DATE: TUESDAY 10th APRIL 2007
VENUE:
The Concert Hall
Fraser Noble Building
University Of Leicester
London Road
Leicester
http://www.le.ac.uk/maps/scampus.html - shows the
building on the left-hand side of the map. The concert hall is accessible from the
entrance in University Road.
ORGANISERS: The
organisers are Catherine Jennaway (Katyjay), assisted by Nicki-Flute. Katyjay is the final arbiter on all queries,
and will be responsible for all administration and finance. Katyjay can be contacted by e-mail or by
phone on 07806 481760
ELIGIBILITY: This concert
is designed to be an opportunity for ABRSM forum users to get together. You will be asked to let us know your forum
ID to be able to take part.
AGE LIMIT:
This concert is open to all ABRSM forum users aged 14 and over by the date of
the concert, but please note that those aged under 18 will need to bring an
adult (not necessarily a parent) with them, so that we are covered as regards
Child Protection. If anyone under the age of 14 would like to come, they should
get in touch with us first – they are very welcome to come and watch the
concert, of course, and depending on the numbers we have they may be able to
take part in the larger group activities.
HOW TO APPLY: Please fill in the application form
TIMETABLE: The Main Hall, where the concert will be
taking place, and both the smaller rehearsal rooms, will be open from 10am.
Nicki-Flute and Katyjay will be sorting things out for the first half-hour or
so, but performers are welcome to begin rehearsing from that time. Those who
are able to arrive early are asked to do so if at all possible, please, because
it is likely that from 11am onwards there is going to be a huge demand on the piano
from those who have come from further afield.
The rough timetable, subject to
adjustment, is as follows:
10 – 11.45am: rehearsals of solos and
duets, with and without piano
11.45am – 12.30pm: Recorder
ensemble
12.30 – 1.15pm: Choir practice
1.15 – 2pm: Grand Finale ensemble
2 – 2.15pm: any last-minute
rehearsing!
2.30 – approx 5pm: Concert
5 – 5.45pm: socialising before
departure
Please bring a packed lunch and eat
it during any free time you may have! Tea and coffee will be available in the
hall (self-service) throughout the day, and some snacks will be provided after
the concert.
Music
stands are provided but you may prefer to bring your own.
SOLOS: We
will try to accommodate everyone who wants to play a solo, on a first-come,
first-served basis. If you definitely want to play a solo it is in your own
interest to book sooner rather than later! Those who apply later will be welcome to take
part in any of the ensemble groups and to watch the remainder of the concert.
The time limit for solos will be 3 minutes of actual playing-time.
ACCOMPANIMENTS – IMPORTANT NOTICE: The main problem with this type of concert is always
going to be the severe lack of adequate rehearsal time for soloists and their
accompanists, who will very likely be meeting each other on the day for the
first time, and are unlikely to have more than 8 to 10 minutes in which to rehearse
together! It is therefore in everyone’s best interest that soloists should
choose material which will be reasonably straightforward to put together with
their accompanist in the short time available, and they must send the music to
their allocated accompanist at least two weeks before the concert, in order to
give him/her adequate preparation time.
With luck
there will be enough potential accompanists to go round, but if not, you should
be prepared to play an unaccompanied piece – in fact, we would positively
encourage unaccompanied pieces, as they make matters so much easier for
everyone!
DUETS/TRIOS/SMALL ENSEMBLES: Some people would like to play in small ensembles, again we
will try to accommodate as many as we can, and they will be allocated on a
first-come, first served basis. Instrumentalists other than pianists should
arrange if possible to play duets which do NOT need any piano accompaniment.
Piano duettists will be allocated the standard 8-10 minutes’ rehearsal time on
the day – so please don’t choose anything too complicated!
REHEARSALS: As well as the main hall we have two other
practice rooms, one of which has a piano.
So you should be able to find an opportunity to rehearse. However, we would ask you to be considerate
of other people’s need to rehearse, so please don’t contine beyond 8-10 minutes
unless you’re certain no-one else needs the piano.
RECORDER ENSEMBLE: Jo.Clarinet
has kindly offered to run this. A good number of people have
registered an interest in taking part in this group. The piece chosen will be
of only moderate difficulty – once Jo knows which recorders are being offered
she will be able to choose a suitable piece from her very extensive collection.
Please note that she will want a maximum of four descants (and one sopranino if
applicable for the piece chosen), so please bring any lower instruments if you
have them and are prepared to play them. The more tenors and basses we have,
the better. If you would like to have the music to practise before the day, let
Katyjay or Jo know and we will arrange to send you a copy of your part – but
please only do so if you feel you REALLY need to. As long as you are a
reasonably good sight-reader, there should be no problem with simply having it
on the day – the music will be available to you as soon as you arrive in the
morning, so there will be enough time for some private practice if necessary.
CHOIR: The
choir, directed by Catherine Jennaway (Katyjay) will be rehearsing and
performing a piece during the concert.
Again, it will be quite straightforward to read, and will be for equal
voices.
GRAND FINALE ENSEMBLE: Thanks to Barry-Clari
for offering to run this. It is intended to be a ‘good-fun’
piece with us all playing together to round off the concert, and we do hope
that everyone will want to take part. Please state on the booking form which
instrument you are intending to play in this group, and, if it is a transposing
instrument, please state which key it is in.
We can accommodate any orchestral instruments, percussion and any
recorders. Pianists should state an alternative instrument if they have one,
and so should any singers.
The final choice of work to be
performed depends very much on the instruments that will be available. It is
therefore of great importance that you let us know your choice of instrument
for this group as soon as possible, please.
Again, if you would like the music
beforehand, let us know, but it will be available on your arrival, so there
should be adequate time for you to have a look through it before we begin to
rehearse it together.
CONCERT WEAR: Smart
casual wear will be fine, although if you would like to ‘dress up’ more by
wearing a suit or a long dress, that will be welcome too – please wear whatever
you will feel most comfortable in whilst performing. Jeans are acceptable at
this concert as long as they look fairly smart (no ‘distressed’ or holey jeans
please!), and trainers are OK , as long as they are clean, fairly new-looking
and not too ‘sporty’ in design.
SHEET MUSIC BRING-AND-BUY: If you have any old sheet music which you no longer want,
and would like it to go to a good home, bring it along on the day and add it to
the Bring-and-Buy table. The music will be sold at the rate of 3p per A4 page,
so a book with 10 pages of music, for example, would sell for 30p. There will
be an ‘honesty box’ on the table, and the buyers themselves will calculate how
much to put in. Proceeds from this sale will go to the Neonatal Unit at
Leicester Royal Infirmary. Any unsold music should be taken home by its
owner at the end of the day.
If anyone has any larger items to
sell on their own behalf, I would suggest that you bring a note to put on the
sale table, stating clearly what you have for sale and who you are – give both
your forum name and your real name. Keep the item with you – we would not
recommend that you leave expensive items on the table, and if you do so, it is
at your own risk! Anyone who is interested can approach you directly.
PRICES: The
fee for performers will be £10. Those who are only coming to watch the
concert will pay £5. We will not charge those who are coming simply as
accompanists, or those who are just helping out by giving a lift to performers
with large instruments. Profits will be
sent to The Neonatal Unit at Leicester Royal Infirmary.
All fees
should be paid in advance. There will be no tickets as such, but we will make a
careful note of what each person has paid, in case there is any query. If
someone extra suddenly decides they would like to come, they can find Katyjay
and pay on the day, but we would like to be informed beforehand if possible!
Likewise, if you have paid for a member of the audience who then turns out not
to be coming, we will be happy to give a refund.
If you
are unsure at this stage as to who will be coming to support you, please book
for yourself now to be sure of a place (especially if you would like to play a
solo), and then send the fee for any others as soon as you know exactly who
else is coming.
CLOSING DATE: The closing date for applications to
perform is 10th March, a month before the concert. This is so that we will know
well in advance exactly what forces we have at our disposal for the choir,
recorder ensemble and the Grand Finale ensemble.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Applications will be acknowledged by
email as soon as possible – if you send your form in and have had no reply
after a week, please get in touch with Katyjay.