Simon studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Mary Peppin, James Gibb and Norman Beedie. He completed the post-graduate course in piano accompaniment at the Guildhall with Graham Johnson and took part in his Young Songmakers’ Project. He studied at Aldeburgh with Martin Isepp and in 1991 he won the Accompanists’s prize at the Guildhall. In the same year he was the soloist in Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. After further post-graduate study as a repetiteur, he worked with many opera companies including the City of Birmingham Touring Opera, Pimlico Opera, European Chamber Opera, Opera Holland Park and British Youth Opera. In 1993 he took part in a Kodály summer course and since then he has been a great advocate of the Kodály system, teaching children and adults at all levels from kindergarten to higher education. From 1998–2006 he was Music Specialist at Mill Hill Pre-Preparatory School and from 2006 – 2015 he was Director of Music at Eaton Square Preparatory School in Belgravia. In September 2015 he will take up the position of Director of Music at Alleyn’s Junior School, Dulwich. Throughout his career Simon has performed chamber music with both singers and instrumentalists; he is also a keen composer and arranger.
Tag Archives: Kodály
Kodály Summer School – Options
The afternoon options will provide an opportunity to choose from a variety of courses which will be on offer at different times during the week.
Delegates will be requested to make their choice of afternoon options in advance and will receive a form from the Administrator upon application to the course or shortly thereafter. Our expectation is that once a course of study has begun the student will stay with their choice for the rest of the week. All sessions will be dependent on numbers, and the BKA reserves the right to cancel a course if the numbers are insufficient. There will be a free afternoon midweek on Wednesday, the 12th of August. Students are encouraged to bring their musical instruments to facilitate informal music making in the preparation times, on the free afternoon and evening or in lieu of options which may not be of interest. Practice facilities will be available in the evening but limited during the day to the preparation period.
Individual Tuition and Coaching will be offered throughout the afternoon. (NB Individual lessons are not covered in the course fee; students opting for five lessons may have a lesson timetabled on the free afternoon.)
NB. There will be no afternoon sessions on the free afternoon, Wednesday the 12th of August
Session One
13:30 – 14:45
In Session One students may choose one of the following six options:
1. Methodology 1 for Teachers and Practitioners in Early Childhood
2. Methodology 2 for Teachers and Practitioners in Primary Teaching
3. Methodology 3 for Teachers and Practitioners in Secondary Teaching
4. Methodology 4 for Teachers and Practitioners in Instrumental Teaching
5. Choral Music Workshop
Session Two
15:00 – 16:15
In Session Two students may choose one of the following three options:
1. Conducting at 4 levels
2. Susan Brumfield – Repertoire & Pedagogy (repeated in session three)
3. James Cuskelly Musical Listening & Lucinda Geoghegan Singing Games (repeated in session three)
Session Three
16:45 – 18:00
In Session Three students may choose one of the following three options:
1. Esther Hargittai: Jewish Music & Dance
2. Susan Brumfield – Repertoire & Pedagogy (repeat of session two)
3. James Cuskelly Musical Listening & Lucinda Geoghegan Singing Games (repeat of session two)
Cyrilla Rowsell
Cyrilla gained a Bachelor of Education degree and then was a class teacher in First and Primary Schools for eleven years. During this time she became increasingly interested in the Kodály approach to music education, and subsequently attended many courses including Summer Schools in Britain and Hungary.
She obtained the British Kodály Academy’s Advanced Musicianship Diploma with Distinction in 1991. Since then Cyrilla has taught the Elementary and Intermediate Level year courses for the BKA and has taught solfège, methodology and conducting on BKA Summer Schools. She teaches in primary schools and on the String Training Programme at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Cyrilla has run courses around the country for organisations including the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, The Dalcroze Society, The National Youth Choir of Scotland, ESTA, the Shrewsbury Opera Project and for various schools and LEAs, including a year-long project in Barnsley and helping to plan a pre-instrumental musicianship course for children on the Isle of Man. She was the first advisory teacher for the Voices Foundation.
Cyrilla is currently writing the ‘Jolly Music’ scheme of books for primary age children with David Vinden.
Cyrilla has run a large junior age choir who won the Bromley Music Festival in 2000 with a high distinction mark of 96. The most experienced members of the choir performed both at the Royal Festival Hall in the Music for Youth Choral Day and at the Royal Albert Hall as part of a 500-strong Bromley choir at the 2002 Schools’ Prom. They performed many times at the Fairfield Halls in Croydon, supporting the Band of the White Russian Army and the Croydon Philharmonic Choir.
Dr László Norbert Nemes
Dr. habil. László Norbert Nemes is currently professor at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest and director of the International Kodály Institute of the Liszt Academy. His main areas of expertise are the theory and the practice of the Kodály Concept, musicianship training according to the Kodály Concept, choral conducting and choral music education. His most recent publications include a chapter on choral music education according to the Kodály concept in the Oxford Handbook of Choral Pedagogy published by Oxford University Press in 2017. Besides teaching at the Liszt Academy he maintains an active career as a choral conductor. Since September 2014 he has been artistic director of the New Liszt Ferenc Chamber Choir, the artist-in-residence choral ensemble of the Liszt Academy. In 2018 he founded the National Youth Choir of Hungary. For twelve years he worked as the associate conductor of the Hungarian Radio Children’s Choir. László Nemes has conducted, taught, held workshops, master classes and seminars all across Europe, in Australia, Brazil, Canada, the People’s Republic of China, Indonesia, Japan, the Korean Republic, Malaysia, The Philippines, Republic of China/Taiwan, Singapore and the United States of America several times. He is guest professor at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, China. In recognition of his artistic activities he received the Bartók-Pásztory Award in 2005. In March 2017 he was decorated with the Golden Cross of the Hungarian Cross of Merit. He is vice president of the International Kodály Society, honorary member of the British Kodály Academy and patron of music education at National Youth Choir of Scotland.
Esther Hargittai
Esther was born in Hungary and emigrated to Israel at the age of 16. She has been immersed in music since the tender age of six, going through primary and secondary schools specializing in music and in 1995 graduating in Choir Conducting and Music Education at the prestigious Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. Since graduating she has taught music and conducted choirs through all age groups: children through to adults. Esther set up one of the best known and most successful children’s choirs in Israel, the Efroni Choir, which she managed and conducted from1996 to 2005. The Efroni Choir had numerous performances in a variety of settings, from state ceremonies to children’s TV programmes and special concerts, as well as representing Israel abroad in the USA and France. Esther was also a major partner in conceiving and writing a Kodály Method teaching manual for music teachers in Israel, which was published by the Jerusalem Music Centre. Esther moved to the UK with her husband and family in 2006. Since then she has been engaged as a tutor on many BKA courses. She runs conducting and musicianship courses for choir trainers and class teachers from her home in Kent and has given successful conducting workshops elsewhere in the UK.
Lucinda Geoghegan
Lucinda graduated in music from the University of Edinburgh in 1982, completed a postgraduate teaching qualification at Moray House College of Education and trained with the Kodály Institute of Britain where she gained an Advanced Diploma in musicianship with Distinction. She worked as a secondary music teacher in Edinburgh before deciding to specialise in Primary and Early Years Music Education. She was also a member of staff with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra Junior Chorus for 16 years and was Director of the NYCoS West Lothian Choir for 8 years.
She is currently a theory and musicianship lecturer at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland working in both the Senior and Junior departments and is a regular tutor for the British Kodály Academy.
Lucinda is Education Director for the National Youth Choir of Scotland and her work increasingly includes Staff Development training across Britain presenting workshops on Kodály musicianship and methodology. Lucinda has been invited as a guest lecturer on the summer and yearly courses at the Kodály Institute in Kecskemét, Hungary and has delivered workshops in Ireland, Germany, Holland and Singapore.
Publications written by Lucinda for NYCoS include – Singing Games and Rhymes for Tiny Tots, Singing Games and Rhymes for Early Years, Singing Games and Rhymes for Middle Years and with Christopher Bell she wrote the musicianship programme Go for Bronze, Go for Silver and Go for Gold.
Future publications include Singing Games and Rhymes in Mother Tongue and Singing Games and Rhymes for ages 9 to 99 co-written with Dr László Nemes, Director of the Zoltán Kodály Pedagogical Institute of Music at the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music and NYCoS Patron of Education.
Kodály Summer School Overview
Sunday 9th – Saturday 15th August 2015
The 33rd International Kodály Summer School
The BKA’s flagship residential course is running for its 33rd year! This year it will be hosted by the University of Leicester, Digby Hall, Stoughton Drive South, Leicester, LE2 2NB
The course will include
- Instrumental and Classroom Methodology
- Choir and Musicianship Training
- Conducting
- Individual lessons available for pianists and singers
- CPD Certificate Courses in Kodály Music Education
- Guest tutors to include Dr. James Cuskelly (Australia) and Dr. Susan Brumfield (USA)
- Experienced and inspirational tutors from Hungary and the UK
More details soon! Be the first to hear about our courses by joining our mailing list here.
Primary Music Workshop – 10th May 2015
Bolton
FULLY BOOKED
Primary Music workshop plus the British Kodály Academy Bookstore
Tutor: Lucinda Geoghegan
£40 including lunch
Sunday May 10th from 9.30 – 3.30
Smithills School, Bolton BL1 6JS
Steve Roud at the BKA Spring Course
While we’re all thinking about the end of term tomorrow, I wonder what renowned folklorist, and creator of the Roud Folk Song Index, Steve Roud is doing.
He might be preparing for his sessions at the BKA Spring Course over Easter. After all, Steve is running three fascinating sessions over the four day course.
A Brief History of English Folk Song
Since the Second World War, the notion of what constitutes a ‘folk song’ has undergone so many changes that the term is now so elastic as to prove almost useless. But up to a hundred years ago, folk song was the most important part of the unofficial everyday musical culture of the people and was all around us. With the help of field recordings of amateur singers made over the years, we will explore some of the fascinating songs and singing styles that ordinary people used for entertainment in pubs and homes, at work and at play, before ‘pop music’ took over the world.
British Children’s Games: Past and Present
Contrary to what many adults think, children do still play, and many of their games are still ‘traditional’ in that they are passed on from child to child and down the generations. But children have always taken some of their play materials from wherever suits them, and nowadays the traditional games are mixed in with brand-new items based on the latest TV programme or learnt from YouTube. We will look at the changing state of play from Victorian times to the present day, and identify some of the main changes and continuities in that period.
The Full English and other Online Folk Song Resources
The Full English project at the English Folk Dance & Song Society made available online nearly all the major manuscript collections compiled by the Victorian and Edwardian folk song pioneers, and offers access to thousands of songs, dance and tunes from the English tradition. Used in conjunction with websites which offer sound recordings and the Roud Folk Song Indexes, researchers – whether beginners, enthusiasts or experts – have a wealth of material at their fingertips from the comfort of their own homes. We will explore these wonderful resources and learn some of the skills necessary to find our way around them.
If you want to come along for the full four days, or perhaps just a single day then book now at http://www.britishkodalyacademy.org/short_courses.htm
The course runs from 7th to 10th April in Telford at University of Wolverhampton, Telford Innovation Campus, Shropshire TF2 9NN
I hope to see you there!
Kodály Taster Day – 9th May 2015
Barnard Castle, County Durham.
What will I gain?
Inspirational ‘real’ musicianship training through practical games. Expert ear training
Who is it aimed at?
Ideal for all teachers, choral directors and all musicians, both vocal and instrumental. Tremendous fulfilment! You are guaranteed to leave feeling enthused and improved!
Date: Saturday 9th May 2015 10am to 4pm
Venue: Barnard Castle Preparatory School, Barnard Castle, County Durham
Tutor: David Vinden
Fee: £50 including tea and coffee (please bring a packed lunch or there are good eateries in Barnard Castle)
Deadline is Friday 24th April 2015
Contact: Dr Robin Harrison
Email: robin.harrison@talk21.com
Telephone: 07871 085332
David Vinden is a highly renowned and respected Kodály methodology tutor, tutor at the Guildhall School of Music, former Director of the Purcell School, and widely sought after INSET provider.
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