2/5 Inspring Saturday Conducting Masterclass

Peter Broadbent and David Lawrence led this Conducting Masterclass in the second of my inspiring Saturdays.

There were ten conductors and about a dozen observers attending this very well structured day. Members of  Viva Voce, Nottingham University's Chamber Choir, provided the choir.

The structure of the day was quite simple: after a short, but effective, warm-up each delegate in turn was given two 10 minute sessions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, in front of the choir. The choir had prepared four pieces and each conductor was given a go at two of them. This had the advantage that as the day went on the pieces became more familiar and in the afternoon more advanced concepts could be tackled. Billed as an advanced masterclass each conductor had some experience and the day focussed on using gesture and body language to elicit a better sound from the choir. A lot was covered because of the variety of the repertoire and the wide background of the delegates. Every participant was already a competent director ad I was encouraged by the majority of them could be described as "young" conductors.

I always think that masterclasses are of more use to the observer than the recipient. When you are participating it is difficult to remember what is taught. Each participant, in this case, was able to observe someone else rehearsing the same piece as them  and Peter and David frequently referred back to other conductors.

Although I was there as a steward and photographer I was able to observe most of the day and learned a lot myself. A lot of attention was given to beginnings and endings, organising breathing points and non-verbal communication while conducting. Mouthing the words and counting in were discouraged and show and not tell was encouraged. I was encouraged by the fact that many points I already attempt to address and spotted several faults that I need to address to improve my own work.

Over lunch I was able to meet with the other judge to adjudicate the Nicholas Thorpe Composition Award. The result will be announced on February 1st.

1/5 Inspiring Saturday with Jeremy Jackman

Over the next ten weeks I have five Saturday workshops, three of them I am helping with the organisation, one I am leading and one as a participant.

Burton Joyce Choral Society hosted a singing day led by Jeremy Jackman in which half a dozen members of The Newstead Abbey Singers, including me, participated. I find these events interesting on several levels. It gives me opportunity to sit anonymously inside a large chorus and experience what it is like on the receiving end of a rehearsal. I am able to observe the conductor and analyse the rehearsal and also observe the reactions of the singers. As a singer it gives me a chance to do something different.

Jeremy Jackman is one of several former Kings Singers such as Nigel Perrin, Brian Kay, Bob Chilcott and Simon Carrington who have made good reputations as a choral practitioners. His local reputation is founded on the excellent work that he does with the St. Cecilian Singers, based in Leicester. The repertoire chosen for the day was Haydn's Te Deum, Schubert's Stabat Mater, Bruckners' Du bist wie einer Blume and Pearsall's Light of my soul. I knew the Haydn and Schubert quite well, having conducted then in the past. The Bruckner and Pearsall were new to me and both will probably find their  way into the Newstead Abbey Singers repertoire.

Jeremy's aim for the day was not to extract perfect performances of the pieces but to give the singers skills and tips to apply to singing in their own choirs. Catch phrases for the day were "George - don't do that" and "EBC" (Endings and Beginnings are Critical). One of the most impressive skills of the day was Jeremy's successful battle with an inoperative voice. We started with a gentle warm up. Nowadays warm ups are the thing and, too my mind, are often overdone. This one was short and effective. Starting with humming then going to "vee", "aw" and "ah" with exercises that gradually increased the range. In the first session we then looked at the first few bars of each piece which gave us a chance to see the challenges ahead. Jeremy's style was nice and easy, overcoming difficulties with humour, injecting the occasional, relevant, anecdote and lots of simply explained advice. Enough singers either knew the pieces or could read them that he didn't need to "note bash" very often and could concentrate on how to sing the music. My chief observation was that he knew the music and was well prepared.

In the other two learning sessions he adopted a similar pattern. Spending a short time on each piece in turn until he had got through all the notes. Another good thing was the way that he got the singers to stand up regularly. I am aware that is something that I am not good at, especially with the Choral Society. The timings of the day were also good. Each session was long enough, but not too long, allowing singers to keep voices fresh and good social time.

Unfortunately, I had to leave before the final performance session so I don't know how that went but I'm sure it went well. These days are very useful education for singers and conductors. I learned a lot.

Burton Joyce Choral Society are a fantastic community choir which my late father used to conduct and who very kindly commissioned me to write a work for them on their 25th Anniversary. It was very nice to meet some of them again and share affectionate memories. There were also a number of acquaintances from other choirs that I hadn't seen for a few years.

One thing that struck me about the event was the age profile of the participants. Charles Tebbs, the very good accompanist for the day, appeared to be the youngest person there (I don't know his age and wouldn't want to guess). If there were any singers under the age of 40 I didn't see any and there were not many under 50, most of the singers were 60+.

Thank you Jeremy and thank you Burton Joyce Choral Society for staging the day.