Following on from my post a couple of weeks ago about local festivals, I’d like to share some information about two in particular that some of my students might wish to get involved with:
Colne ‘Festival of Song’
This year’s Colne Luther Greenwood Festival has changed a little from previous years. For one thing, it’s taking place over just one day – Saturday 30th November 2019. It’s also entirely focused this year on vocal music – there’ll be no instrumental classes. In addition, there’s a change of venue: it’s moved for this year to St John’s Methodist Church on Albert Road.
The festival’s syllabus is published and available to read online here. There are a number of classes that my students may be interested in. The classes for young people focus on songs by British composers, folk songs and songs from shows and films: quite a wide scope there to be going at. Later in the day will be the adult classes, and here we have a wider range of styles, from opera and oratorio to lieder and musicals. There’s also a general recital class for those participants who really would like to push themselves. For vocal groups, there are choir classes at the end of the day.
Wharfedale Festival of Performing Arts
The Wharfedale Festival in Ilkley is really split into a series of smaller festivals. The one that may interest my students is the Piano Festival – you can find information about it here. As you would expect, this festival is also split up into a variety of classes, each of which participants pay a small fee to enter, and is held over a few days from the 15th to the 17th October. The fees go to pay for the venue, and to employ a professional adjudicator whose job it is to give constructive feedback and to award any placings and prizes. The classes here are exclusively for young people: I’m afraid this isn’t the festival for adult musicians. However, there are lots of classes that cover a wide age range, from young children to those in their late teens. The standards expected seem pretty high, judging by the set works / books etc, but don’t let that put you off! If your child would like to participate in the festival, just mention it in your lesson!
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