teams.  Until recently Caroline spent much of her time running music projects and workshops in her role as Education Manager for the Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields.  In her spare time she played violin with the London-based Ernest Reed Symphony Orchestra.

Caroline had a major success at the 2003 London Fiddlers' Convention.  The convention is an annual event but this year saw the first ever Contest – and Caroline won it (accompanied by Dan).  The prize was a performance slot in the evening concert, which also featured Jazz, Greek, Irish and combinations of other fiddle styles. 


Like Caroline, Dan is a classically trained music graduate.  Pianist, conductor, trumpeter and composer, he is in demand as a freelance musician and workshop leader.  In 2002 Dan participated in a pioneering folk mentoring programme 'Passing Notes'.  Under the guidance of Chris Wood, Andy Cutting and Folk Development Agency TAPS, he studied performance and workshop techniques and performed recently with Chris and Andy on one of their tour dates.  When he's not playing, Dan can be found on the dance floor at social dances and ceilidhs around the country.  In addition, Dan is an amateur magician in his spare time!

Together, Caroline and Dan were finalists in the Hertfordshire Folk Association New Roots competition, which led to several bookings at folk clubs in the area.  Folkus Pocus have rapidly become popular and have played at various Festivals and Dance Weekends (including two in Germany); they also ran a Musicians' Weekend at Belstead House last year and have been booked again.

Dan and Caroline were married at Lichfield on Saturday 4th June 2005, and we wish them every happiness together.  They have now moved to Stoke-on-Trent, where Caroline is working for the Stoke City Music Services.  Dan is working at Staffordshire University, doing a Recruitment and Marketing job within their Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Technology.  It involves student enrolment, running open days, running promo stands at exhibitions, web-based marketing/visibility project work and a few other things thrown in. It's based in Stafford, (35 mins drive from Stoke) and thus far he's enjoying it.

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