Traditional music and dance
Their location and history make the Channel Islands a particularly attractive place to study. The Siamese culture (English and Norman) is naturally reflected in the music, which has prompted many ethnomusicologists to investigate the land and collect local songs and music. As early as the 1950s, the BBC took an interest in the field, via presenter Peter Kennedy. During the following decade, he founded the Folktrax label to help distribute the recordings resulting from his investigations.
Other researchers, such as Claudie Marcel-Dubois, Marie-Marguerite Pichonnet-Andral and Peter Anderson, also took an interest in the island's songs, and their efforts helped reconstitute a rich repertoire of lyrical songs, dance songs, chansons d'auteurs and songs of oral tradition, some in island Norman, most in French and a few in English. Among them, Belle, rendez-moi mes gants and La Chanson de Peirson are particularly noteworthy. Both unique to the islands, they have never been seen elsewhere in the French-speaking world. These are songs which, in their interpretations, sometimes feature the instrument traditionally associated with the islands, the chifournie, a hurdy-gurdy.
This local heritage is, to say the least, adored by the island's bands. A number of them, such as Badlabecques, an essential group giving a new pop-folk interpretation of traditional Jersey songs, all sung in Jerseyese(jèrriais). Other performers include Lihou, the musical group from La Loure, the Musiques et traditions orales de Normandie association, and the Jersiais group Magène, who set Norman poets to music.
In terms of choreography, the traditional dances here include the ronde, performed in a circle, quadrilles and the rigaudon, a lively, playful dance with lots of hopping and finger snapping.
A good opportunity to sample traditional local music and dance is the La Faîs'sie d'Cidre festival, a major folk event celebrating apples and cider, accompanied by traditional music. In Jersey, the Battle Of Flowers Grand Day Parade features plenty of music and dance, as does the Island Olympics, a small sports competition.
Current music
Although the Channel Islands don't have their own music scene, a number of local artists have achieved international recognition. In Guernsey, these include Mura Masa, a young electronic music producer with a string of successes to his name; Of Empires, a rock band that once included Matt Berry (also an actor, known for his role as Douglas Reynholm in the British series The IT Crowd); Thomas D'Arcy, a well-known face of indie rock since the 1980s; and Everything Everything, a synth-pop band whose members all hail from here.
In Jersey, there's Dave Adams, a little-known figure in pop music, notably a long-time collaborator of Joe Meek, Nerina Pallot, author of a number of hits, folk singer John Wort Hannam and Sam Walwyn, a young talent in alternative pop.
On the islands - as in most of the UK - folk is a big hit. Unsurprisingly, the Sark Folk Festival, held over a weekend on the small island of Sark, is dedicated to the genre. Another interesting event is the Alderney Performing Arts Festival, held every last weekend in May,whichis quite simply one of the Channel Islands' best events, featuring concerts of all kinds in the island's Victorian forts. For jazz lovers, we shouldn't forget to mention the aptly named Blue Note Bar in Saint Hélier, whose audiences love the eclectic programming.
Classical music
Given the size of these small pieces of land, the Channel Islands do not boast a large number of composers. That said, some of them, without achieving international fame, enjoy a real aura in contemporary classical music. From Jersey, let's mention cellist Gerard Le Feuvre (1962), author of the island anthem Island Home (although for many, the unofficial Ma Normandie remains the one and only) and founder of the Kings Chamber Orchestra in 1985, and Oscar Bettison (1975), a composer known for his uniquely energetic chamber works and large ensembles, adored by the critics. On the Guernsey side, Roy Wales is a celebrated conductor, renowned for having premiered works by Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland and Zoltan Kodaly in England. Harpist Andrew Lawrence-King, who specializes in early music, is also a Guernsey native.
Music lovers are not forgotten in the Channel Islands. Jersey has its own opera house - incidentally, the island's most elegant concert hall - with a program that includes classical music, dance and typically British musicals, while Guernsey has the Saint James Concert and Assembly Hall, a magnificent concert hall housed in the church of Saint James, with plenty of space for classical music, jazz, opera and dance.
The theater
In addition to cultural centers, many tourist sites host theater troupes when the fine weather arrives. The program ranges from classic Shakespeare plays at Castle Cornet to historical re-enactments at Mont Orgueil. Many of these troupes come from the mainland for the occasion, while others are made up of amateur actors. In the 19th century, Jersey was the birthplace of the internationally successful actress Lillie Langtry. This young woman, for whom nothing predestined her for the stage, left the island after her marriage to join London's high society. Despite her boisterous affairs and adventurous life, the islanders still worship her to this day: her grave is frequently visited and decorated with flowers.
Theatre-goers wishing to visit Guernsey would be well advised to plan their visit for the second weekend in May. This is when the Literary Festival is held, providing an opportunity to discover the archipelago's rich and passionate tradition of literature, theater and poetry.
