east handed people
core group...

Vesna Panic
Guitar & Voice

Vesna comes from Novi Sad on the River Danube in Serbia. She arrived in England as an asylum seeker and has lived in Sheffield for nearly twelve years. Before the war in Yugoslavia broke out she sang in two bands, and made many recordings in her friend’s studios. Back home she mainly sang jazz and Latin American songs, in her beautifully clear, powerful and haunting voice; away from home she now sings the traditional songs, and is writing a set of deeply moving new material for East Handed's next album.

Lindsay Aitkenhead
Viola & Violin

Lindsay's interest is the viola in everything - she has just returned from a tour of the Lake District as Musical Director with the Artizani Street Theatre Company, where her viola featured in the klezmer ceilidh and improvised German Expressionist incidental music! She has performed in ensembles ranging from Eastern European folk music and klezmer to the punk band Mnemonics, to an Arts Council Contemporary Music Network tour with the Acrobats of Desire. She researched the viola in folk music in England at the University of Sheffield, see www.folkviola.com for details. She composed original music and performed in theatrical productions, ranging from a national tour of “Hassan of Baghdad” by the Stage One Theatre Company, to the Snapdragon Circus. She was musical director and viola player with the innovative klezmer and storytelling band Tashbain. Recent work with young people included a major residency in the North Pennines, where Lindsay performed and ran workshops with literally thousands of young people in schools and youth groups. Lindsay is a regular performer on Radio Sheffield’s Global Sounds show, and has played her viola at numerous international festivals including the Hay Literary Festival, Kendal Mintfest, Festival at the Edge, and at Limmud, the UK's major Jewish cultural festival.

Richard Neale
Bass Guitar

Rich plays an amazing 6 string bass and is strongly influenced by jazz and funk. He has just returned from touring with Artizani and was also a member of Tashbain, touring nationally and internationally with them. Rich lives in Sheffield and spends his spare time riding and photographing horses, see his website www.horse-camera-action.co.uk for details.

Tongesayi Gumbo
Djembe & percussion

Tongesayi is a highly popular and accomplished dancer, choreographer, producer, drummer and singer from Zimbabwe, now based in Sheffield. He offers a rich repertoire of African drum styles, including Jit, Zulu, Shona, Zambian, Mozambican and West African traditional and collaborative rhythms, adding an amazing new dimension to the Macedonian 7/8 dance rhythms. Tongesayi has been Choreographer for Zimbabwe's National Dance Troupe and is the Artistic Director of KHULA African Arts, which works closely with the Mpopoma Dance Ensemble in Bulawayo, 2002 winners of the Zimbabwe National Arts & Music Dance Group Award. See www.mpopoma.org for details.

Ros Hawley
Clarinet

Ros trained at the Royal Northern College of Music and remains based in Manchester. She is a fantastic klezmer clarinettist, playing with the Deli Babies, Klezmer Gourmets and many other ensembles. In 2009 she joined Artizani for their summer tour and taught at at Klezfest in London. She also taught klezmer to Emma Johnson, who won the BBC Young Musician of the Year in 1984 and remains today one of the UK's leading solo clarinettists. Ros has worked extensively with young people, and is currently Musician in Residence at the Seashell Trust, a project for deaf children with complex communication needs.

Jo Veal
Clarinet

Jo is another fantastic clarinettist, based in Sheffield and performing a variety of folk styles. She plays with English folk band Hekety, the klezmer group Minnie Moosika, Breton ensemble Outre Manche, and the Bell Hagg Orchestar.