FREE New Conductors Concert

with Jonathan James

Started: 4th Jul '10  To: 4th Jul '10

Venue: St Monica Trust, Westbury-on-Trym

The ‘all 4 music’ conductor’s course, on which budding maestros - some with no prior musical experience whatsoever - were taught the ins and outs of (and ups and downs) of using a baton, recently reached its culmination with the first public performance for six of the students. The concert saw the first chance for the students, after 30 weeks of tuition, to conduct a semi-professional ensemble in public and, after a full day’s rehearsal with the group, the doors of St Monica Trust were opened and a small crowd gathered to witness the debut performances.

The course, called ‘How to Conduct Yourself’ is unique in Bristol and afforded a total of 12 students the opportunity to learn with international conductor and local favourite Jonathan James, who founded the city’s ‘New Bristol Sinfonia’ orchestra. He took them through their paces not only in how to successfully wield the stick, but also in skills such as leadership, communication, motivation and reading a musical score.

Course organiser and director of ‘all 4 music’ Philip Harper said: “There was definitely a mixture of apprehension and excitement amongst the students, but they all did a fantastic job. It’s incredible to think that last October some of these people had never even picked up a baton before.” Philip paid tribute to the skill of the tutor Jonathan James who was presented with a gift of appreciation from the students.