Clarinettist Margaret Archibald and pianist Daniel King Smith work with clarinet players of all standards, the priority being to explore repertoire for clarinet and piano while discussing technique and musicianship in open forum and individual sessions.
STANDARD: ALL
Resident: £572 Non-Resident: £435 (25% off for under 27s) Code: 25/355
Booking for Members opens at 9am on Wednesday 27 November 2024
Non-Member and online booking opens at 9am on Monday 16 December 2024
For details on how to become a Member to take advantage of early booking, see here
What is this course about?
Shared performance in a supportive open forum is at the heart of this course. The timetable is carefully planned to enable everyone to enjoy an equal opportunity for individual lesson time with Margaret and individual rehearsal time with Daniel. Clarinet ensemble music is provided and is available for optional informal get-togethers and some coached ensemble time if members request it. In the weeks preceding the course players will be invited to suggest works that they themselves would especially like to study so that these can be advertised to all course members. The tutors will also give advance notice of one or two works that can be studied by everyone. Discovering unfamiliar works, and perhaps sight-reading them, can be a rewarding aspect of the course. Even more valuable is the opportunity to study one or two works in depth, to grow in understanding of the relationship between the clarinet line and the piano part, and to learn from the technical issues and musical interpretations of other course participants presenting the same piece. The detailed schedule includes time for each player to do some private practice, or to sit in on someone else's lesson or rehearsal, or to form a small ensemble if they wish. Everyone is encouraged to perform in sharing sessions that give players the chance to test out their new technical and musical discoveries. Players are encouraged to bring bass, Eb or other clarinets, either to study pieces with piano for these instruments, or to take part in ensembles.
What will the course cover?
Repertoire for solo clarinet and piano will be the main focus of the course, including individual sessions for study with either the clarinet tutor or the pianist and sharing sessions where course participants will play with one another or perform to one another. Repertoire will be a mix of pieces set in advance and of ad hoc free choice items.
What will we accomplish? By the end of this course you will be able to...
…engage with a wider choice of repertoire and reach a new level of technical and musical understanding.
How will the course be taught and will any preparation be required?
Sessions will be divided between individual time spent with each of the tutors, some group work and sharing sessions where all course participants perform to one another in open forum. It's very helpful if players arrive with at least one work that they've prepared in advance and that they would like to rehearse and perform with piano, including at a sharing session on the first evening.
Will music be provided in advance of this course?
Course participants should bring copies of both the clarinet and piano parts of repertoire they've prepared for study on the course. The tutors will bring copies of many standard items and also many boxes of clarinet ensemble music. It will be very helpful for everyone if course participants can declare well in advance which repertoire items they are preparing for study so that other players can bring their own copies, or choose to play the same items. Much can be learnt from sharing different interpretations of the same piece.
Is there anything that participants need to bring?
Clarinet(s) and music, including both clarinet AND piano parts of all repertoire to be rehearsed with the piano. Please bring a selection of reeds (ideally reeds that have been tried, labelled and used enough to be familiar to the embouchure), a pull-through, cigarette papers, cork grease and a small screwdriver.
Tutor biographies
Margaret Archibald Margaret Archibald has an infectious enthusiasm for music as recitalist, chamber musician, orchestral player, teacher, coach and lecturer. She has travelled widely in Europe, the USA and Japan performing on modern and historical clarinets. She was Sub-Principal Clarinet of the London Mozart Players 1984 - 2012 and for twenty-one years the LMP's Education and Community Manager. She has performed with many of the major period instrument orchestras including the Academy of Ancient Music, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, English Concert, Gabrieli Consort, Hanover Band, London Classical Players and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Margaret passionately believes that music is for sharing and in 2010 she founded the charity Everyone Matters that takes a wide range of projects into schools, special schools, nursing homes and the wider community. A focus on intergenerational projects gives young musicians the opportunity to rehearse with professionals and perform alongside them in care centres for older people, and in "Performing for Hitchin" Margaret invites amateur musicians to join with professional colleagues to prepare concerts for care homes local to Benslow Music. She was awarded the British Empire Medal in the New Year Honours List 2024, notably in recognition of her work bringing the generations together through music.
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