This summer's six week-long courses maintained last year's record number of students, 389 in all. I estimate that around a third were from state schools. Four of the courses were directed by Ralph Allwood, two by Ben Parry, who takes over as Director of the Junior Academy in January 2009. Each course is run by twelve staff consisting of director, assistant director and accompanist, three full-time singing teachers, an administrator and six assistant music staff to direct consort groups and accompany singing lessons.
Course 1
Course 1 of 2008, directed by Ben Parry, revealed a larger choir than is usual so early in the summer holidays - nearly 60 singers. The majority had already started school holidays but many had taken time off school (with permission!), some even returning to school after the course had finished. Chris Whitton (OE), lecturer in Classics at Cambridge and Director of Music at Emanuel College was once again the organist and assistant director. We were treated to a wonderful workshop by Sarah Fox, a former Choral Course student, whose opera career is in the ascendant. Simon Toyne (OE), now Director of Music at Tiffin School and Kingston Parish Church, took a lively and informative full choir rehearsal in College Chapel. The choir sang Choral Evensong in rain-soaked Oxford at Christ Church Cathedral, conducted by the affable Director of Music, Stephen Darlington. The service consisted of Renaissance music directly associated with the cathedral by Dering, Ayleward and Purcell. On the final day, the choir performed a recital in Eton College Chapel entitled 'On wings of song' - choral song settings from Schubert, Parry and Vaughan Williams to popular African song arrangements by Mike Brewer.
Course 2
The highlight of the second course was to broadcast Evensong live for Radio 3. We sang an almost all-German programme whose climax was "Warum" by Brahms. We visited St John's, Cambridge to sing Evensong with Andrew Nethsinger, and Francis Grier was our guest conductor for an afternoon. We had an excellent and very amusing Masterclass from Iris Dell'Acqua. This was a course with a high concentration of good musicians.
Course 3
The choir on course 3 was one of the strongest at sight-reading that the Director, Ben Parry, had come across. This was a bonus in that the choir worked towards three (rather than the usual two) main events - a BBC recording, Choral Evensong and a recital. This was also the 'organists' course, that section directed by David Goode. Jeanette Ager (a former student of the choral courses) gave an interesting vocal masterclass. Gillian Dibden, for many years the director of the Berkshire Youth Choir, took a full choir rehearsal. Jeremy Filsell, lately a lay clerk at Windsor and soon to become a Director of Music in Washington DC, gave a masterclass for the organists, who themselves gave an excellent recital in College Chapel. Much of Sunday afternoon was spent recording two programmes of BBC Radio 4's Sunday Half Hour, which included a selection of hymns and short anthems on the themes of All Saints and Martin Luther. The student organists were of a sufficiently high standard to participate in these recordings, which were highly enjoyable and very well-sung. The full choir visited Oxford again (this time in hot sunshine) to sing Choral Evensong in Queen's College Chapel under the direction of Dr Owen Rees. On the final day of the course, the students gave a recital in College Chapel on the theme of the Virgin Mary - Marian choral music by Monteverdi, Bruckner Britten, Bax and James MacMillan as well as organ music and poetry.
Course 4
The fourth course was held as part of the Three Choirs Festival, this year held at Worcester. We sang late night Compline in the cathedral to a large congregation, and a recital to a full Tewkesbury Abbey at the end of the course. A musical highlight was "One foot in Eden still I stand" by Nicholas Maw and singing Tallis encircling the audience. We stayed at Dean Close School, where we were very well looked after.
Course 5
The fifth course was held for the first time in Oxford. Owen Rees at Queen's and Roger Allen at St Peter's had combined to take the initiative and ensure that it ran very smoothly. Ben Nicholas visited to direct Evensong in Queen's Chapel, and we sang a recital in Merton Chapel, with its wonderful acoustic. One of the pieces was the wonderfully atmospheric Hymnus, by Richard Quesnel. We also had an event at the Music Faculty (a Master Class from Robin Bowman), a choir workshop from Adrian Partington and sang at Christ Church Cathedral. We are all keen for the Oxford course to be repeated next year.
Course 6
The last course was held for the second year running in Cambridge. It was based in Trinity but involved Caius, St Catharine's, King's and Queens' Colleges too. We sang a recital in Trinity with a specially commissioned anthem from Joanna Marsh. Susan MacCulloch gave a very engaging and informative master class at Keynes Hall in King's College. Sir David Willcocks made an unscheduled visit to work on Naylor: Vox dicentis and conduct it in the recital. The singers were very moved to be able to sing with such a distinguished choral director. Michael Chance gave a most helpful and inspiring master class in the hall at Queens' College. Geffrey Webber directed Evensong in Caius Chapel to round off the course.
The strength of the courses lies in the high musical standards we aim for and achieve through the efforts of the dedicated and highly professional staff we are able to attract. Spread over the six courses, with some of them teaching on more than one course, were thirteen singing teachers, twenty assistant music staff, ten house staff and six organists and accompanists, organised administratively by Martina Prokesova and Vicky Savage.
Next year: 2009
Next year, we plan that the three courses away from Eton will be held at Durham, Oxford and Cambridge. One of them will be the hundredth course that has been held since they began in 1980.
