A whole week of teaching is a real luxury - usually we spend 1-2 hours with a group, which is barely enough to scratch the surface, so the chance to get deeper into the music and craft of small ensemble singing is an opportunity that we all relish.For years now we've been fortunate to sustain a biennial teaching post at the Schleswig-Holstein music festival in northern Germany, but as many of you will know we set up our own Summer School in the UK back in 2013, and last week was the second incarnation of that event. We wanted to iron out many of the niggles that always plague such events first time around, and the feedback we've been receiving suggests that we were successful in this regard!I think that the most satisfying aspect, for me, is not necessarily fine-tuning the most "qualified" groups in the field but watching the individuals, who may be quite tentative at first, come together to form confident ensembles and perform together on-stage with no conductor. The music they create is perhaps the best example of what we try to do during the week, and proof that no matter your nationality or standard of musicianship, you can take ownership of choral music and craft a unique performance.That, really, is the essence of what we're doing: allowing you to find your own voice and to interpret music in your own way, as part of a team of people who have only just met for the first time. In terms of building confidence, that's a pretty much unbeatable experience.
A whole week of teaching is a real luxury - usually we spend 1-2 hours with a group, which is barely enough to scratch the surface, so the chance to get deeper into the music and craft of small ensemble singing is an opportunity that we all relish.For years now we've been fortunate to sustain a biennial teaching post at the Schleswig-Holstein music festival in northern Germany, but as many of you will know we set up our own Summer School in the UK back in 2013, and last week was the second incarnation of that event. We wanted to iron out many of the niggles that always plague such events first time around, and the feedback we've been receiving suggests that we were successful in this regard!I think that the most satisfying aspect, for me, is not necessarily fine-tuning the most "qualified" groups in the field but watching the individuals, who may be quite tentative at first, come together to form confident ensembles and perform together on-stage with no conductor. The music they create is perhaps the best example of what we try to do during the week, and proof that no matter your nationality or standard of musicianship, you can take ownership of choral music and craft a unique performance.That, really, is the essence of what we're doing: allowing you to find your own voice and to interpret music in your own way, as part of a team of people who have only just met for the first time. In terms of building confidence, that's a pretty much unbeatable experience.
A whole week of teaching is a real luxury - usually we spend 1-2 hours with a group, which is barely enough to scratch the surface, so the chance to get deeper into the music and craft of small ensemble singing is an opportunity that we all relish.For years now we've been fortunate to sustain a biennial teaching post at the Schleswig-Holstein music festival in northern Germany, but as many of you will know we set up our own Summer School in the UK back in 2013, and last week was the second incarnation of that event. We wanted to iron out many of the niggles that always plague such events first time around, and the feedback we've been receiving suggests that we were successful in this regard!I think that the most satisfying aspect, for me, is not necessarily fine-tuning the most "qualified" groups in the field but watching the individuals, who may be quite tentative at first, come together to form confident ensembles and perform together on-stage with no conductor. The music they create is perhaps the best example of what we try to do during the week, and proof that no matter your nationality or standard of musicianship, you can take ownership of choral music and craft a unique performance.That, really, is the essence of what we're doing: allowing you to find your own voice and to interpret music in your own way, as part of a team of people who have only just met for the first time. In terms of building confidence, that's a pretty much unbeatable experience.
A whole week of teaching is a real luxury - usually we spend 1-2 hours with a group, which is barely enough to scratch the surface, so the chance to get deeper into the music and craft of small ensemble singing is an opportunity that we all relish.For years now we've been fortunate to sustain a biennial teaching post at the Schleswig-Holstein music festival in northern Germany, but as many of you will know we set up our own Summer School in the UK back in 2013, and last week was the second incarnation of that event. We wanted to iron out many of the niggles that always plague such events first time around, and the feedback we've been receiving suggests that we were successful in this regard!I think that the most satisfying aspect, for me, is not necessarily fine-tuning the most "qualified" groups in the field but watching the individuals, who may be quite tentative at first, come together to form confident ensembles and perform together on-stage with no conductor. The music they create is perhaps the best example of what we try to do during the week, and proof that no matter your nationality or standard of musicianship, you can take ownership of choral music and craft a unique performance.That, really, is the essence of what we're doing: allowing you to find your own voice and to interpret music in your own way, as part of a team of people who have only just met for the first time. In terms of building confidence, that's a pretty much unbeatable experience.
A whole week of teaching is a real luxury - usually we spend 1-2 hours with a group, which is barely enough to scratch the surface, so the chance to get deeper into the music and craft of small ensemble singing is an opportunity that we all relish.For years now we've been fortunate to sustain a biennial teaching post at the Schleswig-Holstein music festival in northern Germany, but as many of you will know we set up our own Summer School in the UK back in 2013, and last week was the second incarnation of that event. We wanted to iron out many of the niggles that always plague such events first time around, and the feedback we've been receiving suggests that we were successful in this regard!I think that the most satisfying aspect, for me, is not necessarily fine-tuning the most "qualified" groups in the field but watching the individuals, who may be quite tentative at first, come together to form confident ensembles and perform together on-stage with no conductor. The music they create is perhaps the best example of what we try to do during the week, and proof that no matter your nationality or standard of musicianship, you can take ownership of choral music and craft a unique performance.That, really, is the essence of what we're doing: allowing you to find your own voice and to interpret music in your own way, as part of a team of people who have only just met for the first time. In terms of building confidence, that's a pretty much unbeatable experience.
A whole week of teaching is a real luxury - usually we spend 1-2 hours with a group, which is barely enough to scratch the surface, so the chance to get deeper into the music and craft of small ensemble singing is an opportunity that we all relish.For years now we've been fortunate to sustain a biennial teaching post at the Schleswig-Holstein music festival in northern Germany, but as many of you will know we set up our own Summer School in the UK back in 2013, and last week was the second incarnation of that event. We wanted to iron out many of the niggles that always plague such events first time around, and the feedback we've been receiving suggests that we were successful in this regard!I think that the most satisfying aspect, for me, is not necessarily fine-tuning the most "qualified" groups in the field but watching the individuals, who may be quite tentative at first, come together to form confident ensembles and perform together on-stage with no conductor. The music they create is perhaps the best example of what we try to do during the week, and proof that no matter your nationality or standard of musicianship, you can take ownership of choral music and craft a unique performance.That, really, is the essence of what we're doing: allowing you to find your own voice and to interpret music in your own way, as part of a team of people who have only just met for the first time. In terms of building confidence, that's a pretty much unbeatable experience.
A whole week of teaching is a real luxury - usually we spend 1-2 hours with a group, which is barely enough to scratch the surface, so the chance to get deeper into the music and craft of small ensemble singing is an opportunity that we all relish.For years now we've been fortunate to sustain a biennial teaching post at the Schleswig-Holstein music festival in northern Germany, but as many of you will know we set up our own Summer School in the UK back in 2013, and last week was the second incarnation of that event. We wanted to iron out many of the niggles that always plague such events first time around, and the feedback we've been receiving suggests that we were successful in this regard!I think that the most satisfying aspect, for me, is not necessarily fine-tuning the most "qualified" groups in the field but watching the individuals, who may be quite tentative at first, come together to form confident ensembles and perform together on-stage with no conductor. The music they create is perhaps the best example of what we try to do during the week, and proof that no matter your nationality or standard of musicianship, you can take ownership of choral music and craft a unique performance.That, really, is the essence of what we're doing: allowing you to find your own voice and to interpret music in your own way, as part of a team of people who have only just met for the first time. In terms of building confidence, that's a pretty much unbeatable experience.
