Edward Elgar	Saturday 12th March 2011, 10am – 4 pm	Philip Robinson
	Led by Philip Robinson
	St Paul’s Methodist Church, Rochdale Rd, Shaw OL2 8AJ
	(Map)

Report

This workshop was very successful with about 100 attendees, a significant number of whom were visitors from other choirs.  Mr Robinson rehearsed most of the major choral pieces and provided some useful new insights.  His presentations of the background to the work, the life of Mendelssohn, the first performance and a selection of recordings were excellent, though slightly compromised bycomputer gremlins.

Below for reference is the information distributed before the event.

A  Workshop  with  a  difference ! . . . . .

This will be the second time that Oldham Choral has hosted a one-day Workshop in the Oldham area, following the highly successful one we ran last year based on “The Dream of Gerontius”  Many of you will also have enjoyed our previous Weekend Workshop and Performances in Chester, Buxton and elsewhere, and we hope you will find this event attractive.

The Workshop will be led by Philip Robinson, who is an expert in Multi-media Music Presentations.  He is conductor of Grantham Choral Society, and accompanist of the acclaimed female choral group “Cantamus”. He travels around the country giving presentations about the major choral works to many musical organisations, and we are sure of an interesting and profitable day under his leadership.  For more information see Philip’s web site.

Besides the opportunity to rehearse the main choral sections of the work, Philip will also, by means of slides, recordings, and videos, help us to explore the background, musical context and content of the work and other related topics including best recordings, famous performances, the work’s status, reputation, etc.

Mendelssohn’s “Elijah” is acknowledged as a masterpiece, and this event should enable us to appreciate it in more depth.  Oldham Choral Society will be performing the work in the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester on Saturday, 16th April 2011, and twice in Ireland in June, and this workshop will prove a valuable tool in our preparations.  However, the content of the workshop should be attractive also to other singers whether or not they are preparing to sing “Elijah”, and also to non-singers who would just like to know the work and its background better.

You will need to provide your own score if you wish to sing in the rehearsal slots.

The FEE for this event will be £10, and singers / non-singers are welcome to come along and join us.  Please register beforehand using this Registration Form.

There will be facilities to eat your own Picnic lunch, or there are eating places within easy reach of the Hall.  Tea, Coffee, etc. will be provided on arrival, at Breaks and Lunch time, as part of the Fee.

Proposed timetable for the day (subject to revision)

From around 09:45	Arrival and registration
10:00	First session of workshop
11:20	Tea/Coffee break
11:30	Second session
12:45	Lunch break
13:45	Third session
14:55	Tea/Coffee break
15:05	Fourth session
16:00	Close