Between August 15 and August 22, 2010, the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival will once again host a special workshop for chamber choir and choral conducting. Simon Carrington, a founding member of the internationally acclaimed British vocal ensemble The King’s Singers and current Director of the Yale Schola Cantorum and Professor of Choral Conducting at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, will be leading this extraordinary session. Simon’s concert with the Norfolk Chamber Orchestra and Chorus will be in the Music Shed on Saturday, August 21, at 4:00pm.
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Simon Carrington gives a behind the scene glimpse into the workshop:
Welcome to our unique Norfolk choral and orchestral conducting course, now it in its fourth year!
Each season I select 24 excellent singers to form a quick reading, flexible chamber choir containing 8-10 conductors, who take it in turns to step up to the podium and rehearse the choir in wide-ranging, eclectic repertoire. On the Thursday of the week I assign specific repertoire to the individual conductors to prepare for the concert performance on the Saturday. Conductors also have the chance to conduct a small chamber orchestra of first rate players gathered from the Yale School of Music and other conservatories around the country.
Each year in the concert I conduct the premier of a new commission for choir and ensemble which we have also learned during the week, but everything else is conducted by the participants.
Choir members pay no fee, live in charming cottages on the glorious Norfolk estate and receive full board and lodging. Conductors pay a small fee, but receive individual tuition and DVDs of all their rehearsals and the performance.
I know of no other course that offers such an intense, diverse and refreshing musical experience at such a high standard anywhere else in the US.
The Festival asked Mr. Carrington what he feels is essential for students to take away from the Workshop:
An extra layer or two of musicianship, a heightened sense of ensemble, a renewed confidence in guiding both singers and players, and a commitment to the importance of communicating the inner meaning of the text to audiences through music.
And on a more personal note, we asked Mr. Carrington to share what event or piece of music made him want to devote his life’s work to choral music - as a performer, conductor and as a teacher:
The is no one piece, but rather a confluence of music making in my formative years: singing Tudor cathedral music as a boy treble; playing Brahms symphonies as a student bassist; roaming the boundaries of cross-over music from William Byrd to Billy Joel during my 25 years with the King’s Singers; conducting the Monteverdi Vespers during my first semester as a fledgling conductor and US choral director - on and on we go!
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The culminating concert of the Chamber Choir and Conducting Workshop will be held in the Music Shed on Saturday, August 21, at 4:00pm.
Information and applications are now available for the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival - Yale School of Music’s summer 2010 sessions. Applications are now being accepted for the New Music Workshop (June 18 - 26), Chamber Music Session (July 4 - August 15) and Chamber Choir and Choral Conducting Workshop (August15 - 22). 
As I write this blog it is the final days of the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and I will soon be flying back to London. I cannot believe how quickly 6 weeks can pass. I have had a wonderful experience which will certainly stay with me forever. 
