Friday 30 January 2009

Building Sound Foundations for Music

THE MUSICIANS' professional body, the Incorporated Society of Musicians, is bringing together pre-school and primary music education experts to share best practice in children's musical learning.

Sound Foundations takes place at the University of Westminster, London, on Saturday 28 February.

Participants will hear about contrasting approaches to musical learning and take part in practical sessions to find out how music fits in with the Early Years and primary curriculum. There will also be a chance to find out how video teaching can make a difference to music lessons.

Dr Susan Young, senior lecturer in early childhood studies and music education at the University of Exeter, will discuss New Times, New Challenges for Early Years learning in her opening address and music education consultant Leonora Davies MBE will speak about how pupils can make a smooth transition from Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 3.

Alan Cameron, education officer at Dumfries & Galloway Council, will demonstrate how he uses video conference technology to deliver instrumental lessons to children across a wide geographical area.

There will be two workshops about music for under-5s: Margareta Burrell, music therapist and teacher, will lead a session on music & movement based on the principles of Dalcroze; and Sarah Carling will show how music fits in with the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum and preparation for Key Stage 1.

Rachelle Goldberg currently leads the ISM's Music in Education Section. She said:

‘We want children to get the best possible start to their musical lives. All of our speakers are putting that aim into practice so we want to share their experience as widely as possible. I'm sure that Sound Foundations will be highly rewarding for anyone who wants to give children the best musical start.'

The seminar costs £60, £50 (ISM members) and £10 (ISM student members). You can download a booking form from ism.org/soundfoundations

Thursday 22 January 2009

BBC Writers Room

BBC writersroom champions new writing talent in film, television, radio, and theatre, working in partnership with theatres, writers’ organisations, screen agencies, and the wider cultural industries. It helps new writers develop their craft through its website and in open sessions around the country with the UK's best writing talent. It holds open competitions for writers, and detail other industry opportunities.

BBC writersroom is constantly on the lookout for writers of any age and experience who have exceptional talent, an original voice, and great stories to tell.

Visit www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom to find out more.

Viewfinder Film Festival

The fifth Viewfinder Film Festival will be taking place in March 2009 celebrating great cinema, with screenings and events taking place throughout Gloucestershire. The Festival is inviting submission of films made by a student, amateur or professional filmmaker who currently lives in Gloucestershire and the film must be either produced or shot within Gloucestershire.

The deadline for submitting work will be Monday 2nd February 2009 and a full Submission Form is available on the Festival web site www.viewfinderfilm.info

Since the Festival was launched in Gloucestershire in 2004, hundreds of short films have been sent in from primary school pupils, community groups, university students and professionals.

Films can be up to 15 minutes in length and fit into the categories of drama, animation, documentary, experimental or music video. Submissions are invited in a number of categories: ages 7-14, 15-18, 18 and over and in education, non-professional and professional.

During the 2007 run of the Festival screenings took place in 12 venues in the last two weeks of March hi-lighting films from the three county region of Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire. The screening attendance was in excess of 1000 and the Festival received in 2007 close to 150 submissions.

Viewfinder aims to nurture countywide media education and support media projects across our many communities, forging links between film-makers, schools, councils, venues, colleges, universities and the media industry.

The Viewfinder Film Festival Submissions OfficePittville Studios, The University of Gloucestershire, Albert Road, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL52 2JGwww.viewfinderfilm.info

Tuesday 20 January 2009

The 2009 competition is open for entries

The 2009 competition is open for entries...

The Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition is beginning its annual search for the best and most astonishing images from around the world, whether they come from the wildest places on Earth or urban gardens. With the bar being raised each year, the 2009 competition promises to be bigger and more inspiring than ever before.

‘This is the greatest and most prestigious competition for wildlife photographers anywhere in the world. It raises the profile of wildlife photography and provokes a wider awareness of wildlife conservation. It is not just professionals who are successful – amateurs of all ages have won awards in the competition many times. In recent years the judges have been particularly impressed by the standard of images being produced by many young people.’ Mark Carwardine (Chairman of the judges)


The winning photographer will be presented with £10,000 at an awards ceremony at the Natural History Museum, London, in October. Each category winner receives £500 and every runner-up £250. Special Award winners receive £1,000.

How to enter

  • visit our website to enter online, for revised rules and category definitions and the Chairman’s foreword and insider tips.
  • images must be digitally captured or scans of transparencies
  • original transparencies, or the original capture as it was recorded by the camera will be requested, and must be supplied if an image reaches the final round of judging
  • translations of the rules are available online in Chinese, French, German, Italian and Spanish
  • online entry fee: £20
  • postal entry fee: £27 (CDs only)
  • closing date for online entries: Friday 27 March 2009
  • closing date for postal entries (CDs only): Friday 20 March 2009

PERCUSSION TRAINING DAY for MUSICIANS

PERCUSSION TRAINING DAY for MUSICIANS

Date: Saturday 24th January 2009, 10am - 4pm
Place: St Peter-in-Eastgate Infant's School, Greetwellgate, Lincoln LN2 4AW
Cost: Free
Tutor: Leo Nolan

This is the first of a series of training days for musicians wishing to explore their professional development with a view to working in schools and communities.
This first workshop will be based around percussion work with a specific emphasis on how to achieve good results with limited resources. It will be relevant for musicians from all backgrounds and will be of interest to both non-percussionists and percussionists.
Leo is a community musician with many years experience working with schools and communities. Based in the North West, he has worked for organisations as diverse as More Music in Morecambe and the Halle Orchestra. We are delighted he can join us for this first workshop and it will be a fantastic opportunity to learn new techniques and skills.
Place are limited so allocation will be on a first come first served basis.
For further details and to register, please contact Sue Hawes at The Firebird Trust Ltd:
e-mail: admin@firebirdtrust.com
or telephone: 01522 811229

Parish Music : Choral Delights

Parish Music : Choral Delights
Saturday 28 February 2009
Overbury Church 8pm

The Oriel Singers had just won the BBC Radio 3 Choir of the Year competition when they last sang for Parish Music in 2005. Founded in 1975 as a quartet meeting in Oriel Terrace, Cheltenham, the original group sang simply for pleasure and had no intention of performing. The choir soon grew and Tim Morris was invited to become director.
Numbering about 28, the members still meet primarily for their own enjoyment but now give around 12 concerts a year at home and abroad. They have always had the objective of producing a high standard of a cappella music both sacred and secular, serious and light-hearted.
The singers come from all walks of life. Conductor Tim Morris, who is also assistant conductor of the Cheltenham Bach Choir, studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge and is an arable farmer.
Parish Music, now in its 14th year, provides concerts of classical music in the five country churches of the Parish: Ashton under Hill, Beckford, Overbury, Alstone and Teddington. Concerts start at 8pm and conclude with an opportunity to meet the performers and enjoy a drink of wine or fruit juice in the church.
Admission £10; students free.

Tuesday 13 January 2009

From the Front of the Choir

The blog by singing Tutor Chris Rowbury, "From the Front of the Choir" (http://blog.chrisrowbury.com/), has been mentioned on the BBC's Last Choir Standing website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/lastchoirstanding/). It is also featured on their Useful Resources page ! (http://www.bbc.co.uk/lastchoirstanding/getsinging/best_of_web/resources.shtml)

After being asked to run some singing workshops in Italy, Spain and Morocco in 2009 Chris is looking forward to bringing his experiences back to Farncombe in future workshops. Watch this space!

11th – 18th April - Ledbury Artplace Challenge Exhibition

Tantalising Tag Books (from Angie Hughes)
I’ve been thinking about a new challenge for all you keen artists out there and I’ve come up with a tag book challenge. They are basically little books made by putting an eyelet in each page and linking them together with a binder ring. The ones I originally saw were luggage tag shaped but you can make them any size or shape you like. My first tag book was inspired by some bird rubber stamps I bought and part of a song I know called ‘The littlest birds sing the prettiest songs’. I included text on each page so the challenge should you choose to accept it is to make a tag book that includes text.

I took photos of the ones we worked on at the artplace workshop and you can see them on the artplace blog

http://eurekamomentsledburyartplace.blogspot.com/2008/10/tantalising-textile-tag-books.html

You can use any kind of material wood, metal, cloth, paper etc. to make it out of it doesn’t have to be a textile piece. If you would like a pattern for the size and shape of the ones I made and some instructions please let me know, otherwise let your creativity run wild!!!!

We will exhibit the Tag books at Ledbury Artplace,

· There will be a 1st 2nd and 3rd prize. We will invite some prestigious judges!!!
· Entry fee will be £5 (Limited to 2 tagbooks per applicant if you have time to do 2!)
· Important !! Applications to be received by Mon 30th March (to help me to put a catalogue together) application form attached (or I can post one to you if you can’t open the attachment).
· Delivery of tagbooks to Ledbury Artplace by 12 noon Thursday 9th April. (please include return postage)
· Exhibition Saturday 11th April – Saturday 18th April (prize giving preview on Friday 10th April 7pm onwards).

Class Act: The Cultural and Political Life of Ewan MacColl

Our folk singing tutor Sandra Kerr is widely quoted in a new book by Ben Harker. "Class Act" published by Pluto Press studies the life and work of Sandra's mentor and teacher, Ewan MacColl. .

First biography of the political activist and acclaimed musician -- Sometimes described as 'the British Brecht', Ewan MacColl (1915-1989) was a major twentieth-century political artist. He became a communist at fourteen and spent six decades at the cultural forefront of numerous political struggles, producing plays, songs and radio programmes on subjects ranging from the Spanish Civil War to the Poll Tax. A founder-member of Theatre Workshop, MacColl was the acclaimed company's resident dramatist, and his plays won the admiration of contemporaries including George Bernard Shaw, Sean O'Casey and Hugh MacDiarmid. He went on to become the principal creative force behind the award-winning Radio Ballads and a leading figure in the post-war British folk revival. Best known as a singer and songwriter, MacColl standards such as Dirty Old Town and The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face have been covered by artists from Roberta Flack to Johhny Cash and The Pogues. This is the first biography of MacColl, and was prepared with the authorisation of his collaborator and widow, Peggy Seeger. Drawing on extensive research, Class Act: The Cultural and Political Life of Ewan MacColl is a freshly conceived and energetically written account of a highly creative and controversial activist.

For more details visit http://www.amazon.co.uk/Class-Act-Cultural-Political-MacColl/dp/0745321658

Dormy House Hotel Events Diary 2009

The Dormy House Hotel (our sister venue) Events Diary 2009 is now online ... visit their website for more details or to book http://www.dormyhouse.co.uk/events.html

National Storytelling Week - dates: 31 January to 7 February 2009

National Storytelling Week is held during the first week of February every year, to increase public awareness on the art, practice and value of oral storytelling. We know that storytelling stretches from its simplest application in the nursery right through to personal stories and bereavement aids in hospitals, strengthening communication in the business sphere, and as an aid to learning in education. Storytelling is not just for the young but for all ages who share the creations of thought and the creativity of imagination. This year, the The Society for Storytelling is hoping to provide a little financial boost to help its members organise even more events.The aim is to get storytelling out to new audiences and into places where storytelling hasn’t been seen before and where it may grow and flourish once the seed has been sown. If you have been thinking about starting a club in your area, persuading a local arts centre to host events, interesting an organisation such as a hospital, old peoples home, library, museum, factory, country park or restaurant in storytelling, now is the time.

For further information on The Society for Storytelling and National Storytelling Week 2009 (with details of events around the country) check out the website at http://www.sfs.org.uk/.

Embroiderers' Guild - Workshops 2009, Embroiderers' Guild

The Embroiderers' Guild exciting workshop programme for 2009!
Workshops:
Floral Designs, 5 – 6 March 2009, Tutor: Caroline Vincent. Fee: £135.00
Combine floral designs, metal thread and silk, beads and words and stitch a personal sampler from a range of patterns and ideas provided by the tutor, Caroline Vincent.
Silk Painting with Stitch and Beads, 25 – 26 March, Tutor: Helen McCook. Fee: £135.00
Explore some creative approaches to painting on silk with Helen McCook and then embellish your samples with hand stitching and beads.
Keep Sake Boxes, 8 April, Tutor: Linda Marie Young. Fee: £85.00
Make a special personal box using a wide range of innovative techniques and materials with Embroiderers' Guild Scholar, Linda Marie Young.
Stitch Explorations, 3 – 4 June, Tutor: Jan Beaney. Fee: £135.00
Come to combine machine and hand embroidery with Jan Beaney and discover new ways of creating cloth with water soluble fabrics.
Inspired to Stitch – Knot Gardens, 8 – 9 June 2009, Tutor: Jenny Bullen. Fee: £135.00
Inspired by knot gardens and parterres, build a working notebook of ideas and stitched samples with Jenny Bullen and explore the use of different materials and tools to create designs for free style hand embroidery.
Silk Bowls & Beaded Bugs, 4 – 5 November 2009, Tutor: Kath Danswan. Fee: £135.00
Kath Danswan will show you how to create a beautiful bowl from a silk cap using waters soluble fabric and free machine stitching.
Layers, Lines, Images, 11 – 12 November 2009, Tutor: Cas Holmes. Fee: £135.00
Come to this challenging mixed media workshop with Cas Holmes to discover the rich, exciting potential of marks and lines drawn with hand and machine stitching on paper and fabric.
Further Information
For further information, please contact Annie Franz at any of the below:
The Embroiderers' Guild, Apt 41 Hampton Court Palace, East Molesey, Surrey, KT8 9AU
020 8943 1229
afranz@embroiderersguild.com
http://www.embroiderersguild.com

Thursday 8 January 2009

NEW UK GUIDE TO ACCESSIBLE PLACES TO STAY AND VISIT


The Easy Access Britain guide is due for publication in late January 2009. Featuring more than 800 accessible accommodation in Britain -- including 100 new listings of London hotels, and over 200 in Scotland -- this guide will be an invaluable aid to holidays in Britain next year for people with disabilities, older people with less mobility than they once had, families with buggies, or Paralympians!

A new flexible binding and hard cover format ensures greater durability for a product that will serve as an invaluable reference for years to come.

Published by national tourist board VisitBritain and Tourism for All, 'Easy Access Britain: The Guide to Accessible Places to Stay and Visit' features quality-assessed hotels, B&Bs, guest accommodation, cottages, and camping and caravan parks participating in a national scheme. Colour location maps, regional information and ideas for days out make it an indispensable traveller's guide.


The new guide, which retails at £9.99, is currently available for pre-orders at a special price of £5.99* plus P&P – that’s a saving of 40%! (*discounted price for pre orders received before 31st Jan 09. For orders after this date, price is £6.99 + P&P)


For more information about Tourism for All UK and the new Easy Access Guide, contact Carrie-Ann Fleming on 0845 1249973 or info@tourismforall.org.uk.

Craft, Hobby & Stitch International 2009

Craft Hobby + Stitch International is Europe’s leading trade show for the art, craft, needlecraft and hobby industry 15-17 February at the NEC Birmingham.
Registration is now open ....!

Folk weekend at Farncombe

The Farncombe FiddleOn Folk weekend takes place 27 February - 1 March.

Even if you do not play an instrument you can still enjoy the atmosphere !!

Other day courses taking place that weekend include Storytelling, Creative Writing, Jewellery Making and Indian Head Massage. For more details visit the Folk page of our website www.FarncombeEstate.co.uk/Folk.

If you wish to attend the free concert on Sunday afternoon admission is by ticket only. Please reserve tickets by contacting Farncombe on 01386 854100 or send an email to Mandy@FarncombeEstate.co.uk

The Ghost Stories of M R James


Nunkie Theatre Company presents "Oh, Whistle."

Two Ghost Stories by M R James

Performed by R M Lloyd Parry

Saturday 24 January 2009

5pm(please note - 7.30pm performance sold out)

The Commandery, Sidbury, Worcester WR1 2HU

Tickets £10 ( to include a glass of wine during the interval)

Box Office: 01905 611 427 ".


I gathered that what he chiefly remembers is a horrible , an intensely horribleface of crumpled linen." This winter, Robert Lloyd Parry brings a seasonal shiver to Worcester, with his retelling of two of the greatest tales by M R James, the master of the English ghost story. Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad - a tale of nocturnal horror on the Suffolk coast - is considered by many to be the author's masterpiece. It is beautifully complemented here by The Ash Tree, a story of witchcraft and vengeance down the generations. Every Christmas, M R James (1862 -1936) would write and perform new tales, to entertain friends in his rooms in King's College, Cambridge. A century later, these tales still have the power to terrify and amuse. This unique interpretation gives theatregoers the opportunity to experience these eerie masterpieces in the manner in which they were originally enjoyed, as ghostly confections, told to a rapt audience. "M R James dedicated his stories to 'those who have at various times listened to them,'" explains Lloyd Parry, "and I try to evoke the tone and atmosphere of James' original performances. Reticence and suggestion are very important weapons in James' storytelling armour, so the staging, the lighting and the delivery is all very straightforward - and, one hopes, all the more chilling for that."


Robert Lloyd Parry is an actor and art historian. He first read M R James' ghost stories as a teenager and his passion for them was rekindled when he began working at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, where James was Director in the early 1900s. Since performing two of his favourite works in James' old office in the Fitzwilliam in 2006, he has pursued this enthusiasm around the UK, USA and Ireland, often performing i n venues closely associated with the author. "Oh, Whistle." is the sequel to his critically acclaimed one-man show "A Pleasing Terror", which toured the UK, USA and Ireland in 2006 / 2007. It has recently been awarded The Dracula Society's prestigious Hamilton Deane Award. "Lloyd Parry restores the charm and pleasure of the original tales with his excellent and convincing storytelling". Cambridge Evening News


For further information visit http://www.nunkie.co.uk/


For further press information, please contact Esther Blaine on 07910 487 856 or email estherbmarketing@aol.com

Referral Winners 2008

Congratulations to the following Mr & Mrs Sinnett, Mrs D Hardiman, Ms M Fischer, Mrs B Barnes, Mr A Eccles, & Mrs J Westwood - all of whom won Farncombe vouchers in our monthly referral prize draw in November and December 2008!

Farncombe Estate in the Cotswolds: Storytelling Workshops - Business or Leisure

Farncombe Estate in the Cotswolds: Storytelling Workshops - Business or Leisure

Storytelling Workshops - Business or Leisure





Chloë of the Midnight Storytellers offers half-day workshops and longer weekend courses at Farncombe and elsewhere.


For more information see this link http://www.farncombeestate.co.uk/Storytelling

Farncombe Estate Centre's Fan Box

Where to find us and what we do

Farncombe Estate is situated just outside the Cotswold village of Broadway. We are approximately 50 minutes from Oxford, Birmingham and Bristol and easily located from the M5, M40 and M42.

There is a direct rail service from London Paddington to Moreton in Marsh which is our nearest rail station. To help rail travellers we offer a return taxi collection service from the station.

For a location map and further directions please visit our website.