Young people get involved in the arts world through placements, volunteering, training and research. Research and review Young people experience and review high quality arts events, reflect on how they influence their work, and also find out about the artists and their career paths. I have been lucky to have a wide range of opportunities and experiences
Identify and use development opportunities and sources of information within the wider arts sector
I have joined a number of facebook sites in order to hear of local projects ad opportunities for me to get involved These include West Midlands Bands and Musicians UK Amateur Orchestras British Choirs on line I have also used word of mouth and asked other musicians in the local area.
Campden Orchestra with Nicola Benedetti I had heard of this orchestra from a friend but was not really sure how to get an audition. I searched google and came up with an email address for Charlie Bennet who runs the scheme. This orchestral week supports aspiring musicians as part of the Campden annual festival of music.
January 2016 Email to Charlie Bennet Hello there, I saw your webpage and wondered how young muscians get a chance to be involved Many thanks,
I got a reply back with an application form Thank you for your interest. There are three ways in which young musicians can get involved. Firstly, during the May festival each year we have a series of lunchtime recitals given by young artists. They are selected from advanced applicants from the top UK colleges. Competition is very high for these and they are normally allocated to final year or post grad students. Secondly, we have a training orchestra for the festival which comprises 50% key professionals from the UK’s finest orchestras and 50% advanced students or those in their first year out of college. Again competition is fierce and we normally get about 130 applicants for the 20 places.
Thirdly, for the first time this year we are forming a youth orchestra which will work for a week in late August with a final concert on August 29th. I have attached the brochure for this. We have filled most places but still need some string players. Particularly violin & viola. We also need an oboe, Ideally they should be grade 8 standard but we can be a little flexible with the strings. I have attached the brochure for this course. All details are accurate apart from the fact that we have relocated to Chipping Campden school rather than Farncombe conference centre. Hope that is of some help. Best wishes.
Youth Orchestra courseInboxxCharlie Bennett 2/17/16 to eleana1, Dear Eleana
Thank you very much for your interest in, and application to join the August 2016 Youth Orchestra course.
Please don't think we have forgotten about you all. We have all the applications on file and we will be contacting you again in due course. Depending on number of applicants for each instrument it may be necessary to audition for certain instruments.
Hopefully we will be able to let you know by the end of March whether we can confirm the place or whether there will be an auditions for some places.
Please do feel free to contact me or Jessica May (CC'd) if you have any questions
With best wishes, Charlie
Charlie Bennett Artistic Director Chipping Campden Music Festival
Artists for 2016 May Festival (8th-21st) include Paul Lewis, The Borodin Quartet, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Trevor Pinnock, Vox Luminus, Imogen Cooper, Kristian Bezuidenhout, Lucy Parham, Harriet Walter, Alex Jennings, Isabelle Faust, The Aquinas Trio, The Nash Ensemble, Adrian Brendel, Aleksandar Madzar, Alfred Brendel, Angelika Kirchschlager, Julius Drake, & the Festival Academy Orchestra conducted by Thomas Hull & led by Ruth RogersCharlie Bennett <[email protected]>4/30/16
to me Sorry for the delay in responding and the lack of info on the summer course
We are up to our eyes in festival box office etc and have also had some nightmare problems on Visas for some of our visiting Russians musicians, which has meant an enormous amount of extra admin. We have people flying in from all over the world and the logistics are always complicated but this year more so than ever.
The course in August is definitely happening and I’m fairly certain we will be able to offer you a place.
We will get back with further information as soon as possible. Realistically it may after the festival ends on 21st May. After that all our energies will be focused on the Youth Academy Summer school.
Best wishes. Charlie
1 6 16
We have finally sorted all the admin from the May Festival and can now concentrate fully on the Youth Orchestra course.
We are coordinating all the applications and I'm happy to say it looks as though we can offer you a place on the August course.
With the repertoire we are doing and with Nicola Benedetti as soloist it's going to be a memorable week. We have a lot of rep to get through in one week so be prepared to work hard but, as last year, there will be time for relaxation, and chances to talk to the professionals about career prospects and opportunities as well.
The standard of the May festival orchestra was higher than ever this year and all the May Academy members are committed to coming back in August so you are going to have really high quality mentors to share a desk with. And we have a great group of highly experienced professionals who will be in attendance each day to advice, take sectional rehearsals and sit in on some of the rehearsals. Some of the professionals will also play in the concerts if we need a section bolstering.
I hope you are all still able to commit to the course but do contact Jessica May (CC'd) or me if you have any questions.
Best wishes,
Charlie Bennett
15 7 2016 We are delighted to confirm your place on the August course. Attached is a draft schedule for each day. In addition to the sectional rehearsals in the afternoons it may be possible to arrange some private tuition with the tutors on certain days.
The fee for the course covers all your tuition and lunch each day plus tea & coffee breaks refreshments.
You do not need to send any course fees yet but please could you confirm that you definitely want to take up your place.
We very much look forward to welcoming you to what will be a very concentrated week of work but also great fun for all. Do contact Jessica May (CC'd) or me if you have any questions.
Best wishes, Charlie
Hello to you all
We are very much looking forward to seeing you all on 21st August 2016 at Chipping Campden School. I am attaching the schedule again. Please note that we will be in the main hall at Chipping Campden School on Cidermill Lane. We'll confirm which entrance to use nearer the time.
Jessica will be sending you a link soon to the orchestral parts you need to look at. With the violins it may not be possible to decide on desking until the first day so could you look at both violin 1 &2 for now.
Many thanks to those that have already paid. For those that haven't, the cost of the course is £250 per student and payment is now due. Payment either by cheque made to Chipping Campden Music Festival and sent to:
Charlie Bennett Artistic Director
28 7 2016 Hello all.
Hope that you got the link to the drop box of music and that you are able to open it and access all the parts. Please let me know if you have any difficulty. I can send you a simple link to cut and paste.
Programme We require very short biographies about you all. 50 words is plenty - what you do, your interests, where you study your instrument etc etc. And also a head shot of you in jpeg form. I need this by end of next week, please.
Many thanks
12 8 2016 Hello to you all Please note that concert attire for Chipping Campden concerts will be black suit or dinner suit, black bow tie and white shirt for men and all black for women. Any problems, give me a yell. I have a couple of dinner suits that can be borrowed if necessary.
Jess
19 8 2016 Those of you coming to the Youth Orchestra concerts on Thursday 25th & Saturday 27th August may be interested to know that the Eight Bells is offering extended dining hours and will take last orders up to 9.45 on both nights. Pre-booking is highly recommended as they will be extremely busy both nights.
http://www.eightbellsinn.co.uk/ Tel 01386 840371
We have sold all reserved seating for the 27th and for the 25th we have just 6 x 2nd priced reserved seats remaining. For both evenings we have unreserved seating available (seat guaranteed but in the unnumbered section of the church)
An updated form is attached which you can scan and return to us. Or call the office 01386 849018. If we are not there leave a message and we will call you back.
6 9 2016 Thank you to all who came along to support the Youth Orchestra concerts. They were the culmination of a very hard week’s work where the young players excelled themselves, thanks in large part to the dedication of conductor Thomas Hull, orchestra leader Ruth Rogers, and our other professional tutors, Jamie Hutchinson, Peter Adams, Tony Robb, Olly Preece, and Eric Allen. Our soloist Nicola Benedetti was an inspirational presence helping lift the young players to heights I think they didn’t realise they were capable of.
Speaking of the course Nicola said;
“I’ve had the most wonderful few days here. It’s difficult to create just the right environment to make music. Somehow the combination of the younger students and the older post graduates, with the involvement of Tom, Ruth, & Charlie, and all the tutors has created an unusually positive, focused and really uplifting environment. I felt I could step into this amazing working organism and just make music with them”
My thoughts and reflections This was an additional and totally wonderful experience that I had of the wider arts sector which has underlined my passion for classical music – I am just sad that opportunites to progress further are limited and I am going to struggle to find another opportunity of this intensity and calibre. Most local orchestras have a waiting list for the flute position. This totally reinforced for me that my first love is music and the flute. This was a completely different experience to anything I have done before in its intensity and focus A very intensive week but enjoyed by all. I was paired with a flutist who was just completing their university study. The flute part in the programme was limited with much more focus placed on the strings – this is clearly a better instrument choice as there are more openings for players across the country. I had the opportunity to play with an international violinist and some fantastic musicians I thrived on the whole experience. I managed the music well but I loved gaining the performance skills and the opportunity to play long and detailed pieces of music rather than short pop songs. Playing with this orchestra made me really want to join an orchestra and explore the classical side more. I approached a number of local orchestras but sadly they were all full and had no spaces for flute. This is something I am pursuing. I also want to return again next summer if possible. Nicola practices intensively everyday and has a very focused rehearsal schedule. Being part of this experience though nerve wracking at first, helped me with my composition skills too as I could see and hear and talk to other instrumentalists to explore their instrument challenges which I had not really thought about before. Overall I feel that I gained so much from the experience Funding for the orchestra week that I did is through each student paying a fee and by the organisation holding concerts to raise money and having a bank of patrons Keeping these orchestral opportunities going requires a lot of hard work and dedication by many volunteers in order to pay the key professionals to lead the event
Mr Lloyd-Webber said: "Thank goodness for Chipping Campden Music Festival. The Festival’s involvement in music education grows with every passing year; which is just as well, as our children seem to have less and less access to music in their schools with every passing year.."
This experience really inspired me and made me want to pursue being a classical flautist However after the elation of the experience, I realise that being a classical musician is tough There are few openings and a lot of competition
Teamwork In the orchestra, I was part of a very skilled and focused team. We all had a common goal to make the final performances a s great as they could be. Nicola also has a reputation to protect. We had to work effectively together to produce a sound people want to hear, and to do justice to the notes that the composer has written on a page. If one person misses a part or even a note, it can affect the entire performance.
Organisation We had special sectional masterclasses before the whole work was put together. These really aided confidence and accuracy but it was magical hearing the whole and not just the woodwind section in the end. It was a long day and giving up a week of the holiday to play I thought was going to be a little too intense but in the end I am really glad that I did it. Coping under pressure Being part of this high profile orchestra brought with it an extra pressure as we did not want to let Charlie and the sponsors down. I was required to play my instrument to a high standard, performing beautifully without making any mistakes. I had to overcome my nerves and put on top-notch performance. Discipline It takes a lot of hard work and determination to reach a high standard on any musical instrument. Nicola practises every day and has done for years. Not all the music practice was fun, as the strings had by far the greater part so for some of the time we were observing them. However this was also useful as I could see how the bow markings for example were added to the score. Evidence Chipping Campden Festival with Nicola Bernedetti Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCSE3SAKx6g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqDKGVv6r2k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWqqlgi2Zhg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKf6jIXz8K0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syfodH_snYo
The rehearsals - sectionals
At one of the two concerts
The audience were thrilled and clapped and cheered – it was an amazing feeling
The programme
The ovation
Stratford Festival Orchestra As a classically trained musician, I wanted to broaden my experience and develop my skills further by expanding my repertoire and my experience of different genres. I am exploring possible options in my local area This proved difficult but I found an unexpected outlet through Simon Kemp who I already knew. He was starting a new project. Initially I was drawn to jazz but cannot not find any outlets there so I explored alternative options. I contacted the leader of the new Stratford Festival Orchestra Ray Coyte He had heard about me through my sax laying in the Rhythm and Blues Band but i wanted to develop my flute more after much emailing he said he was happy for me to join This is the first step on my journey Why did I choose this ? Typically I have been taught and taken exams that are based on classical music Most orchestras play classical music To play rock music made famous by rock bands is a massive challenge I am going along to weekly rehearsals. The music is sent out in advance so that players can learn their parts To begin with I am finding this slightly odd and am not sure what I really think of the sound that I am making. I have never played flute with guitars for example and have been directed to listen to more rack and pop music.. Being from a classical background I am not really sure how this is going to work out but I think that the end result could be ok but we shall see! The Orchestra has a number of instruments not usually found in a classical orchestra - saxophone, guitar, bass guitar A choir also joined us This interested me - the mix of singing with the rock orchestra. Usually I sing in a choir but I felt that I would like to look into developing my singing further. I have never had the confidence to sing on my own. That became the second part of my challenge that I was not really expecting and the one that added/ changed me as a practitioner. By going along I have found that I have been truly inspired to branch out and try new things This is hard for me as I like to play exactly what is on the page so any degree of improvisation and extending my instrument to play rock is certainly a new experience.
The first concertThe concert was The concert was however a great success and I was surprised by how many people actually wanted to listen to this sort of music I was not sure that we would get an audience or whether the audience would be expecting what they got! We lost all the baroque in the end - which is my favourite - in the development process but we gained a wide range of instruments including guitars and the final sound was better than I had expected This is really outside my comfort zone but I have found that I am really enjoying it. Without this opportunity I would not have even thought of doing this. As this is a totally new venture, we did wonder what the response would be It would not attract those who usually went to orchestras There is a degree of elitism in the music world - this seems to be about breaking down barriers too We are aiming at an entirely new audience and it seems to be working Originally we planned to play a mix from Baroque through to pop but in the end the repertoire was rock and the baroque was lost I think this is because there is a lot of competition for purely classical productions and the audience for this mix of music is very different The Video evidence
These are videos taken at the concert
Stratford Festival Orchestra Baroque and Roll https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoE6fzSLmZ8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLRzzMqwYUg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IL2dJSBCoX4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3X97KM081U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2xOqwaQ_A0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq9KURBQ8v0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDE1LE17B1g
Feedback Stratford Festival Orchestra carol rowleyMar 20 to meHi The concert was fabulous. Every piece was excellent and Hallelujah was extra fabulous. The male singer was good too and so was the young girl. Indeed they sounded professional - I'm sure they were. What a fabulous experience Ray and Simon
Mar 19 Well that was fun wasn’t it ! From Simon and I - we want to say thank you for all your hard work and support.
We have been sent so many texts and emails from people who said they loved last night.
My sister in law said that “it was spine tingling”. Phil Morris of Brailes said “It was brilliant and cant wait for the next concert”. Becky Gilbert from Bristol said “It was absolutely amazing”.
We know how much effort you all put in - not only last night and not only at rehearsals.
To leave work early on tuesday nights in the middle of winter - perhaps go without supper - perhaps make arrangements for babysitters - perhaps drive long distances and perhaps not get homework done. For people who are not even in the Orchestra but who picked up - and dropped off - and waited - and had to rearrange their Tuesday nights as well - they too played a big part in all of this and they deserve our gratitude.
We also all know how difficult it can be at times to find space in a busy life to take yourself off and practice on your own. For all of that - thank you. Thank you for being an important part of this thing. Thank you for being wonderful people. Thank you for making last night special. No rehearsals this coming Tuesday you will be pleased to know - but we will restart soon as we need to focus on the recording studio next month.
Well done. We are so proud of you - you guys rock! Simon and Ray What else have I learned? I am learning how to use dropbox and how to use the composing software Sibelius which I initially found quite hard In terms of my composing there also been benefits. I have also tried new things and shared my attempts in school gaining feedback. People felt that I had made a good attempt but that I could have done more on branching out to use a wider range of instruments. I think I am still working with what I know but without the experience with the orchestras and sibellius I would have been still focused on classical only so I think that I have definitely developed but I can move the boundaries still further I have been advised to tackle more arranging and see how this helps me use the software more and also builds my understanding of different instruments like guitars and drums.. I also need to explore more unusual instruments like the sitar. However without the orchestra experience and the mentoring, I would have composed for flute which is my favourite instrument. Rather I am now looking at violin and moving away from the purely classical genre.
Photo Evidence
The Concert - photographic evidence
The venue and the whole orchestra
The final running order As you can see the pieces have been made famous by other rock bands and artists like Led Zeppelin and David Bowie