NCEM Education Newsletter Summer 2010

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summer 2010

ISSUE 8

a chance for you to get involved!

Welcome to the NCEM’s education and community newsletter – the space for you to find out more about events and activities.

SHORTLIST

In this issue find out who has been shortlisted for the NCEM Composers Award, discover more about theVenus and Adonis on-line teaching resource and see what the Minster Minstrels are doing next!

Seven talented young composers from across the UK have been selected to take part in the prestigious 2010 NCEM Composers Award in York on Thursday 20 May. This is the second year of the National Centre for Early Music’s partnership with BBC Radio 3 and The Tallis Scholars which will see the winning pieces, for unaccompanied voices, receive the honour of being premiered by The Tallis Scholars at the Chester Summer Music Festival on Wednesday 30 June 2010. Highlights of this performance will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s Early Music Show.

The short-listed composers are: Sarah Gait, 15 from Cumbria, Owain Park, 16 from Bristol,Tom Harrold, 18 from Manchester currently studying at the Royal Northern College of Music, Mark Gotham, 23 from Essex, a graduate of the Royal

Northern College of Music and University of Oxford, Peter Foggit, 25 from London, currently studying at Trinity College of Music, Emma-Ruth Richards, 25 from Manchester currently studying at the Royal Northern College of Music and Alexander Campkin, 25 from London.

Over 70 young composers entered the Award this year and the judges were impressed by the consistently high standard of work.They were particularly delighted by the interesting choices of text; bold uses of vocal texture and striking moments of harmonic or melodic invention.

Above all, the judges were struck by the compositional competence displayed in all the

works submitted and it took many hours of discussion to arrive at the final seven pieces.

The finalists will work with composer Christopher Fox in a workshop at the National Centre for Early Music with the Ebor Singers on Thursday 20 May and this will be followed by a public performance and awards ceremony at All Saints Church, North Street,York at 7.30pm.

Tickets for this concert are available at www.ncem.co.uk or by contacting the Box Office on 01904 658338.

Information about the 2011 NCEM Composers Award will be available in the autumn.

BEVERLEY SCHOOLS CHORUS Pupils from several secondary schools will perform in the Beverley & East Riding Early Music Festival.

Led by musicians Sam Dunkley and Andrew Passmore, the pupils from South Hunsley School and Woldgate College from the East Riding and Egglescliffe Secondary School in Stockton-on-Tees will have the opportunity to explore the historically informed performance of choral repertory by Haydn and Mozart, and receive expert advice on singing technique.They will be accompanied by musicians from the University of York who specialise in historically informed performance giving the young people

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the opportunity to experience singing with period instruments.

The performance will include some choral delights by Haydn and Mozart including Haydn’s delightful ‘Little Organ Mass’ with guest soprano soloist, Bethany Seymour.

The Chorus first performed in the 2009 Beverley and East Riding Early Music Festival in a programme which included Gloria by Vivaldi and Come ye Sons of Art by Purcell.

This concert will take place on Saturday 29th May, 5pm at Toll Gavel Methodist Church in Beverley.

MINSTRELS AND CUPIDS!

Elizabeth Kenny with pupils from Salisbury Cathedral School

VENUS & ADONIS ON-LINE AND ON-STAGE The NCEM has just launched a new on-line teaching resource exploring John Blow’s Venus and Adonis, the oldest surviving English opera.

The opera tells the tragic story of how lovers Venus and Adonis are separated forever when Adonis is killed by a wild boar. It also takes a cynical look at relationships in the Restoration court of Charles II. The teaching resources provide materials to help teachers explore the opera with children in Key Stage 2.They give children a chance to sing a scene from the opera, as well as other songs from the time.They present ideas to help children compose the ‘missing scene’ from the opera, in which Adonis fights the wild boar.The resources also use primary sources to look at life in Restoration England, concentrating on what school was like for children in the late seventeenth century, and exploring the role played by music in communicating the news across the country. Children can even learn a Restoration country dance.

As well as imaginative activity ideas and notated music, the resource includes recorded examples of all the music used, and backing tracks that can be downloaded as mp3 files or played from the website’s builtin media player.The resources are accessible and enjoyable for young people, irrespective of whether they have seen the opera.

This new on-line resource can by seen on the NCEM website by going to www.ncem.co.uk/venus and sign in with your email address.

Continuing this theme, there is an opportunity to hear John Blow’s Venus and Adonis performed by the Theatre of the Ayre and directed by Elizabeth Kenny as part of the York Early Music Festival (Sat 17th July, 7.30pm St Michael le Belfrey Church). As in the original performance, the part of Cupid (Venus’ cheeky son) and the ‘Little Cupids’ will be played by young people (in York, these roles will be taken by the Minster Minstrels Vocal Ensemble). Cupid provides an element of comedy, by giving his retinue of Little Cupids a lesson in spelling, poking fun at both Charles’ courtiers and at school life in the seventeenth century.

To support this initiative, a series of workshops are currently taking place in schools across the country run by Elizabeth Kenny, one of Europe’s leading lute players, and Cathryn Dew, Education Consultant for the NCEM. In York, these will take place in New Earswick and Dringhouses Primary Schools.

Members of the Minster Minstrels vocal ensemble will have the privilege of performing alongside superstars of the early music world in the Theatre of the Ayre’s production of John Blow’s Venus and Adonis as part of this year’s York Early Music Festival.

The opera has several parts for Cupids, which were played by children in the original 17th - century performance.

Elizabeth Kenny, director of Theatre of the Ayre said: “We are really excited about working with the Minster Minstrels. Cupids large and small will put girls’ and boys’ voices centre stage for the first time since the original 17th-century productions of this work.”

The Minster Minstrels are also currently looking for more young people aged 10 – 18 years to join the vocal or instrumental ensembles which meet on Saturday mornings during term time.

The Minster Minstrels are preparing for their performance of ‘A Festival of Marriage’ as part of the prestigious York Early Music Festival (Sun 11 July, Merchant Adventurers’ Hall, Fossgate).

The musicians will perform music that was associated with marriage from the 14th century to the 18th century including English opera, Florentine intermedii and Scottish folksongs.

If you are interested in joining the Minster Minstrels or auditioning for Venus and Adonis, please contact the NCEM on 01904 632220 or email education@ncem.co.uk

Ensemble Meridiana – Winners of the 2009 York Early Music International Young Artists Competition

2011 YOUNG ARTISTS COMPETITION ANNOUNCED York Early Music Festival is now inviting applications from young artists to take part in the York Early Music International Young Artists Competition.The Competition will take place at the National Centre for Early Music from 14 16 July, as part of the 2011 York Early Music Festival and applications need to be submitted

by Friday 21 January 2011.

Directed in 2011 by violinist Elizabeth Wallfisch, the competition is judged by some of the world's finest early music specialists and offers a major boost to professional careers, offering opportunities for touring, recording and broadcasting.The competition is regarded as a key stage on the way to national and international recognition for young performers.

The winners will receive a cheque for £1,000; opportunities to work with BBC Radio 3; a concert as part of the 2012 York Early Music Festival and a professionally produced CD by Linn Records.The competition is supported by the National Centre for Early Music, BBC Radio 3 and Arts Council England,Yorkshire.

FOUND SOUND The NCEM works in partnership with Aimhigher York and North Yorkshire to run music-based projects for Key Stage 4 music and non-music students from Scarborough, the North Yorkshire Coast, Selby and Skipton.The aim of the scheme is to widen participation in higher education by raising the aspirations and developing the abilities of young people from under-represented groups.

The Found Sound project led by members of Backbeat Percussion Quartet has just finished.

The musicians worked with young people from Sherburn High School (Sherburn in Elmet), Holy Family RC High School (Goole), South Craven School and Aireville School (Skipton), Harrogate High School, Raincliffe School and Scalby School (Scarborough), over two

academic years using percussion instruments and a variety of every day objects to create a piece of music which included basketballs, plastic bins and broomsticks!

As well as making music, the workshops offered information about the benefits of continuing to higher education and Backbeat gave an insight into the lives of professional musicians.

Sue Robinson, music teacher from Holy Family RC High School said the young people had definitely benefitted from being in a different surrounding and that projects of this nature would increase their self esteem and encourage them to consider going to university. Another music teacher,

Simone Rebello from Backbeat shows how to play the vibraphone

Sylvia McBriar, from Sherburn High School, said that the project had been really useful in helping the young people to develop their skills and to learn to work alongside others.

MANTRA FINALE AT THE SAGE had the chance to work with such talented musicians.This project has really challenged our students and also broadened their musical and cultural understanding.”

Egglescliffe students perform at The Sage, Gateshead

The NCEM has worked with The Orlando Consort and Asian musicians Kuljit Bhamra tabla, Indian harmonium Jonathan Mayer sitar and Shahid Khan voice on a special education project which ran alongside Mantra – Musical Conversations Across the Indian Ocean national tour.

The inspiration for this collaborative project was sublime Iberian and Indian music from the early 1500s. Portuguese missionaries and Goan Indians joined together in music as churches, built in the exotic land known as the 'Pearl of the Orient', resounded to the extraordinary blended sounds of Europe and Asia.

Over the past year the musicians have visited 12 schools throughout the country to teach young people aged between 11 – 14 musical compositions and more about the origins of this music.These students also got the opportunity to perform with the musicians as part of this 10 date national tour which opened at the NCEM in May 2009 and closed in March 2010 at The Sage.

Matthew Haworth, Head of Music at Egglescliffe School in Yarm said he was privileged that his school got the opportunity to take part in such a high calibre project. “We have never been involved in a project of this nature before or

Angus Smith, from The Orlando Consort, who initiated this project was delighted with the results.

“We have worked with some extremely talented young people and have been really impressed by their imagination, their ability to learn the music and to see how they have used a new knowledge pool to develop their own creations that have fed into their own music studies. Having them involved in the performance added something magical each time and witnessing the enthusiasm and energy they brought to the events was hugely rewarding and stimulating for us as well!”

This tour was supported by Arts Council England and the PRS. There is a Mantra Education Resource available from the NCEM website at www.ncem.co.uk/mantra.

latest news

MUSICAL PLAY NEW FUNDING IN A WEEK FOR MUSIC4U Music4U - the Humber Region Action Zone co-ordinated by the National Centre for Early Music, has received a grant for £120,000 fromYouth Music to enable it to carry on its music-making activities across the Humber Region for a further year.

SINGERS NEEDED FOR CORAM BOY OAK APPLE DAY This year’s musical play in a week is ‘Oak Apple Day’.The play tells the story of Charles II’s return to London in 1660, after the death of Oliver Cromwell. A great celebration is planned for the occasion, but, as a band of young performers soon discover, everything is not as it seems, and the king himself is in great danger.

Can they uncover the plot and rescue the king in time?

The NCEM is recruiting young singers aged 12 – 18 to form a choir to perform with the York Theatre Royal’s Youth Theatre production of the ‘Coram Boy’ in August 2010. Aaron, the abandoned heir to a great estate and his friend Toby, saved from an African slave ship, seek the parents who left them at The Coram Hospital for Deserted Children. Eighteenth century England closes around them as Handel's Messiah sets the tone and tempo in this outstanding piece of contemporary drama.The NCEM choir will perform music by Handel at various points throughout the play. Rehearsals will take place at the NCEM from Saturday 21 August – Wednesday 25 August with performances on Thursday 26, Friday 27 and Saturday 28 at the York Theatre Royal.The cost for participants is £80.00 for the week.

This is the perfect project for young people who enjoy acting, making music and thrilling stories from the past. It is open to young people aged 9 – 14 and is led by theatre director Paul Birch and musicians Cathy Dew and Andrew Passmore.

Music4U, launched in September 2001, is one of 21 Action Zones set up byYouth Music to provide music-related activities including workshops and performance opportunties for young people under the age of 18 years who would not normally have the chance to make music.The Zone is in partnership with the East Riding ofYorkshire, Hull, North East Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire Councils.

Plans for 2010 -11 will include a rock tour extravaganza; a national early years training conference and a slot in this year’s Musicport Festival held in Bridlington.

To find out more about Music4U's activities go to www.ncem.co.uk/music4u

REGISTER FOR FREE LEARNING RESOURCES

It will take place at the National Centre for Early Music from Monday 16 – Friday 20 August with a special performance for family and friends on the Friday evening. No previous experience of singing or acting is required, just come along with lots of enthusiasm! The cost for this year’s musical play in a week is £80.00.

To book a place ring 01904 658338 or email boxoffice@ncem.co.uk The NCEM has recently launched a new website with a whole section devoted to teaching and learning. Within this section there is information about current and past products plus a whole range of early music teaching resources (which can be downloaded) – some of which are free.

To access information you need to register by going to www.ncem.co.uk/teachingandlearning

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For further information about any of the activities, events or resources mentioned in this Newsletter please contact the NCEM on 01904 632220 or email education@ncem.co.uk To book tickets for events, please contact the Box Office on 01904 658338 or visit www.ncem.co.uk National Centre for Early Music, St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate,York YO1 9TL

Worshipful Company of Grocers All details are correct at the time of going to press but we reserve the right to amend the published programme if necessary.

Promoted by York Early Music Foundation Registered Charity No. 1068331