IF YOU WANT TO PLAY WIND CHAMBER MUSIC IN GREAT COMPANY WITH TOP CLASS COACHING AND GET MAXIMUM VALUE FROM A COURSE THEN LOOK NO FURTHER

The Focus on CHAMBER Music at NYWO courses are held under the auspices of the NYWO have been running twice a year for the past ten years
led by Peter Harrison and Simon De Souza, they have been enormously successful in introducing young wind and horn players to the pleasures and techniques of wind ensemble playing.

BUT THIS IS SO MUCH MORE THAN JUST ANOTHER ENSEMBLE COURSE.
Starting with four wind quintets the ensembles are combined into double quintets and also into larger combinations to play works such as the STRAUSS SERENADES. Smaller groups perform without conductor, the larger ones are conducted by one of the tutors. In addition there are opportunities for students to learn to rehearse their own groups, perform their own compositions, learn to conduct and a special emphasis is laid on presentation skills and good performance practise.
Many Focus members go on to join the main orchestra of NYWO, but over and above all this the course is about having fun making music, Peter and Simon ensure that all the students have a great time working and playing together.

PETER HARRISON teaches bassoon at Wells Cathedral School, the Junior Department at the Royal Academy of Music where he coaches the symphony orchestra and wind orchestra and often conducts for East Sussex. He is a busy freelance player with particularly strong links in the West End where he has played extensively in shows and conducted in shows such as Crazy For You and Beauty and The Beast. Peter now directs his own production company and his shows have included Les Miserables in concert and Chess in concert both featuring The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.

SIMON DE SOUZA is one of the best known and sought after horn teachers in Britain. He teaches at two of the four specialist music schools in the UK, Wells Cathedral School and the Purcell school and also the Junior Dept of the Royal Academy of Music, he is also a consultant to the Junior dept of Trinity College of Music. Simon is the Educational Consultant and Vice Chairman of the British Horn Society and has had many articles on horn playing matters published. A busy freelance player he is also the solo horn player with the brass quintet with whom he has made recordings and appeared on Radio and TV.

The Chamber Music courses are residential and last for 5-days.

The saxophone course is also residential and lasts for five days.

Tuition is given in a relaxed, easy-going atmosphere and a concert is performed on the last day of the course.

Gerard McChrystal   The NYWO Saxophone course. Gerard is a saxophonist with an international reputation, he travels the world giving concerts and recitals,

he is a professor of saxophone at Trinity College of Music and has been coaching the Focus saxophone course since 1998.

The course is open to saxophonists aged from 14 -18 and of grade 5-7standard.

The five day course is intensive but great fun, a meeting of old friends with a mixture  of younger and older players.

Ensemble, quartets, repertoire and technique are all fully covered in the  sessions.

Participants often return inspired by the tutoring and the high quality of music making with like minded people in a relaxed and fun way.

The course takes place alongside the main orchestra and the ensemble course.

To apply for Focus on Chamber Music at NYWO you should be Grade V standard or equivalent. If you have not taken any exams you should supply a recommendation from your teacher if possible.

Download the Focus On Chamber application for (PDF)

Please note that the application form is in PDF format and you will require a copy of Acrobat Reader to view and print this file.

If you don't have Acrobat Reader already installed you can get it here.