Ideally you'll have some prior experience of singing (especially choral singing) and perhaps some instrumental experience, but you don't need to have any conducting experience to sign up for these courses.
Only the basics - you don't have to be a brilliant sight-reader or have dealt with complex music theory, but we do anticipate participants being able to recognise key and time signatures, rhythm and melody.
You can either book online via our events page, or complete an application form and post it to us.
We're happy to accept payment instalments by prior arrangement, so if you want to spread the payment please get in touch with us to make an arrangement that suits you. Please do this at the time of booking, otherwise we'll expect the full balance to be paid before the course starts.
We run both courses together, so once on the course tutors will work with you individually and award a pass at the level they feel the most appropriate for you.
There are usually 15 participants in one group - sometimes we run two courses together, resulting in two groups, but there are double the tutors, so you're never short changed for time!
In this course participants form a choir for each other, and we choose repertoire suited to that group to make sure your individual conducting experience is as productive as possible.
Each participant has the opportunity to conduct at each session, usually for around 12-15 minutes.
If you have made 3 of the course sessions, including the first and last session, then we can work with you between the sessions you miss so that you can complete the course.
Course sessions are deliberately spaced to provide the best learning experience. For that reason, if you drop out part way through a course, we would ask you to start afresh on a new course if you wanted to complete your training. Members can transfer a portion of their fee onto a future course to offset the costs - find out more about membership here.
If you've still got questions or would like an informal chat, get in touch with our Training Manager, Elisabeth Brierley, who will be happy to help, either by email or phoning 07805 454563.
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