Singing Courses & Choral Workshops & Training

The Sixteen’s exciting new choral training scheme ‘Genesis Sixteen’ gives promising young singers aged between 18-23 the opportunity to receive free comprehensive training in the fundamentals of consort singing. The scheme involves four free residential courses a year, with a bursary for UK travel, food and accommodation. Genesis Sixteen will train its singers not only to fulfil all the basic principles of choral and consort singing (e.g. blend, ensemble and tuning) but also to make them aware of listening to and communicating with each other; to introduce them to a variety of styles and periods of music and work on them in a comprehensive and detailed manner. You can find a more detailed description and audition information on our website http://www.the-sixteen.org.uk/page/3180/Genesis-Sixteen.

ABCD  North West Honour choir Preston - The 2013 NW Honour Choir will be led again by Bob Chilcott and will involve two workshops and a final concert on 8th June. The Honour Choir consists of children in Years 5, 6, 7 or 8. The There will be three workshops to be led by Bob Chilcott as training days for the choir at Longsands Community Primary School, Fulwood, Preston with easy access from the M6 Junction 31A. The third workshop and concert on June 8th will be at Fulwood Methodist Church PR2 8EA and will be shared with the Preston Cecilian Choral Society a mixed voice adult choir. By prior arrangement with the Honour Choir Administrator, teachers are welcome to observe the workshops at a cost of £10 per day. Booking forms available at www.abcd.org.uk/events.

Singers of Note Anniversary Choral Workshop at St.Bartholomew's Church Westhoughton, near Bolton. We celebrate the births/deaths of Thomas Appleby, Benincasa, Cossetti, Dowland, Ferrabosco, Gesualdo, Verdi, Verdonck and others by performing a range of multi-part a capella works from 15th century to the 20th, sacred and secular. From 4 parts to 12, Singers of Note specialise in choral gems that are not regularly performed, and by composers who demand further recognition. There are many gems out there that need to be sung! 

For full details contact Martin Westhorp on 07710 988974 or see further information from the Events page on the Singers of Note website at www.singersofnote.com where you can also find a registration form.  Happy Music-Making.

Finding the Right Tone of Voice - Oxford – venue tbc. The subject of our second workshop is tone quality. We will develop an awareness of such physical aspects as the use the jaw, neck and tongue and their effect on tone, and then look at resonance, placement and projection. We will explore vowel and consonant production and issues of breathiness, purity of tone and vibrato and how to adapt your tone in a healthy way to suit various styles of music. For more details, please go to www.londonchoralworkshops.co.uk

Gospel Pop Vocal Workshops Southern France

Open your mind and lungs to a world of vocal repertoire which will both enrich and entertain you!

3 and 5 day intensive yet very enjoyable vocal workshops will be offered in a beautiful rural setting in the Pyrenees Mountains near Toulouse, France. Absolute beginners through to experienced singers are invited to participate in a variety of challenging and fun group activities targeted to improve vocal and breathing technique as well as general musicianship. Enjoy learning about the gospel repertoire and its influence on pop music, as well as discovering how to adapt your voice to the style of the music.

All arrangements of songs and singing activities are tailor-made to the group’s abilities. Individual coaching will also be part of the course.

All meals, accommodation and tuition is included: 3 day (4 nights) workshop 400 euros, 5 day workshop 650 euros

For more information contact: mar@singingWorkshopRetreats.com

Further details are available on my website at: www.singingworkshopretreats.com

Lift Every Voice! Gospel Singing Weekend Workshop and Concert at Walton Girls’ High School & Sixth Form, Harlaxton Rd, Grantham, Lincs NG31 7JR.

Feed your soul! A unique opportunity to immerse yourself in the joyful sounds and techniques of Gospel songs (& a bit of South African too!) in this weekend of glorious harmony singing led by the UK’s leading Gospel music exponents. Sunday’s concert features Choir Invisible, Tyndale & Kadria Thomas, the Joy Music Collective – and the massed voices of the Gospel Workshop!

For ages 16+. All welcome, no experience necessary. All taught ‘by ear’ in the traditional way.

Workshop times: Fri 14 June 7pm - 9.30pm (registration from 6.30pm);

Sat 15 June 10am - 4.30pm; Sun 16 June 10.30am - 3pm.

Concert: Sun 16 June  at 7.30pm.

Course fee: £50; EarlyBird bookings (before 14 May) £45. Students in full-time education £35. Fri only £10; Sat only £25.

Workshop tickets from: www.wegottickets.com/f/6277  Concert tickets at £8.50/£6.50 from www.wegottickets.com/event/220185

Tutors: Tyndale Thomas MBE, Kadria Thomas, Sally Brown. Info: www.choirinvisible.co.uk/workshops

Enquiries to: info@choirinvisible.co.uk

Exploring Contemporary Vocal Music CoMA Voices provides an opportunity to explore six exciting new compositions by students from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. The workshop will be led by Sarah Leonard, a leading interpreter of contemporary vocal music. Contact coma-voices@downham.org.uk

22/23 June 2013

Concert: 30 June

Music for Everyone invites you to come and sing with the Nottingham Festival Chorus in their 30th Anniversary course and concert - Sing a Celebration. The programme will include Poulenc’s exuberant Gloria, Vaughan Williams’ hauntingly beautiful Serenade to Music, Haydn’s joyous ‘Achieved is the Glorious Work’ from The Creation, Rutter’s jubilant setting of Psalm 150plus a new piece of music written for the occasion by prize winning composer Rebecca Dale.

Enrolment fee: £40.00
Singing Members rate: £30.00
Benefit claimant/Student: £20.00

Phone:
Contact us: 0115 958 9312
9.30 am - 5.00pm Weekdays
Payments by Credit/Debit card accepted

Post:
Print off and post enrolment form to us:

Music for Everyone
10 Goose Gate
Hockley
Nottingham 
NG1 1FF

Click here to download enrolment forms>>

Dartington International Summer School. This year we are celebrating 60 years on the Dartington Hall Estate with a jam-packed musical programme of courses, concerts and special projects, including a promenade performance called ‘Voices in the Garden’ in Week 4. Participants and tutors alike are involved in this project, which showcases specially commissioned works for our Summer School choirs around the beautiful landscaped gardens.

The five-week Summer school, which runs from 27 July to 31 August 2013, combines teaching from world-leading performers, conductors and composers with an inclusive approach to learning for all ages and all levels - from beginners to advanced. Sing with us!  32 courses for singers!

All-comers’ Summer School Choir performs every Friday in the medieval Great Hall with full orchestra! Repertoire includes Rosenmüller Vespers, Purcell’s Funeral Music for Queen Mary, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Beethoven Mass in C and Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms.

Beginners – Gospel Choir, Improve Your Sight-Singing, Finding Your Voice, Zimbabwean ‘Singing with Ancestors’, workshops with Linda Hirst, Della Jones, Andrew Watts and Jessica Cash.

Plus! For more accomplished singers - part songs in Chamber Choir, masterclasses with Dame Emma Kirkby, Nicholas Clapton, Yvonne Minton, Joan Rodgers, Robert Murray, Richard Edgar-Wilson, and guest tutor Matthew Rose. 

New for 2013!  Children’s Choir is for boys and girls age 6-11 and will be involved in the ‘Voices in the Garden’ project. All levels of experience and ability welcome – just bring your enthusiasm!Full info on our website www.dartington.org/summer-school

Enjoying the Difficult Bits and more – Oxford.  We will finish the current series of workshops with a weekend of singing in Oxford, including a choral evensong in one of the stunning college chapels.  We will look at some of those problem areas which arise from time to time: singing at the top and bottom of your range, singing at very loud and very quiet dynamic levels, semiquaver passages, phrases over the break, and so on… Let us know if there are any other things you'd like to cover! For more details, please go to www.londonchoralworkshops.co.uk.

Helicon Arts Jazz and Popular Choral Course in Andalucia with Mary King. Led by renowned vocal coach Mary King, the music for this course will be made up of jazz, musical theatre, popular and folk music written or arranged for mixed voice choir, and will build up towards a public performance at the end of the week in the delightful town of Arcos de la Frontera. The course will be held at Cortijo Barranco, a stunning olive estate in the Andalucian hills. During the week, excursions will include a visit to a sherry bodega in Jerez, an afternoon and evening in the beautiful city of Seville, a trip to the mountainside town of Grazalema, and an afternoon in Cadiz, the oldest city in Europe. A healthy combination of music, delicious food and wine and an active social schedule will guarantee a memorable holiday. www.heliconarts.co.uk

Do you love to sing, enjoy great food and a glass of wine in good company?   Then come and join other amateur singers on a Vocal Inspiration Singing Course in the beautiful Cotswolds.  Run by experienced Course Director Wilma MacDougall this course is designed for singers wishing to develop their musicianship/technicals skills, who enjoy learning new music, who are looking to sing in small ensembles and would like to benefit from individual tuition and coaching sessions.  All food is freshly prepared on site by our professional cook Caroline Skinner.

For further information on this and other courses please go to www.vocalinspiration.co.uk

Eton Choral Courses provide vibrant vocal training and choral experience to enthusiastic young singers. Originally set up to offer coaching and advice to prospective Oxford and Cambridge choral and organ scholars, the concentrated and varied performing experience is of equal benefit to everyone who enjoys singing, no matter what goal is in mind. The courses are concentrated and fun, and an ideal opportunity to perform choral music to a very high standard with like-minded musicians. The age range is from 16 to 20, but others just over 20 are welcome to apply. It is well known that holiday courses are immense fun. But on the Eton Choral Courses this is particularly so because those with a strong enthusiasm for singing meet, and work hard with, many like-minded people. One of the hallmarks of the courses is the enormous enjoyment that comes from the intensely concentrated teamwork, and many lasting friendships are made. Eton Choral Courses, each lasting just over a week, are held each year during July and August in various locations across the UK. All students are accommodated within the school/college with all meals provided.

Within an intensive, instructive and enjoyable week of singing, there are classes in sight-reading, aural tests and consort singing, and advice on choral scholarships is given a high priority. As well as the choral music which is central to the course, students receive individual singing lessons from resident teachers who are experienced specialists of the developing voice. Lessons are also given in Alexander Technique, enabling students to improve self-awareness, reduce tensions and risk of injury, use energy more efficiently and improve musical performance. The main emphasis of the courses lies in the choir made up of all participants, so spaces have to be limited to about 20 sopranos, 12 altos and counter-tenors, 12 tenors, and 16 basses. Mezzo-sopranos are asked to sing alto in the choir.

Le Chant des Oyseaux offers a choral workshop in Arradon (Brittany - France) with Franck Pellé-Rolland, choral conductor. Repertoire : BYRD. Free brochure available. Please visit our website http://choral-workshops.monsite-orange.fr

14 - 20 July 2013

Singing and Choir Workshop in Cubertou, S W France. Have fun with choir sessions and individual singing lessons in a relaxed, non competitive environment with a tutor who is very experienced at getting the best out of adult singers. The day will start with gentle physical and vocal warmups for all, followed by individual singing lessons. In the afternoon all singers will come together for a choir session. This is a Holiday Course; there will also be plenty of time to relax by the pool, visit the local market and the wonderful Château de Bonaguil and enjoy convivial candle lit suppers in the open barn. Director: David Dellaire

For more details and prices visit http://cubertou.com/courses/singing/

• Saturday 20 July 2013
• 18.30 - 19.15 workshop 
• 19.30 - 21.30 performance
• St Mary's Parish Church, Holy Island

• combined workshop and performance £12 (£8)
  performance only £10 (£8)

• Cogito Books, Hexham 01434 602555
• Corbridge Pianos 01434 632968
• The Barn at Beal: 01289 540044
• www.wegottickets.com

• 03.35 - 11:20
• 16.25 - 23:40

Singing course in Dore Abbey, Herefordshire Now in its seventh year, the English Choral Experience has established itself as a benchmark for choral courses for experienced singers. It seeks not only to give singers the opportunity to perform works by English composers, under the inspirational direction of celebrated choral conductor Paul Spicer, but also to put that experience in a wider context, with exhibitions, recitals and talks, making this not just a choral course but a mini Arts Festival. The programme of works to be studied in 2013 celebrates the sixtieth anniversary of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, with works written for the coronations of the last 250 years. We will also be performing Gerald Finzi's celebratory Ode For St. Cecilia.
Whether you are a seasoned 'choral-courser' or are new to the idea and looking for an escape into a week of music in this glorious Herefordshire setting (not to mention the opportunity to indulge in the gourmet food we provide!), then take a look around our website (www.englishchoralexperience.co.uk) and book a place.

Langlais Festival Choral Week Malcolm Archer will once again be directing the course , which will take place in La Fontenelle, Brittany, birthplace of French composer Jean Langlais.   Vocal coach Hilary Jones will be on hand to give individual lessons and to run a masterclass, and the works to be performed include music by Langlais, Duruflé and Villette as well as Howells, Sumsion, Stanford, Parry, Britten, Whitacre, Dove, Archer and Bednall.  For further information about this unique course please see www.brittanymusicworkshops.eu or email deanwing@lineone.net

Choral Workshop in Tuscany / Italy with the International Oratorio Choir. International Oratorio Choir (Artisitc Director Peter Laskowski) is a great international choir participating in music projects. Choir Repertoire: Aida - Gloria all'Egitto, La Traviata - Libiam ne' lieti calici,  I Lombardi alla prima crociata - O Signore, dal tetto natio, Nabucco - Va', pensiero, sull'ali dorateSome Rough knowledge of the above pieces (e.g. having worked through it yourself or indeed having performed it on a previous occasion) and commitment to attend all the rehearsals throughout the project phase is required. Choirs of 10 or more voices are invited to attend. For more information please visit: http://www.oratorio-choir.com/

Zenobia Musica present a singing week in Avila Spain, on the subject of Victoria in Rome - with choral music by Victoria (from Avila) , Palestrina and Lassus. There are also smaller groups to study italian madrigals of the period, individual singing classes and masterclasses with two specialist professors from Italy - Vincenzo Scarafile and Vera Marenco. More details of the course can be found at  https://www.dropbox.com/s/1oi0cpiki303i80/avila%202013ENGLISH.pdf

Helicon Arts Choral Summer Course in Aveyron, France with Ivor Setterfield The spectacular Château de Gissac in the Aveyron countryside is the perfect setting for a week of choral singing with Ivor Setterfield. The repertoire for the course will be made up of sacred music from ancient to modern, and will lead to a performance at the famous Abbaye de Sylvanés. During the course we will spend an afternoon and evening in the UNESCO world heritage city of Albi, have a tour and tasting at a Roquefort cheese cellar, visit the Knights Templar town of La Couvertoirade, and discover the astounding Viaduc de Millau, designed by Norman Foster. A healthy combination of music, delicious food and wine and an active social schedule will guarantee a memorable holiday. www.heliconarts.co.uk

Le Chant des Oyseaux offers a choral workshop in the abbey of Caunes-Minervois (Languedoc-Roussillon – south of France) with Franck Pellé-Rolland, choral conductor. Repertoire : PALESTRINA. Free brochure available. Please visit our website http://choral-workshops.monsite-orange.fr

Contemporary Music for All (CoMA) Summer School 2013 for Voices in Doncaster. Choral tutors Gregory Rose and Lore Lixenberg with works including Guillaume de Machaut - Messe de Notre Dame, Arvo Pärt – Solfeggio, John Tavener - He hath entered the heven (with handbells), Plainchant opera. Also Music Theatre with Lore Lixenberg and other options for

Electroacoustic / sonic composition, allcomers string ensemble, piano masterclasses. CoMA contemporary ensemble and  composition masterclasses. Evening performances with works ranging from Bach, Mussorgsky and Ravel to Michael Osborne, Michael Finnissy and  Richard Rodney Bennett, performed by tutors and ensemble-in-residence Fidelio Trio.

See http://www.allcomersmusic.com/summer/summer-school-2013 for more details.

Le Chant des Oyseaux offers a choral workshop for conductors, music teachers or students in the abbey of Caunes-Minervois (Languedoc-Roussillon – south of France) with Franck Pellé-Rolland, choral conductor. Repertoire : PALESTRINA. Free brochure available. Please visit our website http://choral-workshops.monsite-orange.fr

5 - 9 August 2013

The 3rd HISS - Historically Informed Summer School  Monday 5 - Friday 9 August 2013 at the Scarborough Campus (of Hull University). A young, welcoming, intense but friendly summer course that offer s a uniquely rewarding and enjoyable experience for singers of all kinds (and instrumentalists), exploring early and trad/folk music and their common roots. For 2013 under a broad "sacred & profane" theme, repertoire will cover court and village green and chapel and tavern perspectives. Opportunities for singers include polychoral music of Praetorius' Polyhymnia Panegyrica et Caduceatrix (1619), small and ensemble classes, eg voices with viols, with music by Dowland, Gesualdo, etc. Also Hildegard of Bingen, folk &traditional tunes, and tunes sessions in the evening, etc.  “it worked very well indeed, and HISS proved to be a truly unique fusion event."  See website (www.hiss.org.uk) for full information, to download brochure and book online. Contact: hissenquiries@gmail.com or tel: 0844 870 6478

Kilkenny Arts Festival Chorus is a week-long music project for adult singers which will take place during the 2013 Kilkenny Arts Festival. Singers will gather in Kilkenny on Monday August 12th to create this 150 strong chorus.  They will live with local singers and host families while they spend a fun week rehearsing in Kilkenny.  The experience will culminate in a public performance of the iconic work Carmina Burana by Carl Orff under the direction of the renowned Irish conductor Fergus Sheil. The Choir will perform on Saturday August 17th with a professional orchestra in the stunning surroundings of the 13th century St. Canice’s Cathedral in the Medieval Kilkenny City.Take a look at our promotional video here… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhaGZpuYONQ&feature=youtu.be

If you would like to take part please download a form from Kilkenny Arts website on http://www.kilkennyarts.ie/festival/about/chorus/  Submit an entry form along with €50 non-refundable fee to the address below. The fee covers the purchase of music, the making of a practise CD, and other administrative costs. Members of ‘Gathering  Voices’ will also be entitled to a reduction in ticket prices to other festival events. Places in Kilkenny Festival Choir are limited in order to maintain a balanced choir. Places will be secured on a ‘first come, first served’ basis after which names will go on a waiting list should there be cancellations.

26-30 August 2013

The Songmen International Choral Masterclasses 2013 - in August 2013, the very first Songmen masterclass week is coming to the beautiful Italian town of Todi (near Perugia). Singers of all nationalities with a zeal for a cappella music and a passion to take their singing and performance to the next level are invited to apply. Hosted by international, award-winning a cappella group, The Songmen, the event is a valuable opportunity for amateur and professional vocal groups and singers to come together and work on their craft through a series of public masterclasses, exclusive workshops with a dedicated tutor culminating in a final concert on the last night featuring all the groups from the week. Each day, The Songmen will work with the groups in detail, providing positive support, from general musicality and stage-craft technique, through to detailed musical and performance feedback. Individual singers who participate will be formed into a new a cappella super-group. The group will work together throughout the week towards a fresh and united a cappella sound and performance and will also sing at the final concert.

Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/TheSongmenMasterclass

Website page:   http://www.songmen.co.uk/masterclass.php

Masterclass booklet: http://www.songmen.co.uk/masterclass/Masterclass-Booklet.pdf

The Guildhall School’s A Cappella Choral Summer School spans 400 years of English choral history from the Reformation to the 2nd English Renaissance. The course will include madrigals from Musica Transalpina I of 1588 which had a profound effect on the development of the English School of composition in Renaissance England. Yonge, who published this collection, is historically connected to the City of London, and worked as a lay clerk (singer) at St Paul’s Cathedral and lived within walking distance of the old St Paul’s. Works by renaissance composers Tallis, Byrd, Gibbons, Dowland, Morley, Weelkes and Purcell through to the Second English Musical Renaissance composers Parry, Stanford, Elgar and Vaughan Williams will be included.

The A Cappella Choral Summer School is suitable for anyone with choral singing experience. Attendees can expect to sight read and polish vocal material from these periods, learn and better understand trends and influences which helped shape the music of these times. The course will also sharpen qualities which make for a higher quality of singing and performance. As well as sharpening sight reading and listening skills, the course will improve:

• balance
• intonation
• ensemble work and performance

Participants will perform a selection of songs worked on during the week in nearby St Giles’ Cripplegate.

Fee: £350 - Applications for 2013 will open on 28 January. For more information and to book visit www.gsmd.ac.uk/youth_adult_learning/music_summer_schools/a_cappalla_choral/

Join us on this all inclusive singing holiday, meet new friends and feel the magic and exhilaration of creating beautiful harmonies as one. For further information visit our website www.relaxsing.com.au or email us at info@relaxsing.com.au

John Rutter's "Requiem". 'Music Matters" is pleased to present a weekend course, exploring this stunning work. Lots of fun, plenty of singing and vocal/ choral technique. Directed by Gareth Green and Helen Francis (BBC and Chethams School of Music). Beautiful Yorkshire location, Sneaton Castle, Whitby. £249. Further details from www.mmcourses.co.uk or phone Karen (01226 752738).

Sing’n’Joy Louisville Kentucky (USA)  Experience Louisville with its historic charm as you participate in Sing’n’Joy – Louisville, KY, USA to light-up your holiday season! Sing’n’Joy is our signature series of INTERKULTUR choral events that celebrate the joy of singing together to create unforgettable musical moments. Sing’n’Joy – Louisville, KY, USA is a choral festival and competition for any non-professional choir who wishes to participate. In addition to competition, evaluations and workshops, choirs may sing in Friendship Concerts in beautiful churches, museums, and other venues in the city, or choose to sing in one of the festival stage choir projects.

Participating choirs will be able to enjoy the best of Louisville by experiencing its many annual holiday attractions! On Friday evening, choirs will join the evening parade of lights featuring a fireworks show to kick-off “Light Up Louisville,”. Then, be enchanted by “Forty Nights of Lights” a nightly light show set to music to create a festival of lights along historic 4th Street.  Participating choirs will also experience KaLightoscope, a Louisville tradition featuring illuminated Chinese lanterns designed by Chinese artisans from Zigong, China.

Kick-off your holidays by sharing your seasonal music in Louisville, the “Possibility City”! For more information visit www.interkultur.com

Ongoing

Ongoing

Ongoing

London Community Gospel Workshop Choir This is a community workshop choir that meets once a week for anyone who would like to learn to sing in a gospel style. Gospel music is undoubtedly spiritual in nature and requires expression of feeling, using body, mind and spirit. We believe it is something that everyone can share in regardless of race, beliefs and abilities. Participants will learn gospel singing as an art-form and improve their proficiency in singing. The most important requirement on this course is the desire to learn, bags of enthusiasm and the willingness to experiment and conquer inhibitions. The course will run for 8 weeks and includes a public performance at the end....more