The generous bursary from OUP helped to fund the MusicWorks chamber music course
which took place in Cornwall from 26th July until 2nd August.
This was a wonderfully intense course which demanded a large amount of preparation
before it began. I had to prepare the 2nd violin parts of Haydn Quartet, Opus 71, No
2, Taneyev String Quartet No 6 and Mozart String Quartet K428.
As soon as the course began, I was expected to be able to play my part with great fluency,
ready to listen to and learn from the coaching that we were given. I learned so much about
phrasing, playing while listening to the other parts, and performing as part of an ensemble.
In addition to the in-depth coaching on the prepared pieces, we all spent hours every day
sight reading together, and we played other string ensembles with other members of the
course.
I found that my sight reading and my confidence in my own musicianship grew and
developed as the week went on. We played several informal concerts to each other during
the evenings that week, and in the formal concert to parents and visitors on the last day, we
performed our prepared repertoire.
It was a week of learning, exploration and hard work, during which I was able to develop my
chamber music skills to a great degree, learning from other students on the course as well
as the tutors. I am very grateful to OUP for the Fiddle Time bursary, without which I
wouldn’t have been able to take advantage of such a stimulating environment and such
invaluable teaching.
Aminata (13)
Thanks to the OUP “Fiddle Time” bursary I was able to go to Arpeggione again this year, and it was
great! I was in the Brahms sextet, which I have always wanted to play since I heard my brother
play it a few years ago. I was the 3rd viola, which was great as it has lots of great solos,
including the opening theme of the piece. Quite often I was with 1st and 2nd violas, and
sometimes I played paired with 4th viola, in a musical conversation with the 1st and 2nd parts.
This was one of the best things about the piece, I think, and we really tried to bring out the
question and answer idea in the music. All the tutors wanted us to watch our partners as we
played and this made it feel much closer, and we got to know each other well this way. My
chamber group had really nice, talented people, and we had coaching from a different tutor
each day, so we got lots of different hints. We always enjoy the jazz with Steve Tees, and this
year was no exception. We played 'Take Five' by Dave Brubeck, and we all wore sunglasses,
though had difficulty reading the music in the concert, which was really funny! The food was
great, as it always is, and I got to spend time playing board games and table football with
friends in our free time. I already cannot wait for next year's Arpeggione - great music and great
fun! Thank you so much to Oxford University Press and to JDCMF for their support which
allowed me to take part.
Francesca (12)
