The cultural and political history of the former Yugoslavia features large in this year’s Marchland. Greek guitarist Nikos Baroutsakis joins the conversation with a recital of music from the Balkans and the wider region, where Europe meets the Middle East. He’ll be playing pieces inspired by the folk culture of Armenia, the Balkans and Turkey. Carlo Domeniconi’s Variations on Uzun İnce Bir Yoldayım (I'm On A Long Narrow Road) - a Turkish folk song of pain and suffering - opens the programme. It is followed by Four Traditional Armenian Dances arranged for guitar by Iakovos Kolanian. Finally, a rare performance of Dusan Bogdanovic’s Six Balkan Miniatures, composed for and dedicated to, world peace during the Yugoslavian Civil War.

Fran & Flora are cellist Francesca Ter-Berg and violinist Flora Curzon. BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction described them as fiercely passionate and a string duo bound for glory, and that says it all about their approach to music making and their musical influences. For Marchland, they will be exploring musical styles from Eastern Europe, and how they are influenced by ongoing exchanges and tensions across borders and migrating communities. Expect soulful laments, exquisite songs, irresistible dance tunes, and tales of their musical adventures as outsiders intent on incorporating traditional music-making into their own, unique style.

We were keen to programme work for Marchland that explores the way culture is transformed as it crosses borders. Bardos Band’s The Oak of Two Greens shows us that this is an ancient and ongoing process. This is a melting-pot of rare and deeply-affecting music, woven around an ancient folktale. A resourceful harper charms his audience to sleep in order to steal their magical harp - The Oak of Two Greens. The harp belongs to the king of the Tuatha da Dannan; a legendary tribe which, according to legend, brought music to Ireland. Bardos Band follow the route this music might have travelled, using voice, harp, medieval fiddle, gittern, flutes and symphony to create an enchanting wash of sound. The instrumental virtuosity was stunning, The Record.

Norway’s KultNett bring together some of the foremost folk musicians and storytellers from beyond the Arctic Circle to examine the history of the peoples of Northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and Sápmi, the land of the Sámi people. Storytelling, a fast and furious fiddle and the traditional ‘joik’ of the Sámi are interwoven to create a performance that explores and interrogates the dynamics of cultural and ethnic hegemony in the Nordic region of Europe. Adapted especially for Marchland and illustrated by a multi-media presentation, this is a truly immersive experience; a rare insight into a rich and vibrant borderland culture from the Northernmost reaches of Europe.

Sefiroth is an international collective of musicians founded by brothers Nick and Alex Roth to explore traditional Sephardic repertoire. They keep the spirit of the traditions alive yet do something totally different at the same time - Fiona Talkington, Late Junction, BBC Radio 3. Sung in Ladino, these ancient songs weave timeless stories of love, loss and yearning for home, evoking the lands where the Sephardic diaspora settled: Iberia, the Mediterranean and the Middle East. The group’s arrangements are as porous and wide-ranging as the history of the Sephardim, combining acoustic and electric instruments, improvisation, modern harmonies and trance-inducing rhythms. Essential listening for anyone attending our project A Vanished Kingdom: Alex Roth will be joining us on the final Saturday as we share our imaginary borderland.

Sefiroth is an international collective of musicians founded by brothers Nick and Alex Roth to explore traditional Sephardic repertoire. They keep the spirit of the traditions alive yet do something totally different at the same time - Fiona Talkington, Late Junction, BBC Radio 3. Sung in Ladino, these ancient songs weave timeless stories of love, loss and yearning for home, evoking the lands where the Sephardic diaspora settled: Iberia, the Mediterranean and the Middle East. The group’s arrangements are as porous and wide-ranging as the history of the Sephardim, combining acoustic and electric instruments, improvisation, modern harmonies and trance-inducing rhythms. Essential listening for anyone attending our project A Vanished Kingdom: Alex Roth will be joining us on the final Saturday as we share our imaginary borderland.

A double bill of work setting the revived music of a vanished culture alongside the living, evolving traditions of a banished people. Maiden in the Moor reprise their Marchland programme of music from, and inspired by, the troubadours of Occitania, a kingdom that once straddled Southern France and Northern Spain. Later in the evening, Sefiroth once again give us their mesmerising take on the music of the Sephardim, Jews expelled from Spain in the 15th century, using acoustic and electric instruments, improvisation, modern harmonies and trance-inducing rhythms to keep the spirit of the traditions alive yet do something totally different at the same time - Fiona Talkington, Radio 3.

Early-music specialists Maiden in the Moor revive for us the music of Occitania, a vanished kingdom that once straddled Southern France and Northern Spain. The Occitan Troubadours sang of loyalty, love and longing, and their language and music survived through travelling poets and illuminated songbooks long after their culture was devastated by the Albigensian Crusade. Their work had a profound influence on European music and culture, and echoes of it can be heard in lieder, folk music, and the work of the singer-songwriters of our own time. The programme includes Troubadour and Trouvère songs, songs from the courts of Aquitaine and the Languedoc, and Spanish pilgrim songs.

Early music from Europe’s archetypal singer-songwriters, the troubadours of the vanished kingdom of Occitania, and eclectic modern Scandinavian folksong influenced by artists such as Björk and The Real Group. For the first half of this double bill, another chance to hear Maiden in the Moor’s programme of music from the courts of Aquitaine and the Languedoc, and their deeply affecting treatments of troubadour, trouvère and Spanish pilgrim songs. For the second half, Sweden and Denmark’s Akervinda breathe new life into traditional songs, singing stories of women through the ages in their inimitable, jazz inflected style.

Sweden and Denmark’s Åkervinda perform their unique, modern Scandinavian folksongs. Jazz singers at heart, and influenced by artists such as Björk and The Real Group, they share a deep love of folk music. Through improvisation, they breathe new life into traditional songs, singing stories of women through the ages. Their appearance at Marchland marks the opening of a UK tour and the release of their latest album. Have a listen to this impromptu moment of Nordic vocal music from Åkervinda. It might just tease out a few goosebumps - Tobias Elof, The Swingles. Akervinda will also be joining us on the final Saturday for our presentation of A Vanished Kingdom, giving us their perspective on women’s history and cross border co-operation.

Another chance to hear the modern Scandinavian folksong of Sweden and Denmark’s Akervinda plus a one-off set from three members of Sefiroth, Alex Roth, Alice Zawadzki & Olesya Zdorovetskaya. This programme of haunting harmonies and dazzling improvisations inspired by women’s history and the shifting populations of Europe, also serves as an opener to the presentation of our season-long, open-access project A Vanished Kingdom - a free event featuring work from our workshop participants and artists and performers from the Marchland season.