The ocean is a mighty harmonist... Wordsworth

NORTH YORK MOORS CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL
9 - 22 August 2020

                                 

Now entering its 12th year, the next festival will celebrate Beethoven (the ‘revolutionary’) and beyond, as we enter the great composer’s 250th anniversary. Living through the French Revolution undoubtedly had a profound effect on many artists and as we explore Beethoven’s life and influences (both received and passed on), we delve into the 1848 German Revolution and Russian Revolution, the Revolution of the Great Wars - and indeed the Industrial Revolution.

The North York Moors Chamber Music Festival celebrates great music through friendship, sharing, the landscape, history and architecture - taking audiences on a journey throughout the North York Moors National Park, stirring the musical spirit within us all.  Over 30 musicians, 2 weeks, 10 churches, around 40 chamber works all create a friendly and passionate environment within one of this country's most spectacular regions. As we don’t make a habit of advertising, please do join our emailing list for updates and news of extra concerts outside of the festival throughout the year.

The festival takes you on a tour through and much of the National Park and along the spectacular Jurassic coastline.  We are incredibly fortunate to have these extraordinary historic buildings, some which date back to the Anglo-Saxons.  In a sense the concert begins the moment you set out to travel over the moors to your destination - the landscape is very much part of the artistic experience.

Everyone is welcome - music is for all!

All tickets £12.50 Children and any adult under 30 - free admission

https://www.northyorkmoorsfestival.com/

Photograph: Paul Ingram

Early Years - getting the right sound

When we started publishing, we were also teaching wind instruments. We agreed that the most important thing for our students to get right at the beginning was the sound.

'It doesn't matter how fast and fancy you can play - if your  sound isn't good, people won't invite you to play more than once!' we told them.

The trouble with putting beginners into a wind band is that they are playing in a LOUD environment, and the quality of their sound gets little attention. This is why we created the Schools Wind Series.

Emerson Edition No.2, the first of the series, was a simple Bach Sarabande, arranged to our recipe by Lamont Kennaway. The instrumentation reflected what was generally available in schools at the time: plenty of flutes and clarinets, and an oboe and bassoon if you were lucky. The occasional horn was a bonus.

Although the piece is short there are plenty of opportunities to learn how to listen to each other, match phrasing, allow another instrument to be heard above one's own, and give attention to accents, dynamics and all the other good musical grammar that is often drowned out in a wind band. Careful rehearsal, with different pairs of instruments matching their tone and phrasing - then coming together with the whole group - holds the pupils' interest. They find it more rewarding than just galloping through a sequence of loud, jolly stuff.

The sound made by our groups of students was a balanced chamber music sound. Some of them are still making a beautiful sound - in the music profession.

Schools Wind Series

E2     Bach/Kennaway - Sarabande (2fl. ob. 3cl. bn.) Grade 3/4
E47   Bach/Emerson - Three Sarabandes (2fl. ob. 3cl. bn.) Grade 3/4
E172 Geoffrey Emerson arr. - Christmas Pieces (2fl. ob. 3cl. bn. hn.) Grade 3/4

E7    Ronald Hanmer - Suite for Seven (2fl. ob. 3cl. bn.) Grade 3/4

E52  Ronald Hanmer - Serenade for Seven (2fl. ob. 3cl. bn.) Grade 3/4

E22  Thomas Lowe - Suite of Dances (2fl. ob. 3cl. bn. 2hn.) Grade 5

E23  Schubert/Emerson - Scherzo & Trio in F (2fl. ob. 3cl. (2cl. hn.) bn.) Grade 3/4

E61  Schubert/Emerson - Scherzo & Trio in g minor (2fl. ob. 3cl. bn) Grade 3/4

E24  Whitlock/Emerson - Folk Tune (2fl. ob. 3cl. bn. hn.) Grade 3/4

www.juneemersonwindmusic.com

Find them on the Advanced Search - Series Title - SCHOOLS WIND SERIES

 

The June Emerson Wind Music Launchpad Prize 2013/14

Prize Winners 2013/14

WESTGATE WIND QUINTET - Trinity College of Music & Drama

BOREALIS SAXOPHONE QUARTET - Royal Northern College of Music

NEW BRITISH WINDS - Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama

KALEIDOSCOPE QUARTET - Guildhall School of Music & Drama

ESPER SAXOPHONE QUARTET - Royal College of Music

oOo

WESTGATE WIND QUINTET - Trinity College of Music & Drama

WESTGATE WIND QUINTET - Trinity College of Music & Drama

Katherine Birtles – Flute

Joe Harper – Oboe

Chris Hatton – Clarinet

Hannah Robinson – Bassoon

Hannah Key – French horn

Formed in October 2012, the Westgate Wind Quintet is made up of postgraduate and final year undergraduate students at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. They have enjoyed working towards competitions such as the Royal Overseas League Competition and performing at exciting venues around London, which include an upcoming début at St. Martin-in-the-Fields in September 2013.

In addition to the Wind Quintet, as individuals they pursue a busy schedule as soloists and with other ensembles. Several of them are recipients of generous scholarships through their studies at Trinity Laban. Their collective professional experience includes session work with Warner Music Ltd, work alongside the BBC Concert Orchestra and the Gloucestershire Philharmonia among others. They are also individually prize winners or finalists of several competitions and have performed at venues which include the Roundhouse, Royal Albert Hall and the Royal Opera House. There have also been extensive travels throughout Europe to destinations such as Italy, Finland, Estonia, Switzerland and Poland.

With a wide variety of repertoire including works by Danzi, Ravel and Martin Butler, the quintet have performed at various private events. As an ensemble they have received coaching from eminent musicians such as Michael Whight and Steve Stirling. All members of the quintet are keen to pursue an interest in education with workshops, demonstrations and master-classes in schools throughout the country alongside performing.

We would really like Toby Young to write for us, and we are inviting Martin Butler to watch our performance at St. Martin in the Fields. Next academic year we are planning to audition for 'Live Music Now' and compete in the ROSL competition in February, but we would also like to perform on a regular basis with diverse repertoire

BOREALIS SAXOPHONE QUARTET - Royal Northern College of Music

BOREALIS SAXOPHONE QUARTET - Royal Northern College of Music

Alastair Penman - soprano sax

Mélna Zéléniuc - alto sax

Gillian Blair – tenor sax

Daniel White - baritone sax

The Borealis Saxophone Quartet is an award winning ensemble based in Manchester. They formed in 2009 at the Royal Northern College of Music where they have received tuition in both classical and jazz saxophone from internationally renowned tutors including Rob Buckland, Vincent David and Julian Arguelles. They regularly perform as members of RNCM ensembles, including the Concert Orchestra, Symphony
Orchestra, Big Band and Wind Orchestra, and are all members of the RNCM Saxophone Orchestra, with whom they performed at the World Saxophone Congress in July 2012. The quartet has been coached by chamber music specialists such as Andy Scott, Raaf Hekkema and Tim Reynish, and has performed in public masterclasses with Johan van der Linden and Peter Cropper.

Their debut recital took place at the Bridgewater Hall in December 2011 and they have since performed regularly in Manchester and the UK. In summer 2012, they performed Per Nørgård’s ‘Dancers around Jupiter’ as part of the RNCM ‘Ny Musik Dansk’ Festival, and again at the BBC Proms festival which was broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

In December 2012 the quartet performed Graham Fitkin’s ‘Plan B’ for saxophone quartet and string orchestra at the RNCM, conducted by Leo Geyer. In the same concert they gave the world premiere of their first commission; ‘Borealis (into blue)’ by Lucy Pankhurst, for the same instrumentation. This concert was a result of the quartet reaching the final of the 2012 RNCM Concerto Competition.

Recently the quartet has collaborated with RNCM composers and the Northern Ballet School on a number of new works for saxophone quartet and dancers which were performed at the ballet school in May 2013. Their dedication to supporting the work of RNCM composers has led to their second commission which will be written by award winning Scottish composer; Tom Harrold, and will be premiered at King's Place,
London in September.

The Borealis Saxophone Quartet won the inaugural Apollo Saxophone Quartet/RNCM Saxophone Ensemble prize which was sponsored by Vandoren and Selmer Saxophones, and the Trevor Wye Memorial Prize for Woodwind Chamber Music at the RNCM.

Following this success, they competed with other prize winning RNCM Ensembles in the Christopher Rowland Chamber Music Prize and were named 'RNCM Ensemble of the Year 2013'.

For further information and a list of forthcoming events, please visit: www.borealissaxophonequartet.com

NEW BRITISH WINDS - Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama

NEW BRITISH WINDS - Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama

Jemma Freestone - flute

Sam Baxter - oboe

Greg Hearle - clarinet

Gareth Humphries - bassoon

Tom Taffinder - horn

New British Winds (formerly The Rustic Quintet) is a young, multi-award winning wind quintet.
Formed in 2009 at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, the group have since played in many venues across the UK and Europe, showcasing a wide variety of repertoire.

As well as formal concerts, the quintet take a very active role in performing educational outreach in schools and are heavily involved in performing contemporary music alongside Sinfonia Newydd.

Members of the group perform with the likes of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Orchestra of the Welsh National Opera and the Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra in London.

Recently the quintet won the June Emerson Launchpad Prize, the McGrenery Chamber Music Prize and became one of the youngest groups to compete in the Henri Tomasi International Wind Quintet Competition in Marseilles.

This year New British Winds performed at the Welsh Proms in St David's Hall.

KALEIDOSCOPE QUARTET - Guildhall School of Music & Drama

KALEIDOSCOPE QUARTET - Guildhall School of Music & Drama

Ian Dingle - soprano sax

Guy Passey - alto sax

Sally MacTaggart - tenor sax

John Moore - baritone sax

The Kaleidoscope Saxophone Quartet is an innovative collaboration between four versatile young artists. The group's approach makes use of the diverse talents of its members, creatively combining musical performance, composition and film. Trained at top UK conservatoires including the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Royal Northern College of Music, the quartet is steeped in the British saxophone tradition, with a broad, resonant, vocal sound and an energetic, communicative performing ethos.
The group encapsulates a vast array of artistic skills: Award-winning saxophonist and composer John Moore; multifaceted musician and photographer/film-maker Ian Dingle; folk and jazz-influenced contemporary saxophonist Guy Passey; and multiple-award-winning chamber musician and concert soloist Sally MacTaggart.

As well as their work in music and film, the quartet is committed to the creation and performance of new music, and has commissioned and premiered works from an array of composers, whilst also possessing an extensive repertoire of the best of traditional saxophone music.

The group has a number of exciting plans for the forthcoming year, including a collaboration with composers collective Chimera at The Forge in Camden, developing educational and outreach work across London, and recording material for a new album of British saxophone music.

ESPER SAXOPHONE QUARTET - Royal College of Music

Keziah Peel - soprano sax

Paul Lamstaes - alto sax

Lucinda Dunne - tenor sax

Damon Oliver - baritone sax

Winners of the June Emerson Launchpad Prize 2013, The Esper Saxophone Quartet was formed in 2012 at The Royal College of Music by first year students. The quartet is coached by Kyle Horch and has taken part in various masterclasses by prestigious saxophonists such as Rob Buckland and Gerard McChrystal. The quartet enjoys playing a variety of styles and have taken part in Woodwind open days at The RCM and in The Woodwind Ensembles Concert. The members come from around the UK and South Africa, creating a blend of cultural diversity. The quartet have formed a unique cohesion which is displayed in their energetic and lyrical performances. The future looks promising for this young and ambitious quartet who embrace performance opportunities with enthusiasm.

Keziah Peel is a Dr. Michael West scholar generously supported by The Oppenheimer Memorial Trust and The Apollo Music Trust.

oOo

About the Prize

The June Emerson Wind Music Launchpad Prize was an idea that began as a desire to help young musicians in some significant way. With only limited financial resources it was difficult to come up with something that would make enough of a difference to make it a worthwhile project. 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 (for the lifetime of the ensemble); anything else we can think of.

Previous Winners of the Launchpad Prize

2012/13 

Lekker Quintet - Royal Northern College of Music

Echo Trio - Royal College of Music

Animé Duo - Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama

Prima Vista - Trinity College of Music & Drama

Wolken Recorder Quartet - Guildhall School of Music & Drama

2012/2013

Lekker Quintet - Royal Northern College of Music

Echo Trio - Royal College of Music

Animé Duo - Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama

Prima Vista - Trinity College of Music & Drama

Wolken Recorder Quartet - Guildhall School of Music & Drama

2011/2012

Les Trois Canards - Royal Northern College of Music

Kudo Saxophone Quartet - Royal College of Music

Hafren Quintet - Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama

Vesuvio Quintet - Trinity College of Music & Drama

HMS Quintet - Guildhall School of Music & Drama

Bells Up! - Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

2010/2011

Dolce Cinque - Royal Northern College of Music

Gelachter Trio - Royal College of Music

Meridian Brass - Trinity College of Music & Drama

Carter Quintet - Guildhall School of Music & Drama

Pure Brass - Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

Ellipsis Wind Quintet - Royal Academy of Music

2009/2010

Souza Winds - Royal Northern College of Music

Emerson Quintet - Royal College of Music

Crown Quintet - Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama

Ayre Flutes - Trinity College of Music & Drama

June Emerson's mail order music company celebrates 40 years

June Emerson and June Emerson Wind Music
are featured in the Gazette & Herald newspaper

June Emerson Wind Music in the Gazette & Herald, Wednesday 9^th November

Below is an excerpt from the article on the Gazette & Herald Website:

NATALYA WILSON speaks to a Ryedale artist and musician whose global mail order company, which started as a small concern in her front room, is celebrating 40 years of success.

June Emerson, foreground, and team at the office near Ampleforth, from left, Barbara Jones, Stewart Thorp, Sarah Ware, Jeremy Durant, Rachel Emerson, John Toll and Graham Jeff.

CHILDREN wielding strange-shaped cases containing weird and wonderful instruments at the school gates is hardly an unusual sight, as primary and secondary pupils alike are encouraged to learn an instrument and join their school’s band or orchestra.

Yet rewind several decades and this would have been a much more unusual sight, as peripatetic music teachers weren’t such an available resource in schools and the sheet music that they taught was even scarcer.

This was just the opportunity entrepreneur June Emerson needed when she decided to set up her music publishing and distribution business 40 years ago.

June, herself a bassoonist and teacher, saw this gap in the market and leapt on it, setting up June Emerson Wind Music in 1971.

June Emerson with her bassoon outside her mail order office near Ampleforth

“This was just at the time when teaching of wind instruments in schools was beginning to take off in the UK,” says June.

“Many of my friends, who were also teachers, were finding it difficult to get music for their pupils and that’s what made me start up the business.”

June decided to start this mail order music business specifically for wind players and, with a starting capital of just £11.23 and a great deal of enthusiasm, having developed a love of handling printed music when librarian of the Edinburgh Rehearsal Orchestra (now The Rehearsal Orchestra), she blew away any doubts and entered into it with a sense of adventure that she has applied to other areas of her life ever since.

Starting with music for teaching and branching out into music for professional players, the range grew and now June estimates that she has approximately 40,000 different titles on the shelves of her business, based at Windmill Farm, near Ampleforth.

“I don’t know of any other businesses that do what we do – it’s very specific,” says June, pointing out that they sell printed music for brass, woodwind and ‘those that lie somewhere in between’, such as the harmonica.

As such they order their music from more than 1,000 different publishers worldwide and often send out as many as 100 to 200 orders a day all over the world.

June found out early on that they not only needed to buy in music, but that there was a need to self-publish, especially music suitable to be taught to children in schools.

“We approached some composers to write good but simple music that was worthwhile and possible to play, and that’s how the publishing arm started,” says June. “Now, many exam boards feature our music on their syllabus.”

They have since published 600 different pieces.

June’s business supplies music to individuals and orchestras worldwide, teachers and schools, and has some famous and eminent customers, too.

“Perhaps the Sultan of Oman is the most famous of our customers – he has not only a library of music but also his own orchestra, and we always receive his orders on special headed paper – it’s lovely,” she says.

Other well-known clients include flautist James Galway, the British Library and the BBC, but, at the other extreme, June and her team also number many amateur musicians as some of their most treasured clientele.

“We often get puzzled mothers ring up saying that their child has come home carrying a black case but it needs a book to make it work, so our skilled team, some of whom are players themselves, can talk them through what they need and want,” she says.

June says that many customers have become friends, adding that the company does not have to advertise, relying instead on word of mouth to spread the ‘music’.

Although June stepped down from being so active in the company six or seven years ago, it is still in the hands of the Emerson family, with daughter Rachel being a partner and running the business.

June with her daughter Rachel

June also says that many of the staff are like family, with some having been there for 25 and 30 years.

“It’s a good mixture of musicians and nonmusicians, with a wide range of skills and abilities,” says June. “It’s a very relaxed and happy place.”

June says the success of her business is that they have always stuck to what they are good at, and can do things well in depth, which she believes is more valuable to their customers.

Since passing the business to Rachel, June, who, at 74, doesn’t believe in retirement, has been busy with many other projects. She has taken up painting again and is currently showing her work in a solo exhibition, Oh Wake Up You Flying Bird, at Helmsley Arts Centre – her third there – and is heavily involved in Kirkbymoorside Environment Group.

June with one of her paintings, in the exhibition at Helmsley Art Gallery

“Running the business was so precise. You had to get everything so right the whole time, so my painting means that I can just break loose and turn the brain off – it’s lovely,” she says. “I go into the studio without any idea and come out at the end of it having done something which is as much of a surprise to me as anything else – it’s a complete contrast and exciting and cathartic and I love it.”

Oh Wake Up You Flying Bird runs until November 25. Join June for Sunday Views on Sunday, 1pm-3pm, and on Sunday, November 20, 11am-3pm

Introducing the Emerson Quintet

"proudly using the Emerson name for the group"

Formed in 2009, the Emerson quintet has played in many concerts including a prestigious appearence at Cadogan Hall. They were the winners of the June Emerson 'Launchpad Prize' in the Royal College of Music Chamber Music Competition in the summer of '09 and now are proudly using the Emerson name for the group. They have attracted record label interest and hope to record a CD in the near future.

Nicola Crowe: Flute
Sarah Turner: Oboe
Elizabeth Mace: Clarinet
David Horwich: Horn
Howard Dann: Bassoon

Check out their Facebook page.