Playing and Singing
Join others. Play your instrument. Learn a new one. From scratch orchestras to a full on musical, there’s a lot of choice for musicians, singers and beginners.

IMPORTANT FACTS

• We provide all the music and stands, where necessary.
• We provide good lighting and good practice space.
• You will be asked to provide personal information to us via a questionnaire so that we can best tailor the holiday to everyone’s needs.
• You bring your instrument (except where indicated).
• Walks – where indicated require a certain amount of kit for safety and enjoyment. Please see page 56 for our advice.
• Holidays which involve coaching are geared to group sessions rather than one-to-one tuition, unless indicated.
  

All prices are per person and include FULL BOARD, en-suite accommodation, holiday programme, leader services and 17½% VAT.

Please select a holiday from the left hand menu.

Making Music for Orchestra and Choir

Meet other musicians and singers and join our scratch orchestra or choir. We’ll play and sing a variety of music usually wind, string and choral specially selected for you by our team of music coaches. It might be a Beethoven or a Mendelssohn symphony, complemented by lighter pieces, rehearsing mornings and evenings with optional guided walks in the afternoon.

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String Orchestra with Ensembles

Taking a similar format to our Orchestra and Choir break, there are two music sessions a day with a guided walk in the afternoon. This mainly orchestral holiday will include several sessions of small ensemble playing, exploring a variety of styles and textures.

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Light Music Orchestra

Explore music from the great days of the BBC Light Programme and countless seaside orchestras. Led by an experienced tutor, we’ll tackle the work of Eric Coates, Haydn Wood, Robert Farnon and others, alongside a few selections from popular shows of the period.

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Concert Band

Wind and brass players can enjoy two daily sessions exploring the concert band repertoire and works for smaller ensembles. There will be rehearsals all morning, with optional guided walks in the afternoons. After dinner, we will have a further rehearsal, or you can enjoy informally arranged ensembles.

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Clarinet Choir

Choosing a wide range of music for quartets and a full clarinet choir, this is a great opportunity for clarinettists to play together. Three sessions daily (morning, late afternoon and evening) will coach the best out of the group, with the accent on enjoyment and fun rather than a pressure to perform.

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Play Ukulele

The 4-stringed ukulele is portable, cheap, easy to learn and enormous fun to play. We’ll tackle tuning, chord shapes and strumming patterns to accompany simple songs or melodies. The repertoire will range from folk songs and music-hall favourites to pop classics: everything from traditional to The Beatles.

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Get to Grips with Keyboards

Today’s keyboards are a world away from pianos – you have a whole orchestra at your fingertips. We learn to pick out tunes by ear and read them from the page, add chords, control the sounds and rhythms and generally understand the basics. Group sessions in the morning, late afternoon and evening work towards an informal concert on the last day.

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Electronic Keyboards - Next Step

Building on the beginner's skills, we’ll explore new chords, and some advanced features. We’ll also show you how to add your own intros, endings and fills and have fun composing and improvising. Group sessions
morning, late afternoon and evening leave you free in the afternoons to explore or have individual lessons.

*Under 18s half price

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Start or Re-start Singing

Perhaps you've never tried singing; maybe you just want to improve. Either way, these holidays will give you group and individual coaching in vocal technique, with an enjoyable range of songs. Individual tastes can be
catered for and there will be opportunities to surprise yourself in simple but effective part singing.

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Singing for Pleasure

This is group singing just for the fun of it. We’ll enjoy a wide selection of music from unison and part songs, depending on the group’s abilities, folk song arrangements, Gilbert and Sullivan, and music from the shows. We’ll sing in the mornings with shorter sessions late afternoon and evening. Enjoy an optional guided walk in the afternoon on the holiday at Bourton-on-the-Water..

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Singer's Workshop

This is a great opportunity for singers to meet up and get to grips with some fine individual songs from across a vast range of styles and traditions. Singing individually and together, and guided by an expert tutor, we’ll work towards a final performance, concert style..

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Songs for Christmas

Get in the mood for Christmas at Newfield Hall in the Yorkshire Dales. We’ll sing traditional carols and some lighter fare with a few new arrangements written specially for this holiday. Your experienced leader will take you through the pieces in morning, late afternoon sessions and evening sessions, leaving you some free
time to enjoy the local countryside.

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Choral Singing

Come and join our choir. We’ll sing a pleasing mix of secular and sacred choral music, with rehearsals sessions in the morning, followed by an optional afternoon guided walk and an evening session. (Freshwater Bay only).

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The Choral Music of John Rutter

John Rutter is known to many for his church anthems and carols, Magnificat, Requiem and a variety of other choral compositions. We’ll concentrate on his approachable and appealing works in morning, late afternoon
and evening sessions, with an informal performance on the last night of the holiday.

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Viennese Choral Music NEW

Vienna is the centre of the classical music world and more composers have lived and worked here than in any other city. Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms, provide us with a wealth of varied sacred and
secular choral material to explore during this new music holiday. Singing sessions will take place in morning, late afternoon and evening sessions, with an informal performance on the last night of the holiday.

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Jazz Singing

Have fun learning to sing jazz. Accompanied by an excellent pianist and a tutor who’ll be with you at every step, you’ll learn simple scat and decoration, and freedom! Bring six or so favourite songs, maybe classics from Cole Porter, Irving Berlin or Gershwin or something less well known, and let us help you turn them
into performances to remember.

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Chanteuses - Women only!

From the Sound of Music to Handel, there are lots of songs written or arranged just for upper and middle voices, which women can enjoy singing without having to compromise. We’ll mix our music and throw in the
occasional challenge, to delight and entertain.

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Madrigals & Part Songs

Explore some fun, cheeky and more serious colours of Madrigal singing. We’ll sing music by Dowland, Weelkes, Morley, Orlando Gibbons and others. Out expert leaders will help you with essential pitch, phrasing and musicality, but you’ll need to be confident holding a part.

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Sing a G & S Opera

After a sing through of Ruddigore and a selection of other choruses, we’ll work towards a performance on
the last night of the holiday. There’ll be light-hearted‘auditions’ for budding soloists (sharing parts with
others) and chorus work. Rehearsals in the morning and evening will be complemented by guided walks in
the afternoon.

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Songs from G & S

This is all about the pleasure of singing Gilbert and Sullivan choruses, from a variety of their operettas and
other light music. Budding soloists too will have a chance to perform in an informal concert, and we’ll use videos of the classic performances to give context..

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Sing Bach to Bacharach

With sessions in the morning, late afternoon and evening, this is a singing break for open-minded singers. In the company of a skilled leader we might tackle extracts from Bach's Magnificat, then follow it with a classic from the Beach Boys or Bacharach and
David.

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Sing Mozart to Mendelssohn

Enjoy choral singing from the vast repertoire of music written in the classical and early romantic style. In
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