Welcome from the Summer School Artistic Director

We’re celebrating 10 years of MfE’s Summer School in style! Pop the champagne corks and come and join the party. The choir will be enjoying a number of popular celebratory opera choruses from Donizetti and Verdi, as well as hits by Mendelssohn, Monteverdi, Rutter and more. The orchestra travels to the stars with extracts from The Planets and comes back to earth with Johann StraussRadetsky March. The wind band will take on the celebratory Concert Prelude by Philip Sparke and the saxophone ensemble will tackle Shostakovich’s jazzy Waltz No.2.

You’re in for a treat this year, with no less than 3 CONCERTS! The Tailleferre Ensemble bring top flight wind playing to the table on Monday, Leo Melvin, esteemed cellist from the Nottingham based Villiers Quartet inspires us on Tuesday and vocal ensemble Sonoro sing for joy on Wednesday. Once the concerts are over, learn from these great artists in specially organised workshops just for you!”

 


The Music:

For Singers:

Donizetti

Verdi

Mendelsosohn

Rutter

 

For Orchestra:

Extracts from The Planets

Johann Strauss, Radetsky March

 

 

 

For Wind Band:

Philip Sparke, Concert Prelude

 

 

 

For Saxophone Ensemble:

Shostakovich’s, Waltz No.2.

 

 

 

For String Orchestra:

TBC

 

 

 


Conductors:

Alex Robinson – Artistic Director

Orchestra & Strings conductor

Alex Robinson is an experienced conductor and harpsichordist with a first-class Music degree from the University of Manchester and an MMus in Performance (Conducting) from the Royal Northern College of Music. He studied under Mark Heron, Justin Doyle, and Clark Rundell.

He is currently the Music Director of Haffner Orchestra, Furness Bach Choir, Amaretti Chamber Orchestra and Nottingham Youth Orchestra, and is the Artistic Director of Music for Everyone in Nottingham. Alex has worked with a number of orchestras and opera companies in the UK and internationally, including the BBC Philharmonic, the Hallé, Northern Chamber Orchestra, English Touring Opera, Heritage Opera, Radius Opera, Spokane Symphony, Prague Philharmomia, Hradec Kravlove Philharmonic, Moravian Symphony Orchestra, Eboracum Baroque, Psappha, House of Bedlam and Ensemble Laus Deo.

He has worked as an assistant conductor to Sir Mark Elder, Juanjo Mena, James Lowe, Clark Rundell, Gerry Cornelius, Nicolas Collon, Jonathan Peter Kenny, Vassily Petrenko and Sir Andrew Davies. Alex regularly works with many international soloists including Martin Roscoe, Milan Al-Ashab, Inon Barnatan, Sophie Rosa, Savva Zverev, April Koyejo-Audiger, Simon Walfisch, and many more.

Recently he conducted at Snape Maltings for the 75th Aldeburgh Festival with House of Bedlam, and assisted English Touring Opera with Judith Weir’s ‘Blond Eckbert’. He has also recorded an album of continuo improvisations on harpsichord, conducted the premiere of Samson Young’s ‘One of Two stories or Both’ for Manchester International Festival, worked as repetiteur for several operas including Handel’s Tamerlano, Ottone, Agrippina and Silla, and worked as Assistant Conductor for the premiere of Alan Williams’ ‘The Arsonists’ opera in a Yorkshire accent with the BBC Philharmonic.

Keiron Anderson

Wind Band & Saxophone Ensemble conductor

Keiron Anderson was born in Aberdeen and studied trumpet and keyboard at the Royal Northern College of Music where he started both a light orchestra and big band.

Keiron currently directs Yorkshire Wind Orchestra, Nottingham Symphonic Winds with whom he has produced many excellent concerts and recordings, and Phoenix Concert Band.

He has worked with many other groups including Harlequin Brass, Leeds Conservatoire Wind Orchestra, Nottingham Symphony Orchestra, the National Saxophone Choir of Great Britain and numerous chamber ensembles throughout the UK and Europe as part of a diverse and rich schedule of conducting.

Keiron is a prolific Composer producing unique and exciting new music across an eclectic mix of styles. Some of these works are written specifically for the groups he directs or as commissions for other ensembles. He recently conducted his own music at the Bavarian Music Academy Annual Wind Orchestra course in Germany, coaching composers and conducting the excellent orchestra.

Keiron has worked extensively as a freelance performer working with the Scottish Ballet Orchestra, London Festival Ballet, Welsh Opera, Scottish National Orchestra and the BBC Northern Radio Orchestra. Keiron established the Keiron Anderson Orchestra and completed several years working on cruise ships followed by a period in Spain before returning to the UK and performing all over the country with artists such as Cannon and Ball, Ronnie Corbett, Bob Monkhouse, Little and Large, Frankie Vaughan and many more.

Keiron’s teaching experience includes 10 years as a peripatetic teacher of brass and composition, three years as Head of the Ilkley Music Centre and 18 years as Head of Music, then Head of Creative Arts at Ilkley Grammar School.

Hilary Campbell

Choir conductor

Hilary Campbell is a freelance choral specialist, Founder and Musical Director of professional chamber choir Blossom Street, and Musical Director of Bristol Choral Society, West London Chorus and West London Chamber Choir. Her project work includes guest conducting ensembles such as the BBC Singers, Trinity Laban Chamber Choir, the Fourth Choir and the University of Greenwich Choir, and Chorus Mastering the BBC Symphony Chorus and Royal Academy of Music Symphony Chorus.  She is also Associate Conductor of Ex Cathedra, and often runs projects with Master of the Queen’s Music, Judith Weir, at the Royal Academy of Music, in conjunction with Blossom Street and the RAM composition department.  Hilary also leads workshops for the Royal Opera House and is a course director for Helicon Arts.

Hilary gained a Distinction for an MMus in Choral Conducting at the Royal Academy of Music with Patrick Russill; she was also awarded the three choral conducting prizes.  She received a Distinction for an MA in Vocal Studies at the University of York and undertook an Advanced Postgraduate Diploma in singing at Trinity College of Music.  Following her studies, she returned to the RAM as the Meaker Fellow 2012-13, the first choral conductor to have been thus honoured.

In 2018, Hilary was delighted to be made an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM).  In addition to her regular conducting work, Hilary also acts as an adjudicator, choral workshop leader and guest conductor.  She is a founder member of the Voices of London Festival, and is also a published and prize-winning composer.  With Blossom Street, she has released two award-winning Naxos recordings, and recently released a third.

Richard Cox

Summer School accompanist

Local pianist Richard Cox has worked in the Nottingham area and beyond for many years, accompanying numerous soloists and ensembles. He studied music at the University of Nottingham specialising in piano performance with Brenda May, and began working with community organisations after graduating, initially through Music for Everyone (then known as the Nottingham Choral Trust).

He now spends the majority of his time running music-related businesses, including Europadisc (selling recordings of classical music to collectors around the world), and local woodwind specialist, Windblowers.

 

 

Guest Artists:

Tailleferre Ensemble

Devoted to promoting women in classical music, the Tailleferre Ensemble is a UK- based chamber collective founded by oboists Nicola Hands and Penelope Smith. Since its inception in 2019 the group has gone from strength to strength. The ensemble’s work encompasses diverse instrumentation, time periods, and genres, with a particular onus on promoting underrepresented and underappreciated works and composers, both historical and contemporary. Their playing has been praised for its ‘extensive palette of timbres’.

In February 2023 the ensemble released their debut album There are Things to be Said, which reviewers praised for their ‘superb musicianship’ and ‘effortless’ performance. Textura magazine celebrated it as an ‘exceptional debut’ on account of ‘the beauty and precision of the musicians’ playing and their sensitivity to dynamics.’ The ensemble has enjoyed airtime on radio stations across Europe and Canada, and is developing an ongoing relationship with BBC Radio 3. They are especially proud to have ongoing collaborations with numerous contemporary composers, many of whom have dedicated new works to them, including Ingrid Stölzel, Rhian Samuel, Sally Wave, Jonathan Heeley, and Dana Joras.

Recently the ensemble has performed at London’s Conway Hall and St. John’s Smith Square, University Hall in Nottingham. They have also recently collaborated with the English Music Festival and are repeat artists for the Nottingham Chamber Music Festival and Leatherhead Concert & Arts Society. They regularly perform in recital series around the UK, including at St. James Piccadilly, Aylesbury Lunchtime Concerts, Music-at-Hill, St. John’s ARC, and Brighton’s Chapel Royal. The ensemble has also collaborated with Façade Ensemble and the South Florida Chamber Ensemble.

Individual members’ own playing experience includes with orchestras such as Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, English National Opera, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Aurora Orchestra, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Wexford Festival Opera orchestra and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, as well as venues such as the National Theatre, Royal Opera House, London Coliseum, Wilderness Festival, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, National Portrait Gallery, and Wigmore Hall, and recording at Abbey Road Studios.

The Tailleferre Ensemble are Musicians in Residence at St. John’s Church, Notting Hill.

Leo Melvin

Leo Melvin is a cellist based in London. He enjoys a varied career of solo, chamber music and orchestral playing.

Leo graduated with honours from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in 2013 where he studied with the great Richard Lester. He then went on to study in Germany for a couple of years with several eminent professors such as Troels Svane, Claudio Bohorquez and Kleif Carnarius.

Returning to London, Leo then began working with the top London orchestras – LSO, LPO and Philharmonia. Alongside this he would play solo recitals around the country. Several years later he would join the Villiers Quartet, of which he is still a member today. Leo’s most recent and significant accolade would be becoming a guest principal cello of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Leo also teaches both cello and piano, and has a deep passion for great music. His greatest hobby is playing the piano and chamber music with friends, but is also an avid fan of science and reading.

 

Sonoro

Described as “outstandingly refreshing” (BBC Music Magazine) and “abundant in vibrant colour” (The Guardian), Sonoro is one of the UK’s foremost vocal ensembles. Under conductor Neil Ferris, Sonoro have performed at internationally renowned festivals and concert halls, including St Magnus Festival, Orkney, St Martin-in-the-Fields and King’s Place, London, and in St Gallen, Switzerland. Sonoro’s critically acclaimed debut album ‘Passion and Polyphony’ featured works by Sir James MacMillan and Frank Martin, and ‘Christmas with Sonoro’ was BBC Music Magazine’s Christmas choice in 2018. Recent releases which have gained significant recognition include an album of music by Martin Bussey, and two volumes of ‘Choral Inspirations’ featuring choral classics partnered with newly commissioned works by established and emerging British composers, including Errollyn Wallen, Cecilia McDowall, and Oliver Tarney. Combining a passion for excellence in choral music and education, Sonoro’s SING! outreach programme delivers projects in schools, as well as side-by-side performances and conducting masterclasses. SING! has reached hundreds of children and amateur singers, inspiring either a first love of singing or a renewed engagement with a shared passion in choral music.

“Classical concerts seldom feel so downright uplifting.” The Scotsman

“A rich, robust texture, abundant in vibrant colour and undoubted excitement.” The Guardian

“Outstandingly refreshing.” BBC Music Magazine

“A huge dynamic and expressive range.” Gramophone


The Details:

A Summer School pack with all your music will be sent out to you approximately four weeks in advance.

Each day will start at 10am (registration from 9.30am) and finish at approximately 5.30pm with Showcase Concerts for the singers and instrumentalists early on Wednesday evening.

“It was great fun. A varied and fascinating mix of music. Tutors were excellent.”

Be part of the social buzz. There is plenty of time to chat to tutors, browse the stands and enjoy the school grounds.

There will be coffee and pastries to welcome you on the first day and a farewell buffet on the final evening.


The Venue:

Trent College

 

We will be back at the beautiful Trent College in Long Eaton, where expert-led rehearsals will be interspersed with inspiring recitals from acclaimed musicians.

 

 

 


How to Enrol 

The Summer School fee: £145 for MfE Members, £175 for non-members, £85 for Students, covers all music, tuition, refreshments at breaks, and drinks and buffet after the showcase concert. In order to provide the best quality experience for all participants, some instrument numbers will be capped. Please book early to avoid disappointment.

 


 

KEEPING IN TOUCH – Diary Dates!

Hello Everyone

In Monday’s email I said I would let you know our plans for the coming months just as soon as they were finalised – and here they are!

We’ll be letting you have further details about timings, repertoire etc. closer to the event – but at least you have something to put in your diaries and, we hope, look forward to!

Live music making is coming back – let’s all keep our fingers crossed that the government doesn’t have to change the ‘road map’!

With all best wishes

Angela


MfE Workshops and Concert Dates – 2021/22

Those in red are for youth, those in blue for adult and those in green for everyone!

2021

  • Sunday 23 May, Albert Hall – Family Singing Afternoon
  • Saturday 19 June, Albert Hall –Youth Wind Band Playing Afternoon
  • Sunday 20 June, Albert Hall –Youth String Orchestra Playing Afternoon
  • Sunday 27 June,  Albert Hall –Festival Chorus Workshop day
  • Saturday 10 July, Albert Hall –Blow the Dust off your Instrument Workshop Day
  • Saturday 17 July, Albert Hall – Festival of Youth Workshop Day
  • Mon – Wed 9, 10 & 11 August, Trent College (venue to be confirmed) –MfE Summer School

  • Sat/Sun 9 & 10 October, venue to be decided –Festival Chorus Singing Weekend
  • Saturday 16 Oct, Albert Hall –Festival Chorus Concert
  • Sat/Sun 6 & 7 November, venue to be decided –Youth Instrumental Playing Weekend
  • Sunday 14 November, Albert Hall –Youth Instrumental Concert
  • Saturday 11 Dec, venue to be decided –Youth Christmas Singing Afternoon
  • Sunday 12 Dec,  Albert Hall –Christmas is Coming Concert

2022

  • Saturday 8 January,  Albert Hall –Blow the Dust off your Instrument Workshop Day
  • Sat/Sun 29 & 30 January, venue to be decided – Festival Chorus Singing Weekend
  • Saturday 5 February, Albert Hall – Festival Chorus Concert
  • Sat/Sun 26 & 27 February, venue to be decided –Youth Instrumental Playing Weekend
  • Sunday 6 March, Albert Hall –Youth Instrumental Concert
  • Saturday 23 April, venue to be decided –Musicals Singing Workshop
  • Sunday 24 April, Albert Hall –Musicals Concert
  • Sat/Sun 14 & 15 May, venue to be decided –Youth Singing Weekend
  • Sunday 22 May, Albert Hall –Youth Singing Concert
  • Saturday 11 June, Albert Hall –Blow the Dust off your Instrument Workshop Day
  • Saturday 25 June, venue to be decided –Festival Chorus Workshop Day
  • Mon – Wed 8, 9 & 10 August, venue to be decided –MfE Summer School

Do you play an instrument and are approximately grade 2+? ‘Brush Up Your Playing’ is MfE’s latest online project for all instrumentalists (youth and adult!) looking to get playing again during lockdown while we are not able to hold rehearsals ‘in person’.

Instrument warm up videos

Over the first 4 weeks we will publish 4 ‘getting back into good working order’ videos, one for each of the instrument sections (as listed below) on our YouTube channel with a new one published each Friday. These will last about 8 – 10 mins.

The videos will remain on YouTube over the coming months so you can look at them at a time to suit you.

Instrument sections and tutors:

1) Violins and Violas with Joy Bower

2) Cellos and Double basses with Jenny Merriman

3) Woodwind with Gill Henshaw

4) Brass with Stuart Bower

What’s next?

We then hope to develop the project with interactive sessions, group playing etc and we hope that the whole project will culminate in a summer Blow the Dust course at the Albert Hall – Covid-19 permitting!

How to sign up

To sign up for this free online project, please fill in the registration form via the green ‘Book Tickets’ button at the bottom of this page.

Simply complete your details and press ‘Submit’. You will then be on the mailing list for each new session, sent out on Fridays.

Firstly, the closing date for applications for the exciting post of a Principal Youth Music Animateur is this Friday, 10th June. Information here.

And secondly, Blow the Dust is back on Saturday. This is a day for adult instrumentalists to make music together. So whether you play the tuba, the viola or the recorder, etc, now’s your chance. Book here. We just ask that instrumentalists are Grade 2 and above, and recorder players can read music and play at a steady speed in an ensemble. There is an informal concert at 5pm, lasting about an hour. Albert Hall, Nottingham.

Gardens-Open-signFinally, an extremely pleasant fund raiser. All welcome. This weekend is the Beeston and Chilwell Open Garden Trail. The East of England Singers will be giving a jolly performance at 60 Park Rd, 2pm, Sunday 12 June. Money raised by the garden owner is generously being donated to Music for Everyone – refreshments available, and a beautiful garden to enjoy. Perhaps come on the tram, Chilwell Rd stop, and then a short walk.