25th April 2018
09:00 – 16:00
Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff
A day’s CPD, tailored for music teachers and music specialists, to support them in becoming more confident conductors with their school ensembles and in the classroom. The day is suitable for all abilities from those who have never conducted before, to teachers with more experience who wish to brush up on their conducting skills. A focus of the day is the opportunity to conduct and work with the WNO Orchestra, receiving feedback from musicians and a professional conductors, and exploring ways to “play” with an orchestral ensemble.
The day will be led by Mark Heron who is tutor in conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music. Mark is a Scottish conductor known for dynamic and well-rehearsed performances across an unusually wide range of repertoire, and his expertise as an orchestral trainer and conducting teacher.
As guest conductor he has appeared with the BBC Philharmonic, Philharmonia, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Manchester Camerata and many more. He is the music director of the Nottingham Philharmonic and University of Manchester Symphony Orchestras, and as a member of the conducting staff at the Royal Northern College of Music, works regularly with all of the College’s orchestras and ensembles.
Alongside his conducting engagements, Mark has a burgeoning reputation as a conducting teacher and students of his have achieved notable success. As well as his work across all of the RNCM’s renowned conducting programmes, he has developed an elite undergraduate conducting programme at the University of Manchester, is a visiting professor to the Royal Air Force and appears often as a guest at conducting courses and master classes all over the world.
The WNO Orchestra was formed in 1970. Since then, it has established itself as one of the finest orchestras in the UK, highly praised for its distinction in wide ranging operatic repertoire, as well as for its extremely varied concert work and portfolio of recordings. Resident at Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff, the Orchestra is one of two permanent, full-time ensembles at the heart of the Company, alongside the WNO Chorus. Tomáš Hanus joined the Company as Music Director in August 2016.
This one day continuing professional development course is a collaboration between Welsh National Opera and A2:Connect – The arts & education network – Central South.
- Places are available to teachers from schools in the Merthyr, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Cardiff, Vale of Glamorgan and Bridgend council areas.
- It is free subject to application, to teachers who have a letter of recommendation from a member of their school leadership team and provide evidence of how this will develop their professional practice.
- We will support schools with the cover costs of having teachers absent from the classroom for the duration of the course.
- Refreshments and a light lunch will be provided.
- We advise booking early as there are a limited number of places for this course.
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Masterclasses for teachers
Our Masterclass series of professional development workshops for teachers is intended to feed and develop educators as arts practitioners and provide inspiration, motivation and industry context for classroom activity.
