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SUMMER
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You may recognize in the theme of the 55th annual Summer School of RSCM, ‘Sing my tongue: a journey in faith and song”, a reference to the opening words of the early medieval hymn, dating back to the sixth century, that sings of the passion and resurrection of Christ. This Australian and New Zealand International Summer School from Sunday 3rd to Sunday 10th January 2010 is an invitation to a pilgrimage of faith and song based on the rhythms and events of Holy Week and Easter. Building on the idea of celebrating every Sunday as an Easter Day, the week will take participants through some of the liturgies associated with the church’s worship during Holy Week and Easter. You will have opportunities to experience some of the oldest and richest liturgies from different traditions of the Christian faith, including a celebration of the Liturgy of the Gifts on Wednesday, Tenebrae on Friday, the Lighting of the Paschal Candle and renewal of baptismal vows on Saturday, culminating in the celebration of the Eucharist on Sunday morning. Registrations for the Summer School are now open. Early bird registration is available until 30th November 2009; thereafter standard registration fees apply. The Youth Course or youth concession registration fees are discounted for participants who are full time students under the age of 22 years on 3 January 2010. Download the application form: Word version / PDF version Email: SS10@rscmaustralia.org.au Postal address: Dr Warren Bourne The Choral Director of the Adelaide summer school will be Dr Jeffrey Smith, Canon Director of Music at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. Dr Smith comes to us highly recommended by RSCM America, and has had a distinguished career as organist, conductor and educationist. He holds degrees from Yale University and the Royal College of Music, London. His teachers included Gerre Hancock, David Willcocks and Philippe Lefebvre, organist of Notre Dame de Paris, and he has undertaken a special study of the German boys’ choir tradition. Jeffrey Smith has been Organist and Choirmaster at Christ Church Cathedral in Lexington, Kentucky, before moving in 1992 to St Paul’s Church, Washington DC. There he appeared regularly as conductor at the Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts and with the National Symphony Orchestra. In 2004 he accepted the post at Grace Cathedral. He was awarded the Fellowship of the RSCM at a ceremony in York Minster in June 2004. Dr Smith is married to Elisabeth Braw, a Swedish journalist, and has two children. Principal Organist We are delighted to announce that Siegfried Francke has accepted the position of Principal Organist and Accompanist for the Summer School to be held in Adelaide from 3rd to 10th January 2010. Siegfried is Parish Organist of Christ Church South Yarra in Melbourne, Victoria; sub-organist of St Paul’s Cathedral and teaches music at Trinity Grammar School. He studied organ with June Nixon and with Richard Popplewell in London. He is an Associate of the Royal College of Organists and a Fellow of the Trinity College of Music. He is much sought after as an accompanist and has built a high profile as organ recitalist. Recent engagements have been with the Tudor Choristers, the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Choir and the Geelong Chorale. He has long been involved in RSCM festivals and is currently on the executive of RSCM Victoria. Director of the Youth Course We are also very pleased to welcome Tom Healey as the Director
of the Youth Course associated with the Summer School. Tom is
Director of Music at St Andrew’s Church in Brighton, Victoria,
where he has been working with adult and youth choirs since August
2006. He was previously on the staff of Geelong Grammar School
for many years, where he headed up the music program and was Director
of Chapel Music. He studied choral conducting at the University
of Melbourne and at the Westminster Choir College, Princeton,
and has a wealth of experience working with young people and with
adult choirs. He has directed youth choirs at RSCM Festivals and
the 2006 Summer School. Venues and accommodation The Summer School will be conducted in the churches of North Adelaide and the centre of the city, including St Peter’s Cathedral, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Brougham Place Uniting Church, North Adelaide Baptist Church and Pilgrim Church in the city. Interstate and overseas participants will be able to stay at St Mark’s College in North Adelaide. The Organising Committee is keen to encourage younger choristers to attend the Summer School and will be offering a substantially discounted registration fee to participants 21 years of age or younger. We would like to welcome families to the Summer School. Some of the accommodation at St Mark’s College is suitable for family groups, and limited accommodation is available in North Adelaide in apartments and motels. The nearest tourist park accommodation is approximately 1.5 k from North Adelaide, by public transport. Youth Course An exciting repertoire of music has been chosen for the Summer School, with music from the medieval period to the twenty-first century selected. Music will range from the exhilaration of one of Mozart’s early choral masses, the Missa in honorem Sanctissimae Trinitatis KV 167, to recently composed music for less experienced choirs and congregations to sing. There will be a number of works by Australian and New Zealand composers, including Malcolm Williamson, Colin Brumby, Becky Llewelyn, Jenny McLeod and David Childs, as well as recent music from the United States of America. We will also celebrate two composers whose anniversaries fall in 2010: Samuel Sebastian Wesley and Andrea Gabrieli (although recent research suggests that we may be a little premature here!). A full complement of workshops for organists, choral conductors and choristers at all levels of experience will be an integral part of the program, including a master class for advanced organ students and performers with Dr Jeffrey Smith. There will be workshops for the RSCM program “Voice for Life”, a carefully planned framework for choral singers to develop their vocal skills and musical understanding. A range of elective workshops will also be available. As part of the program all participants will be given a “day off” singing so that they may enjoy the manifold pleasures of an expedition to the Barossa Valley. There will be opportunities to hear some of the beautiful and historic organs to be found in the valley and take in some of the ambient sights and sounds of the region. On Thursday evening the Summer School dinner will be held in the grounds of Adelaide’s historic South Australian Cricket Oval. But the core of the Summer School will be, as always, the joy of learning and rehearsing new and old compositions, and then singing this music in the contexts of some of the most theologically profound, and dramatic liturgies of the Christian church. Scroll down for a more detailed program Forum on Music in Church Monday 4th January at 7.30 pm. The panel will be chaired by Nigel Mitchell, Immediate Past President of RSCM Australia. Your panel members will be Dr Jeffrey Smith, Canon Director of Music and Choral Director for the Summer School; Dr Ralph Morton, National President of RSCM Australia; Paul Ellis, National President of RSCM New Zealand; Anita Banbury, Chairperson of RSCM Auckland; and Dr Gemma Dashwood, Canberra National Councillor for RSCM Australia. We hope that there will be some opportunity for questions from the floor on the night. Email to SS10@rscmaustralia.org Or post to PO Box 325, Mitcham Shopping Centre, Torrens Park, South Australia 5051 *Members of the RSCM Adelaide Organising Committee and their families are not eligible for this prize. Summer School daily program The Organising Committee for the RSCM Summer School Adelaide 2010 reserves the right to make any necessary changes to this program. Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
You may make a selection of the workshops that you wish to attend
during the Summer School. Workshop descriptions Paul Ellis: Voice for Life Monday, Tuesday, Friday: 11 – 12.30 - Cynthia Poulton Hall, North Adelaide The Voice for Life program provides a scheme that will enable you to encourage and develop a singing culture in your church, as well as offering opportunities to develop the individual as a singer and musician. The scheme is intended to cater for singers of all ages. It is also a very good drawcard for young people. Participants will have the opportunity to work at a level appropriate to their experience and skill. The three workshops are linked together so it intended, if you are pursuing Light Blue, Dark Blue, Red or Yellow levels, that you sign up for all three workshops. The administrative detail of the scheme will be covered at the beginning of each session and anyone not working on the levels will be welcome to observe any or all of the sessions. Also, there will be an opportunity to be examined for Bronze, Silver and Gold awards, as a validated examiner will be present. If you want to be examined for Bronze, Silver or Gold awards, Applicants must have informed the Administrator at least one month before the commencement of the Summer School: contact paulv.ellis@clear.net.nz . Syllabuses for Bronze and Silver levels are available on the New Zealand website http://rscmnz.awardspace.com . Workbooks for Voice for Life and related support literature will be available for sale at the Summer School in Adelaide. John Hall: Organ – beginners Monday, Tuesday, Friday: 11 – 12.30 – Tynte Street Baptist Church, North Adelaide Sometimes keyboard players are asked to play an organ in church without much guidance, so this is a series of workshops for pianists or other instrumentalists coming to the organ for the first time. The three workshop times are linked together, so it is intended that you sign up for all three workshops. Shirley Gale: Organ – Intermediate Monday, Tuesday, Friday: 11 – 12.30 – St Peter’s Cathedral, North Adelaide For organists already on the way tutorials on the St Peter’s Cathedral organ, a splendid instrument built in the high romantic tradition, will be given. The three workshop times are linked together, so it is intended that you sign up for all three workshops Jeffrey Smith: Organ master class Saturday: 2.30 – 4.15 – Tynte Street Baptist Church, North Adelaide Selected advanced students will present one or two works to the master class for discussion and tuition by Jeffrey Smith. Observers are welcome to attend the master class also. Organists who wish to present works to the master class should contact the Summer School Organising Committee before the start of the Summer School. Lesley Lewis: Conducting – basic Monday: 11 – 12.30 – Council Room, St Mark’s
College Introductory workshops on choral conducting, for those who would like to begin to discover the skills of conducting. The three workshop times are linked together, so it is intended that you sign up for all three workshops. Alan McKie: Conducting – advanced Monday: 11 – 12.30 – Ballroom, St Mark’s College Three workshops for those who would like to develop their techniques of conducting further: some knowledge and experience will be assumed. The workshop will move progressively through conducting techniques and rehearsal tips to conducting for expression and interpretation. Participants will be able to work on an own choice piece, and to sing as a chorister for fellow participants. The three workshop times are linked together, so it is intended that you sign up for all three workshops. Beverley Peart: Voice class Monday: 2 – 3.30 – Chapel, St Mark’s College Three workshops for singers who just want to concentrate on vocal production for good choral singing, based on the music to be prepared for the worship services to be held as part of the Summer School. The three workshop times are linked together, so it is intended that you sign up for all three workshops. David Brookes: Music in Worship – Holy Week and Easter Monday: 11 – 12.30 – Junior Common Room, St Mark’s
College This workshop identifies the days of Holy Week and the forms of worship and liturgies that may be used. The use of music in these contexts is then explored, and participants are invited to contribute their own experiences and use of music in the worship of their churches. Psalms, anthems and hymns will also be introduced, and participants may bring examples of repertoire that they are familiar with, to share with the group. Opportunity will be given for participants to sing through some of the music to be introduced. Phil Haddy – The Festival Theatre Organ Monday 2 – 3.30 pm – Festival Centre An opportunity to explore the Rieger organ in the Festival Theatre. Participants meet at the Stage Door, at the rear of the Festival Theatre (west of the Festival Theatre doors) Guy Jansen: A Journey through Lent to Pentecost into everyday life, on the Wings of Kiwi choral song Tuesday: 11 – 12.30 – Chapel, St Mark’s College An introduction to recent New Zealand choral songs and anthems, some of which have gained wide circulation in their home country and beyond. Participants will have the opportunity to read through scores, hear recordings of the music and gain some insight into their provenance and significance. Sr Dr Marie Therese Levey: Gregorian Chant: adapting ancient melodies to the “Novus ordo” Tuesday: 11 – 12.30 – Junior Common Room, St Mark’s
College Gregorian chant, or plainsong, is the large body of ritual melodies of the Western Church. This workshop will begin with a short talk on the history of Gregorian chant, incorporating slides of medieval sources of a Passion Week Vespers, which will be sung in the workshop. This will be followed by an explanation of the liturgical reforms of the twentieth century encouraging the use of the chant. Timothy Marks – Early Music Workshop Tuesday 2 – 3.30 – Cynthia Poulton Hall This workshop explores some of the conventions governing the performance of church music from the later sixteenth century, through the early eighteenth century. Questions of performance practice will be addressed by singing, playing and comparing different ways of proceeding. Meg Matthews: Exploring Mozart’s Masses Monday: 2 – 3.30 – Ballroom, St Mark’s College Apart from the unfinished Requiem Mozart wrote eighteen Mass settings. Some are examples of the Missa Brevis, some Missa solemnis, some have nicknames, most just have their key and Köchel number. All were intended for liturgical use but not all were appropriate. Mozart’s masses, in comparison with his operas, chamber and orchestral works are relatively neglected but they make a fascinating study with some real or perhaps unconscious links with his operas. The workshop will include singing examples from some of the masses. Alison O’Connell: The Art of Bronze Monday: 2 – 3.30 – Cynthia Poulton Hall Handbells are both aurally and visually beautiful and lend themselves wonderfully to church music. You will learn more about the history of handbells and their use around the world today, along with techniques that bring additional tone colour to the music. You will have the opportunity to ring handbells with fellow participants and discover the unique collaborative nature of the instrument. Helen Pietsch: Re-vitalising the Church Choir Tuesday: 2 – 3.30 – Council Room, St Mark’s
College Community choirs are growing rapidly. Church choirs can too! This session addresses issues common to church choirs and suggests some ways to keep re-vitalising this exciting area of ministry: expanding the choir (recruitment), attracting younger and new members, repertoire ideas and effective rehearsal techniques that provide training to get better singers yet stimulate, enthuse and aim for excellence. Notes will be provided and questions and discussion are welcome. Helen Pietsch: Discovering New Songs for Worship Monday: 11 - 12.30 pm Church music surrounds us as an important part of our culture,
education and history. Our challenge is to encourage young people
to be actively involved in church music - both modern and traditional.
This workshop will allow participants to learn a variety of simple
and easy church songs that can create effective performance pieces.
The workshop is particularly suited for school teachers, conductors
of singing groups and small choirs who wish to expand their music
repertoire. Timetable of Workshops Monday 11 – 12.30 Paul Ellis: Voice for Life 1 Monday 2 – 3.30 Beverley Peart: Voice class 1 Tuesday 11 – 12.30 Tuesday 2 – 3.30 Beverley Peart: Voice class 2 Wednesday 2.30 – 4 Lesley Lewis: Conducting basic 3 Friday 11 – 12.30 Paul Ellis: Voice for Life 3 Saturday 2.30 – 4.15 Jeffrey Smith: Organ master class
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