Congratulations to them I say, & aren't some of us just a little jealous that they actually had that opportunity to study & immerse themselves in the music & learn to play/sing from some of our very skilled musicians & singers. I also heard those young people at Sidmouth last year & was very impressed but their skill.

IMHO any way we have of encouraging young people into preserving traditional music should be encouraged.

If they take their skills out & teach, then more power to them, teaching folk music in schools etc. will hopefully encourage more young people to enjoy traditional music, & will give them something other than classical to try if they go on to become students of the art.

With regard to style of performance, even classical music styles change & evolve. After all folk music changes constantly, & each person singing a song or playing a piece of music will interpret it in their own way, look at how many different songs come out of the same source. I really don't think that anyone can say, no matter how much they are immersed in any type of music, what is the definitive of the correct way to play folk music, & I am sure these young people will continue to develop in their own way.

Angela