Holiday Courses
WEEK ONE: 24-28 July WEEK TWO: 31 July – 4 August WEEK THREE: 7 – 11 August
“It’s been the friendliest and most welcoming orchestra that she has played in” F Sutton, 2022
Every summer families book their holidays to fit in with the Musicale Summer Courses! They have been loved for over 45 years and many of our young musicians’ parents grew up on the courses themselves. We are very excited to be adding a NEW VENUE for 2023 at the prestigious Bedford School for Boys in the third week.
Three weeks of wind bands and orchestras, musical theatre and mini musicians exploring all genres of music tutored by professional musicians who work for the country’s top orchestras and ensembles. All staff are enhanced DBS checked, trained in safeguarding children and there are fully trained first aiders on call throughout the courses. We are Ofsted registered on our Harpenden courses and can accept payment from the Tax free Childcare scheme.
Week One – Instrumental Week – Ages 8 – 18 years – Katherine Warington School, Harpenden
Join our excellent wind bands and orchestras exploring all genres of music. Students will have the chance to play in full orchestras and smaller groups tailored to ages and stages appropriately. Extra non-musical activities each day will give time for making friends and team-building. A week of learning, socialising and performing with a final evening concert on the Friday where parents, grandparents, friends and hangers-on are all welcome to attend! This week is recommended for all grades up to Grade 8 and beyond. Musicale Summer Holiday Alumni have frequently headed to music colleges around the country and entered, and won, prestigious competitions such as BBC Young Musician of the Year. The course will run from 9.30 – 3.30pm Monday to Friday and please bring a packed lunch, instrument, music stand, pencil and eraser each day. There will be a concert at the end of the week on the Friday at 6.30pm where the children will perform a selection of the music they have learnt during the week. This will last approximately one hour.
Please note: This is for children who already learn an orchestral instrument. We cannot cater for pianists or guitarists on this course. We recommend students to have had at least a year of instrumental lessons to really enjoy the week. There are no individual lessons on this course.
Week One and Two – Step up to Music – Ages 5 – 7 years – Katherine Warington School, Harpenden
Step up to Music runs alongside the main course as an introduction for our mini musicians to try a variety of instruments and learn about music-making. Through musical games, stories and compositions, the children have the opportunity to play and learn about rhythm, pitch, pulse, timbre and dynamics. The week is structured around a theme and at the end of the week the children perform a concert to their families at 3pm on the Friday. The course will run from 9.30 – 3.30pm Monday to Friday. Please bring a packed lunch, water bottle and a recorder each day. No previous experience required!
Please note: This is for children who have not yet started learning an instrument or who have been playing for up to a year or so. We have tried and tested over the years with different age groups and found 5 – 7 years to be the perfect ages for this course.
Week Two – Musical Theatre Week – Ages 8 – 18 years – Katherine Warington School, Harpenden
Put on a production of Annie in a week! The cast will learn the songs and choreography to this fantastic musical. For those who learn an instrument an orchestra will work on pieces from film scores and shows to perform at the end of the week. On the Friday the students will perform their production and the orchestra will give a concert where parents, grandparents, friends and hangers-on are all welcome to attend! The course will run from 9.30 – 3.30pm Monday to Friday. There will be a performance of a selection of pieces by the orchestra followed by the production of Annie Kids at 6.30pm on the Friday. Please bring a packed lunch each day and be ready for action!
Please note: This is for children who already learn an orchestral instrument or who sing. We cannot cater for pianists on this course.
Week Three – Instrumental Week – Ages 8 – 18 years – Bedford School
This course will run in the same way as Week One with the same elite level of staff (see above) with orchestras and wind bands performing all genres of music in the beautiful setting of Bedford School.
Week Three – Step up to Music – Ages 5 – 7 years – Bedford School
This course will run in the same way as Week One and Two (see above) for our mini musicians.
An Example day on a course:
9.30am Arrive, register and head to your rehearsal rooms to look at your music / words with your professional tutors.
10.45am Break outside – time to play on the giant chess board, play basketball or football on the field.
11.15am Second rehearsal may be sectionals or full orchestra / windband or some students forming chamber groups
12.30pm Lunch. Time to enjoy your packed lunch with friends
1pm Activity time – this could be an improvisation workshop or a bouncy castle obstacle course or learning circus skills!
2pm Third rehearsal is usually full rehearsals
2.45pm Short break
3pm Last rehearsal of the day to finish off all the loose ends!
3.30pm Home time
All information about the courses will be sent out a couple of weeks before the course from info@musicale.co.uk. Please add this to your safe senders list.
Some previous happy customers:
“It is so lovely to watch all the children from those just beginning to some of the older very accomplished players, I remember from my childhood how inspiring it is as a younger child to hear older players and hope one day to be like them.” Claire, 2022
“Erin really enjoyed playing in the senior wind band – she found it a challenge at first but was really proud with what she had learnt and achieved by the end of the week – a fantastic motivating experience for her. We thought the concert was fabulous.” Gillian, Aug 2021
“Thank you so much for a wonderful week, all 3 of my children really enjoyed their time and very much enjoyed working towards the concert at the end. It was also the first time my son had felt confident enough during the step up to music concert to play his violin to more than just our family so it was lovely to see his confident grow, in particular. He has only been learning since January and this was quite a big deal for him as he didn’t even feel quite ready to show his class at school.” Fiona, August 2021
