RCO announces 2013 spring events season

RCO announces 2013 spring events season


The Royal College of Organists (RCO) is proud to feature some of Britain’s finest teachers and performers in its 2013 season of courses, classes and other events.

The College’s popular Sing! series visits Warwick’s St Mary’s Collegiate Church for the first time on 23rd February, with Sing Stainer! giving choral enthusiasts the chance to rehearse and perform Sir John Stainer’s much loved Crucifixion in one day under the expert baton of David Hill, Chief Conductor of the BBC Singers and Musical Director of The Bach Choir.

In Scotland, Glasgow University organist, international recitalist and recording artist Kevin Bowyer will be leading an exploration of The Organ Music of Hindemith to mark the 50th anniversary of the composer’s death. This event, on 13th April, will feature the fine Willis/ Harrison organ in the University of Glasgow’s Memorial Chapel.

And after a break of three years, RCO Academy welcomes back Patrick Russill, Head of Choral Conducting at the Royal Academy of Music, to lead the Choral Conducting Workshop at Temple Church, London, on 18th May.

Essential for those preparing for or considering the College’s Choral Directing Diploma, this tuition day also represents an unmissable opportunity for those of any level of experience looking to further develop their skills.

RCO Academy director Simon Williams said: “One of the great joys of our work is in creating opportunities for organists, choral directors and singers of all abilities and levels of experience to perform and learn alongside world class teachers and performers.

“We are delighted to be able to offer such a fantastic range of opportunities up and down the country throughout the first half of 2013.”


The RCO Academy year starts on 5th January with the first of ten classes in the popular RCO St Giles Organ School series. Towards Cert RCO is an informal class at St Giles Cripplegate for anyone curious about the required standard and what else is involved in the practical component of the CertRCO exam.

Other classes which focus on performance include: Spontaneous Fanfares and Interludes (19th January); The Confident Performer (16th February); and Registration Basics (23rd February). Classes looking principally at repertoire include: L’Organo Italiano (Keble College, Oxford, 19th January); O Mensch, bewein and other penitential preludes from Orgelbüchlein (12th January); and Elgar Original and Arranged (2nd March).

For ambitious organists aged up to 19, Set Your Sights! on 2nd March in Cambridge offers a taste of the organ scholar experience with a day of tuition on repertoire performance, keyboard skills and choral accompaniment and direction.

And a packed spring season comes to a close with the three-day Easter Course, this year held in Cambridge from 4th April. At the heart of this course is the comprehensive tuition for those preparing for RCO organ playing examinations, but with a strand too for advanced players.

Visit http://www.rco.org.uk/education_college_events.php for more details on events as they become available, and http://www.rco.org.uk/organ_school.php for details on RCO St Giles classes.

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