Janice Burns & Jon Doran are an award-winning Anglo-Scottish duo who came together after discovering a shared love of traditional music and songs that tell vivid stories about the nature of life and our place in the world.

Janice & Jon’s ‘clever and uncluttered musical storytelling’ (Songlines) comes alive through tight vocal harmonies and sensitive interplay between mandolin, bouzouki, and guitar. Their arrangements have a spellbinding presence and an understated energy that transports their songs from the pages of books and manuscripts into the imagination of the listener.

Their debut album ‘No More the Green Hills' has gained overwhelmingly positive feedback, finding its place in the Official UK Folk Chart whilst gaining airplay throughout the UK and internationally, on stations such as BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio Scotland. R&R describes it as ‘superb’, ‘Great singing, fantastic harmonies, and very sympathetic backing’.

They are building a reputation as one of the UK's foremost touring acts, with their relaxed and personable approach to performance. They've played at notable venues and festivals such as Cambridge Folk Festival, Edinburgh Tradfest, Sidmouth Folk Festival, Cecil Sharp House, and Sage Gateshead.

Folk songs have always travelled, put down new roots, borrowed and evolved. Janice & Jon bring together songs that have survived through the ages, shapeshifting and adapting to changing environments as they’ve been passed from singer to singer. 

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Introducing our Summer Festival 2025: Voices of the North. From Friday 27th June to Friday 4th July, we'll be welcoming singers from the North of the UK across a variety of vocal music genres, including opera, art song, folk, jazz, soul, and musical theatre.

Our Concert Hall will be transformed into an intimate performance space for a new concert experience. Seating will be on round, cabaret style tables, with ambient lighting, nibbles, and a place to hold your drinks while you enjoy the musical offerings on stage.

This summer we're trialing going digital for our programmes. As part of the School of Music, and the wider University's commitment to sustainability, we'll be hosting our programmes online only to reduce the amount of printing produced by the Concert Series. Full programme details will be available online and links to find this information will be available via email and on screens around the building.

All events will be ticketed, with tickets available to be booked online, with limited numbers of tickets available on the door on the day. Booking opens on Friday 30th May. Friday lunchtime concerts are free or pay as you feel. Other events are priced individually. All events are free for students.

Excited to see the full lineup? We'll be releasing full programme details via our newsletter and social media throughout May and June. Our festival is the perfect blend of tradition and innovation, with concerts in a variety of genres and formats to cater to all audiences.