Happy New Year to All

From all of us at June Emerson Wind Music,
we wish you a Happy New Year!

• We open again on Tuesday 4th January 2011, when all orders and enquiries will be dealt with promptly.
• We hope you are going to come to our next Open day on Saturday 8th January 2011 (10.30am to 4.30pm)
• Come and see us - browse through hundreds of feet of wind music on our beautiful North Yorkshire hilltop, accompanied by regular rounds of tea, coffee and biscuits.
• Discount - to make the day even better we're offering a 10% discount on everything bought or ordered by those present on the day.
• Don't just browse through it, play it - we have an adjoining room where you can play through the music. Stands and an electric keyboard are available if required. Please contact us to book your hour-long slot.
• For contact information and directions, click on the Contact tab on our website. We look forward to meeting you!
  

The Carter Wind Quintet visit June Emerson Wind Music

Carter Wind Quintet

June Emerson Wind Music had a visit on 9th December from the Carter Wind Quintet who are one of our Launchpad prize-winning ensembles for 2010.

They braved the snow and ice to come and spend the day playing through many of our wind quintets. As the surroundings here are so picturesque, particularly with all the snow, they also brought along their concert clothes and a camera, taking the opportunity to get some new publicity shots!

Jessica Lowe (flute), Mary Noden (oboe), Holly Reardon (bassoon),
Emma Whitney (horn) and Emily Heathcote (clarinet)

It was lovely to meet them all. They really enjoyed themselves and found lots of new music to add to their repertoire.

Snow at Windmill Farm

Snowfall and its effects...

Windmill Farm House

The view from the office window

Up here on our North Yorkshire hilltop, we're rather exposed to the weather and heavy snowfall means we're not always able to get to the office. We will always try to get here, even if we have to dig our way in and then dig ourselves out again to get home. If you call during office hours and get the answering machine, or email and don't hear from us as quickly as you would normally, it will probably be because of the weather.

Please be assured, though, that we will make every effort to keep June Emerson Wind Music running as smoothly as possible. Thank you for your patience and continued support!

Sax Day at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester - A Successful Day

We have returned from the 10th annual RNCM Sax Day. It was a well-attended day with sax players of all ages and standards taking part in the workshops, masterclasses, talks, recitals and concerts. We took along all our saxophone music – 44 boxes of it! – much to the delight of our customers who got a rare chance to spend time browsing through it all, discovering all sorts of new and interesting titles.

JEWM trade stand - 6 tables worth of sheet music

For us it was an exhausting day, as always, but we thoroughly enjoy going every year and this event was no exception. It was lovely to see some familiar faces and also to meet customers we’ve known for years by name, but have never met in person! The excitement and enthusiasm of all the sax players was infectious, and credit must go to Rob Buckland and Andy Scott who organise it and make it such a success every year.

We’re looking forward to the next one in 2011…!

The perfect musical gift ideas for Christmas or birthday

Great Musical Gift ideas for Christmas

Organic Cotton Music Bag

Sheet Music
Established in 1971, we now carry a stock of over 38,000 titles of music for wind instruments, ready for immediate despatch worldwide. We will happily list and sell any piece of music available in print that is scored for, or includes, a wind instrument (providing it falls within our given catalogue sections).

Organic Cotton Music Bag

• Perfect for music or books
• Longer length handles leave your hands free to wrestle with instrument cases, doors, parking meters, phones, lovers...
• 50p from the sale of each bag goes to our chosen charity

JEWM Gift Vouchers
Can be any amount, P&P free, please phone 01439 788324 to order.

10% Discount at the next June Emerson Wind Music Open Day

June Emerson Wind Music Open Day
Saturday 8th January, 2011 (10.30am to 4.30pm)

Come and See Us - browse through hundreds of feet of wind music on our beautiful North Yorkshire hilltop, accompanied by regular rounds of tea, coffee and biscuits.

10% Discount - to make the day even better we're offering a 10% discount on everything bought or ordered by those present on the day.

Don’t Just Browse Through It, Play It! - we have an adjoining room where you can play through the music. Stands and an electric keyboard are available if required. Please contact us to book your hour-long slot.

June Emerson Wind Music, Windmill Farm, York

For contact information and directions, click here. We look forward to meeting you!

June Emerson Wind Music at the 10th annual RNCM Sax Day

On 14th November 2010, we'll be taking all our saxophone music off the shelves and over to Manchester for the 10th annual Sax Day at the Royal Northern College of Music. With such a comprehensive stock of music available for you to look through and buy, you can't afford not to come and see us!

If you're going to be there and would like music put aside for you, please give as much notice as possible, as some things may be needed to be ordered in, which can take time. Visit our contact page for details on how to get hold of us.


If you haven't yet registered for this hugely popular event, please visit www.rncm.ac.uk for booking details.

Office Musician of the Year 2010 Winners Recital

Chris Horril
accompanied by Tessa Marchington

Witold Lutoslawski - Dance Preludes

Jonathan Cooper - Gallimaufry (Premiere)

Francis Poulenc - Clarinet Sonata

St Olave’s Church Hart Street EC3R 7NB
Thursday 28th October 2010 at 1pm

Supported by

The BIG Double Reed Day - Sunday 10th October 2010

We're proud to be associated with this exciting event which will be held at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

Activities will include:
Masterclasses, Reed Class, Try the Cor/Contra/Baroque Oboe/Baroque Bassoon, Solo Recital and Massed Double Reed Ensembles.

It will also be possible to try a whole range of instruments and to buy a variety of music and accessories.

Instrument technicians will be present for running repairs.

A cafeteria service will be open all day.

The cost is £20 for students and £35 for adults, including T-Shirt and goodie bag! Adult places are limited and are on a first come first served basis.

For more information, please visit: www.bigdoublereed.com

June Emerson Wind Music News

Planning your Christmas Concert…?

Find it all in one place in the June Emerson Wind Music Christmas Catalogue! Produced annually, it contains everything Christmassy from our four main distribution catalogues (from instrumental solos up to flexible ensembles for schools) extracted and put together in one booklet to make choosing easier. Free of charge to anyone who'd like one.

This year's catalogue will be available soon.

Serenades for Val – Sunday 19th September 2010

This summer, Valeria Watts died at the age of 67. She was, amongst many other things, a part-time member of staff at JEWM and a real character.

Valerie Watts

It was her wish to be sent off not with a funeral but with a concert and a tea party, paid for by her estate. This went so well! The Helmsley Festival Wind Ensemble, conducted by Geoffrey Emerson, got together in the morning to rehearse and then performed in the afternoon to 70 of Valerie’s friends and colleagues who’d come along to remember her. All the musicians were friends of hers that she’d played with over the years, many of whom hadn’t seen each other in a very long time, so it was a wonderful reunion.

Valerie Watts' Memorial Concert

The concert began with words specially written by Valerie to introduce the concert, which made everyone chuckle! The programme consisted of Gordon Jacob - Old Wine in New Bottles, Richard Strauss - Suite Op.4, Percy Whitlock - Homage to F.D. (Frederick Delius), Peter Warlock - Beethoven’s Binge, Glazunov – Concert Waltz, five short pieces by George Gershwin, Richard Strauss - Serenade Op.7 and a piece commissioned by Valerie and written by Geoffrey Emerson incorporating specially requested tunes that meant a lot to her.

The concert was followed by a buffet and drinks which Valerie had insisted on paying for from her estate. She really did us proud.

You can read her obituary that appeared in The Guardian here.

A thank you to loyal long-time staff

In October this year one of our staff members, Barbara Watson, who has a huge variety of responsibilities but is mainly the Accounts Dept assistant, will be celebrating 20 years at JEWM. She's done a wonderful job over the years and we're very lucky that she enjoys it here so much!

She's not the longest-serving, though - Tracy Battensby (Office Manager) has been here for
24 years and John Toll (Accounts Dept) has been here for 29!

A big thank you to them and all the staff at June Emerson Wind Music for all their hard work.

Open Day Success

June Emerson Wind Music, Windmill Farm, York

It was a beautiful sunny open day, with friendly and interesting visitors - some regulars and some new, including a clarinet quartet who had travelled from quite a distance (one of them had set off from Gloucestershire at the crack of dawn!) and treated us to an hour or so of playing as they sorted out some new repertoire for their upcoming concerts.

Everyone enjoyed themselves, having the unrivalled opportunity to spend as long as they liked browsing through the extensive stock, discovering unexpected delights in the second-hand boxes and being plied regularly with tea, coffee and biscuits. All said they'd definitely come again and would keep an eye out for information on the next open day.....

...which will be Saturday 8th January 2011 (barring heavy snowfall, which
meant the cancellation of the January 2010 open day).

June Emerson Wind Music is Hosting an Open Day

Saturday 4th September, 10.30am to 4.30pm

Browse

• Come and browse through our unrivalled stock of wind music
• Beautiful setting, peaceful atmosphere, warm welcome & refreshments

Play

• An adjoining room is available for you to play through any of our music
• Hour-long slots are bookable (in advance), chairs and stands provided

Save

• All visitors will receive a 10% discount on everything bought or ordered on the day
• Where to Stay brochures available on request

Let us know you’re coming & book your playing slot

Slots available: 10.30-11.30; 11.30-12.30; 12.30-1.30; 1.30-2.30; 2.30-3.30; 3.30-4.30

01439 788324
sales@juneemerson.co.uk

How To Find Us

From the A1 (west)

• Leave the A1 on the A168 (to Thirsk) which then joins the A170 near Thirsk.
• Approximately 3.5 miles from the top of Sutton Bank take the right turn,
• Signposted to Ampleforth, and follow the road for a further 2 miles.
• Windmill Farm (privately rented) is on your right, and the office is down the drive just before it.

From York (south)

• Follow the B1363 which exits the north side of the York ring road.
• Continue as far as Brandsby where you should turn left for Ampleforth village.
• Turn right at the T-junction in the village, then take the first left up the hill (signposted to Helmsley).
• At the top of the hill turn left - Windmill Farm is the first house on the left, approximately 500 yards from the junction.
• The office is down the drive behind the house (privately rented).

From Helmsley/Scarborough (east)

• Follow the A170 out of Helmsley towards Thirsk.
• After approximately a mile and a half turn left at Sproxton - this turning is on a right-hand bend and a large stone archway stands opposite.
• After a mile, take the right-hand turn to Ampleforth uphill through the woods.
• At the top of the hill turn right - Windmill Farm is the first house on the left, approximately 500 yards from the junction.
• The office is down the drive behind the house (privately rented).

Contact Details:
June Emerson Wind Music
Windmill Farm
Ampleforth
York YO62 4HF

Tel: 01439 788324 - NOT answered on the day
Fax: 01439 788715
sales@juneemerson.co.uk
www.juneemerson.co.uk

Some people say the nicest things!

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"Whatever music you may need, if it's important go to Emerson. They are the most efficient and reliable in the business - and have been for years."

Ian Bousfield (Principal Trombone, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra)

"The friendliest, most efficient and informed music buying service you will find anywhere. June Emerson Wind Music is always my first choice and has been for 30 years."

Bob Ashworth (Principal Horn, Opera North, UK)

" June Emerson Wind Music deliver an outstanding service. For any request or information they are prompt, helpful and totally reliable. I couldn't be without them."

Melinda Maxwell (Principal Oboe Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and Endymion, Consultant in Woodwind Studies RNCM)

"For first class, personal and really authoritative help on buying wind music you really couldn't find anywhere better in the world than June Emerson Wind Music"

Paul Harris (composer, arranger, author, teacher...)

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June Emerson Wind Music 2010 Launchpad Prize

We are absolutely thrilled and extremely proud to announce the winners of the 2010 June Emerson Wind Music (JEWM) Launchpad Prize.

They are:

• Royal College of Music - Gelächter Wind Trio

• Trinity College of Music - Meridian Brass

• Royal Northern College of Music - Dolce Cinque

• Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama - Pure Brass

• Guildhall School of Music & Drama - Carter Quintet

• Royal Academy of Music - Ellipsis Wind Quintet

• Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama - not awarded this year
  

About the prize

The Launchpad Prize was an idea that began as a desire to help young musicians in some significant way. With our limited financial resources, it was difficult to come up with something that would make enough of a difference to make it worthwhile. The idea of sponsoring a prize at one of the UK music colleges was something we just couldn’t afford, and we also felt that we’d like to be able to offer something to more than just one college and be a little more ‘hands on’. We eventually decided that we would assist one young (predominantly) final year wind ensemble from each of the major UK music colleges to launch themselves onto the professional circuit.


The Launchpad Prize consists of practical help including:

• a substantial JEWM music voucher; dedicated space on the JEWM website, with the opportunity to use it as a powerful marketing tool;
  
• publicity in the printed JEWM catalogues;
  
• editorial coverage wherever possible;
  
• free advertising flyers in JEWM music orders in order to publicise themselves;
  
• exclusive access to the JEWM shop with use of all music and facilities;
  
• complimentary copies of any Emerson Edition titles which fit their instrumental line-up;
• anything else we can think of.

We’d like to wish the 2009 winners all the very best for a successful future. Please support them by going to hear their performances - they’re all incredibly talented ensembles and you won’t be disappointed! They are:

• Souza Winds
• The Emerson Quintet
• The Crown Quintet
  
• Ayre Flutes

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June Emerson Wind Music is now on Twitter

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@JuneEmersonWM is the official username of June Emerson Wind Music.

About June Emerson Wind Music

June Emerson Wind Music was officially launched on May 1st 1971 from a house in St. Albans, Hertfordshire, England.

June had been an active freelance bassoon player and teacher until her children were born in 1967/68. This was just at the time when teaching of wind instruments in schools was beginning to take off in the UK. Many friends, who were also teachers, were finding it difficult to get music for their pupils as music shops kept very little repertoire.

To fill this need June decided to start a mail-order music business specifically for wind players. She had a starting capital of £11.23 and a great deal of enthusiasm, having developed a great love of handling printed music when librarian of the Edinburgh Rehearsal Orchestra (now The Rehearsal Orchestra).

Her first catalogue was compiled from lists of recommended music by friends who were teachers, and about 50 copies were mailed out. At this time she had no stock of music whatever. As soon as the orders started coming in she would buy in copies from the publishers for the customers and a spare copy of each title for the shelf. In this way the stock was built up, copy by copy, of music that customers really wanted. Now, in 2009, the stock now stands at almost 40,000 works, so the experiment was obviously a success.

Read more on the June Emerson Wind Music about page.