Young Composers' Competition

Now in its twelfth year, the prestigious BBC Proms Inspire Young Composers' Competition gives young composers aged 12-18 a chance to get their music heard by a wider audience. Young composers will need to enter their own, original piece of music -no more than five minutes long - to the BBC Proms judging panel, who'll choose the winning compositions, which are then performed at the Young Composers' Concert during the BBC Proms season and broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

If they win, they'll also receive a commission to be performed and recorded by BBC musicians at the 2010 Inspire events, and get to work with top composers and musicians in a series of workshops to develop thier commission. Last years winners were commissioned to write for the last night of the Proms!

Anyone who enters the Young Composers' Competition or attends a lab can attend Inspire Day, a day of workshops that will challenge and inspire them to compose in ways they'd never thought of, in London on 2 August 2010.

How to get involved
All you need to do is contact promslearning@bbc.co.uk or call 020 7765 5575 or visit www. bbc.co.uk/proms if you would like to attend any of the Labs.

How to enter the Young Composers' Competition
Send in two musical scores of your composition, along with two CD recordings and an entry form to:
BBC Proms Inspire Young Composers' Competition,
14 Lakeside, PO BOX 105,
Rochester, Kent ME2 4BE.

Entry forms are available from bbc.co.uk/proms, by calling 020 7765 5575 or emailing promslearning@bbc.co.uk

The closing date for entries is 28 May 2010. Any entries received after this date will not be entered in the competition.

Are you under 17 years of age and have you passed RAD Advanced 1 with Distinction? If so, you are eligible to apply for the Phyllis Bedells Bursary.

Named in honour of Miss Phyllis Bedells, a founder member and Vice President of the Academy, the bursary, of up to £1,000, is given for further training in the Academy’s method. Experience the challenge and excitement of taking a class with a renowned teacher, rehearsing set and repertoire variations and performing in front of an international dance audience in the Genée Studio at Academy headquarters. Past winners have gone on to win Genée International Ballet Competition bronze, silver and gold medals and have danced with the Australian Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, English National Ballet, London City Ballet, Maurice Béjart and The Royal Ballet.

Candidates should be under 17 years of age on 1st March and should not have entered for the Advanced 2 examination. The entry fee for the competition is £65.00 and each student will receive one complimentary ticket for a place in the audience for a family member or friend.

Applications are now open until 1 March 2010. Open to the public.

For further information contact Maria O’Connor moconnor@rad.org.uk at the Royal Academy of Dance.

BBC Proms Composer Labs

As part of the BBC Proms Inspire Young Composers' scheme, the BBC offer composer labs throughout the UK. These labs help young people meet other composers, share ideas and discover new ones, develop a deeper understanding on how to use use rhythm, harmony, melody and form and how to make them their own.

Composer Labs are a unique chance to join professional musicians from the UK's top orchestras and the BBC Singers, top composers and the BBC Proms team in a day of music making, exploration and discovery.

Labs will be held at locations around the UK between February and April. The Birmingham Lab is in partnership with Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and the BBC Singers

For more information please go to: http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/2009/youngcomposers/introduction10.shtml

BBC Proms Composer Labs

As part of the BBC Proms Inspire Young Composers' scheme, the BBC offer composer labs throughout the UK. These labs help young people meet other composers, share ideas and discover new ones, develop a deeper understanding on how to use use rhythm, harmony, melody and form and how to make them their own.

Composer Labs are a unique chance to join professional musicians from the UK's top orchestras and the BBC Singers, top composers and the BBC Proms team in a day of music making, exploration and discovery.

Labs will be held at locations around the UK between February and April. In partnership with the BBC orchestras and the BBC Singers

For more information please go to: http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/2009/youngcomposers/introduction10.shtml

RE-RITE, the Philharmonia Orchestra’s ‘virtual orchestra’, will be visiting Leicester from 21 to 25 April. The installation will take over and transform a disused nursery building on Museum Square (opposite New Walk Museum).

RE-RITE first appeared in November 2009 in London in an old warehouse on the South Bank. 29 high-definition cameras filmed the Philharmonia performing Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, conducted by Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor Esa-Pekka Salonen, from every possible angle, including a camera attached to a player’s head. The installation creates a life-size virtual orchestra using projections of these videos onto the walls of the building and high-resolution screens. These projections, together with interactive elements, allow you to conduct, play and step inside the orchestra. From playing along with the percussion section to controlling every section of the orchestra from the conductor’s podium, you'll feel what it's like to be part of a world-class orchestra performing one of the twentieth-century’s iconic pieces of music.

Over 6,000 people visited the London version of RE-RITE and 100% of those who filled in our questionnaire said they would recommend it to a friend. One person wrote: “Amazing experience! The blend of film and sound, the explanation (earphones & panels), the opportunity to join in – ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT!”

Visit www.re-rite.co.uk for more information including short films about the project and a preview of the conductor’s ‘mixing desk’.

Ages 13 to 18 First, attend an incredible evening at the Royal Albert Hall on Friday 23 April, where you can hear a live orchestra accompany a screening of the film Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Then, two days later, embark on an exciting creative journey, and learn how to write an effective piece of film music for a specially edited clip from Lord of the Rings. Working in the RCM’s state-of-the-art Studios, with the support of the RCM’s very own vibrant young film composers, you will work together in teams to create a unique piece to be showcased in a screening to friends and family at the end of the day. No previous experience necessary.

Tickets: £15

Tickets available from the RCM Box Office

Family Concert by Courtlye Musick
Part 1 for the very young (tiny)
Part 2 for the not so young (midi)

Family Concert - Courtlye Musick
In this musical posy of pieces chosen to delight and entertain, enjoy Medieval and Renaissance songs, music and instrumental pieces depicting rural life and country pursuits as well as courtly love songs and musical descriptions of great banquets.
Courtlye Musick is a group of three versatile musicians who specialise in the presentation of Renaissance and Medieval music.

‘How many instruments do you play?’ is usually the first question we are asked and it is not that easy to answer. Versatility is a key feature of our performances. Whether we are floating background music from a minstrel’s gallery, or spending the day turning Year Five into Tudors, with mixed and matched consorts of instruments, there is a huge variety of sounds complemented by themed readings in the concert setting. There is no chance to be bored with textures ranging from medieval; through instruments of the Mary Rose: viols with recorder and unaccompanied song to the town wait consort of cornetto, sackbut and curtal.

The central theme of our young persons concert will be the amazing collage of sounds conjured by Charles Ives for his Central Park in the Dark. We feel sure children will get a huge amount of fun from this revolutionary piece during our morning concert. : The composer describes it as “a picture-in-sounds of the sounds of nature and of happenings that men would hear…..when sitting on a bench in Central Park [New York] on a hot summer’s night …..[for example] the Casino over the pond…..street singers….night owls….a street car….street parade….street band….pianolas having a ragtime war….a fire engine…” Children are invited to bring their own instruments and let their imagination run riot by creating their own musical contributions to the scene experienced during a night-time “Walk in the Park”.