Recorder days in the West Midlands - Tim Cranmore
I
organised the first recorder day in Leominster, West Midlands in 1994.
A chance meeting with the Amsterdam Loeki Stardust Quartet, and
an
idle invitation to come and give a concert in Leominster Priory soon snowballed
into a days activities for adult players with the Heart of England
Recorder
Orchestra, and the Birmingham Society of Recorder Players providing
a prelude to the main event of the evening with the Loeki Stardust
Quartet.
The
concert attracted an audience of more than 400 people, and was broadcast
complete on
Radio Three. It was almost a national event. When I moved to Malvern
it seemed a good idea to repeat the experience, but this time to aim to
make it the national recorder event of 2000.
I was determined to include recorder players of all ages, as I had realised
since moving to Worcestershire that recorder teaching in the local education
system was in a very sad state,
with the exception of one or two pockets of excellence surrounding individual
teachers.
With
this in mind the invitation was not only extended to the Loeki Stardust
Quartet, but also
to Piers Adams whose recorder roadshows were making big splashes
all over the country, and
to the European Recorder Teachers Association [ERTA] to
hold a preliminary round for their national consort competition in Malvern.
As an extra inducement, prizes were solicited for and
were kindly donated in the shape of three complete consorts, by Moeck,
The Early Music Shop, Dolmetsch Musical Industries, and
Mr Andy Webb.
A
big event needs a big venue - and Malvern College were very willing
to let me use their very beautiful buildings in the lee of the Malvern
Hills, as a venue. With a [rather late in the day] grant
of £2900 from the Millennium Awards for All programme, and an oversubscribed
application list, the Great Malvern Recorder Day 2000 commenced
at 9. 00am on March 25th.
I
must admit we were slightly underprepared for the running of an event
of this
size, but we survived more by luck than judgement, and as 400 participants
enjoyed activities for all ages and standards I realised that events of
this nature
were just what the English recorder scene needed.
I
had attended several similar occasions on the continent, and at last we
had a chance to catch up! Recorder players had travelled from as far afield
as Cumbria and Cornwall, and I was particularly sorry to
have to tell a
group who intended to come from Penzance, that the day was full!
Piers
Adams worked hard all day with 150 schoolchildren who had travelled
from all over the West Midlands and beyond to be there, and produced a
virtuoso
performance from both them, himself and Howard Beach to a packed
Big School.
The Loeki Stardust Quartet were individually hard at work all day
with the
competition, which attracted 17 young consorts, and adult & teenage
workshops.
The Birmingham SRP held a massed playing day of very high standard,
and
six commercial stands were highly delighted with the business they made.
After the presentation of the prizes, over 500 people attended a marvellous
concert by the Loeki Stardust Quartet in Malvern Priory.
So
- we had the big one - but the next one is going to be BIGGER and
BETTER.
For May 31 - June 2nd 2002, the Great Malvern Recorder Event
is going
to be 'The National Recorder event of 2002 plus!!'
Following
the maxim of 'if it ain't broke - don't fix it' I have already booked
the same line up of recorder personalities as for March 2000, and
the same
venue, but we will also be introducing many more educational activities
for
the promotion of recorder playing in young people.
The
last event produced something of a stir in music educational circles of
Worcestershire, and it is possible that by June 2002 there may
be a 'County
Recorder Ensemble', and pilot schemes to encourage recorder playing
at a
primary level. The 2002 event will consist of three days of activities
including workshops for advanced young players in baroque technique, consort
technique, improvisation, contemporary music with the members of the Loeki
Stardust Quartet, and electro-acoustic music with Susanna Borsch
who is currently studying in Amsterdam with Walter van Hauwe.
It
is hoped that young players can be helped with their costs by offering
educational bursaries.
On the Saturday, we will have the final of the ERTA consort competition,
the Piers Adams Roadshow, and an evening concert with the Loeki
Stardust Quartet to be held in the
'New Space' concert hall in Malvern . On Sunday there will be the
annual ERTA conference
with the Heart of England Recorder Orchestra under the direction
of Colin Touchin.
So now that you have the dates in your diaries in VERY large letters, I will look forward to seeing you all in 2002. We hope to be able to accomodate more people than last time by extending the space we take within Malvern College.
Preliminary
advertising will launch at the London Early Music Exhibition, and
application forms will be dropping on your doorstep from autumn 2001.
However, if you want to make sure
of your place, please e-mail us so that we can send you a personal
invitation when the time comes.
Thank
you for all your support.
Tim Cranmore