Biography
The short version:
Karen Tweed plays the accordion, melodica, does a spot of painting and also plays the bass harmonica rather badly.
If you have time to spare, pull up a chair, pour yourself a cuppa and read the full version:
Born Willesden, London 1963
Karen Tweed - first music teacher was Ken Davies who actively dissuaded her to play piano and to take up the melodica. She then made the easy transition to the piano accordion under Joe Coll, and went onto study classical music under Lawry Eady and Warren Eagle, reaching Grade 5. John Whelan (now resident in Conneticut, USA) was her most influential teacher, under whose guidance she won the first of 5 All Ireland Championships in 1977 (both on the Piano Accordion and Melodica).
She has a BA (Hons) in Graphic Design (Printmaking) and is a trained Secondary School Art teacher, as well as having taught English as a foreign language. She became a full time professional musician, after recording on Roger Wilson's debut LP 'The Palm Of Your Hand' (Harbourtown Records) in 1989; this lead to meeting Sally Barker at the Hong Kong Folk Festival and the formation of the Poozies. Tweed then joined the Kathryn Tickell Band at 2 days' notice before her first festival with them in France and is now a highly sought after performer, collaborator, composer, arranger and tutor.
To date, Tweed is featured on over 30 CDs with ensembles such as The Kathryn Tickell Band, The Poozies, SWAP, Ian Carr & Karen Tweed, The Two Duos Quartet and May Monday and has played sessions on recordings by Sting (UK), Morten Alfred Hoirup & Harald Haugaard (DK), Tony Hillyard (NZ) and Sally Barker (England) amongst others.
She is currently working with Timo Alakotila, May Monday, The Poozies, Christy O Leary & Bert Deivert, Roger Wilson, Sturla Eide and SWAP. New collaborations are in the pipeline, fuelled by new compositions and arrangements.
Tweed is established as one of the finest exponents of the piano accordion: her music, which moves with ease between blistering melody lines and soulful backing, has been described as 'mercurial, subtle and astounding'.
Her work has taken her to Hong Kong, New Zealand, Australia, Egypt, Faroe, Scandinavia, Lesotho, Turkey, Japan, Northern Europe, The USA and Quebec.
May Monday, her ongoing collaboration with Timo Alakotila which combines her composing skills with cross cultural arrangements using folk, jazz and classical music ideas, led to a commission from The Sage Gateshead / PRS Foundation entitled 'The 4K Plot'. Premiered in November 2005, the performance brought together large scale images of Scots painter Keith McIntyre, the traditional dance ideas of Kerry Fletcher and the music dexterity of Tweed and composer / clarinettist Karen Wimhurst. It is an interactive piece for 'wind, sole and drawing instruments'.
Tweed is a regular piano accordion and ensemble tutor at the Irish World Academy of Music, Song and Dance, University Limerick, Ireland; a regular tutor at the BMus Degree in Folk and Traditional Music at Newcastle University / The Sage Gateshead and at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki; she is also a regular tutor at the Folkworks Annual Summer School, Durham and was the Guest Director of the Adult Summer School for 3 years. She has taught at Jay Ungar and Molly Mason's Northern Week in Ashokan, USA, Hovra Spelmanstamma in Sweden, Accordions at Witney and was the main piano accordion tutor at the Folkworks Adult Education Project in Gateshead for 2 years.
A highly respected tutor, Tweed was commissioned by TASC in Wales to set up a series of workshops and produce an explanatory guide / manual entitled 'Training The Trainers', while being on the organisational panel of 'Training In Traditions' - a project aimed at identifying the needs of training tutors in folk music.
From 2000-2002, Tweed was one of the co-directors (along with Andy Cutting and Fiona Came) of Folkbeat Derby, a community festival encompassing workshops in traditional music and dance, with evening concerts and dances.
In 2005, Tweed teamed up with Philip Freeman to launch The Seed Festival in Llandinam, Mid Wales. In 2006, TASC commissioned Tweed and John Kirkpatrick to compose 'The Severn Suite', a 30 minute work of new social dances and music, which was given to the community of Llandinam, Mid Wales. It's premiere was at the Seed Festival on June 10th 2006. August 2007 sees the launch of the notated music book and dance instructions for the Severn Suite in Llandinam Village Hall. A CD is planned for release in 2008.
In addition to her busy performance, recording and composing schedule, Tweed is launching a series of workshops entitled 'Adventures In Music' to encourage skills in observation & listening, performance, composition, arrangement and improvisation.
She has now embarked on a new part time career painting and decorating young peoples' bedroom and murals.
Tweed enjoys art, walking, knitting, ironing, reading, talking, New Zealand wine, Cadbury's chocolate, Walkers crisps, St. Andre and Stilton cheeses, charity shops, Caol Ila, English cider and Perry, dancing, travelling, poetry, music and silence.
Her favourite colour changes daily as does her hair.
Favourite things include cheap jewellery, gloves, slippers, cheese, feijoas, acupuncture, Mini The Minx, talking, Girls' Nights In and the sea.
She has too many favourites in the following but:
Music: Jacky Daly 'Music From The Sliabh Luachra Vol 1'; anything by Tin Hat Trio, Timo Alakotila or Swang; Dolly Parton; Yes; Kristina Olsen, XTC.
Musicians / Composers:Timo Alakotila, Maria Kalaniemi, David Sylvian, Ivan Miletitch, William Walton, Richard Galliano, Mary Macmaster, Patsy Seddon, Tony Hall, Niall Keegan, Rodney Miller, Chris Wood, Andy Cutting, Ian Lowthian, Shostakovitch, Mozart, John Whelan, Des Hurley, Gilles Chabenat
Singers: Sandra Joyce, David Sylvian, Carina Normansson, Kristina Olsen, June Tabor, Andy Partridge.
Writers: Edith Sitwell, Percy Bysse Shelley, William Shakespeare, John Donne, Les Barker, Penelope Evans, John Hegley, Margaret Atwood, Louis de Bernieres, Eckhart Tolle
Food: Feijoas, Walkers Crisps and Cadburys Chocolate.
Drink: Tea, port, wine, elderflower cordial.
Drawing from her background in Irish Traditional Music, she houses a wealth of musical history with a respect for other European traditions making her music accessible yet individual.
