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December 7, 2019
10:30 am - 4:00 pm
Understanding Your Voice
with Jess Walker
Saturday 7 December 2019
Accompanist: Colin Hunt
Level: All
Fee: £45, includes lunch
Explore your voice and increase your confidence as a singer. Vocal coach Jessica has a vast experience of helping professionals and amateurs alike to get the most out of their singing. This course includes key breathing and vocal exercises, helping you to develop a healthy and more secure vocal technique. It could help you make that journey from the back of the choir to taking a solo!
Singer, writer and educator Jessica Walker works across opera, theatre, cabaret and new music. Recent performing and creative projects have taken her from the Barbican to the Adelaide Festival to Brits off Broadway New York, where her work and performances have earned her critic’s pick in the New York Times on three separate occasions in the last five years.
Current and future writing commissions include her play with songs Not Such Quiet Girls for Opera North and Leeds Playhouse, and her new opera with composer Cevanne Horrocks-Hopayian, in development with ROH. Future performances include Gerald Barry’s The Importance of Being Earnest for Neue Opera Freiburg and Bernstein’s On the Town with director Antony McDonald in Hyogo and Tokyo.
Jessica is a graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. In 2016 she was awarded her PhD with commendation from Leeds University. Her practice-led research explored ‘The Singer-actor as Creator and Collaborator: a performer-led model for new music theatre works.’ The research was carried out with the support of a bursary from the School of PCI at the University of Leeds.
Her teaching/mentoring has included seminars, workshops, talks and master-classes at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Leeds University, Winchester University, University of Melbourne, the Melbourne Conservatorium, the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and a current initiative with the Jette Parker Artists at ROH. She has worked as a mentor for several organisations, including the Jerwood opera-writing scheme at Snape Maltings and the CoLab collaborative practice scheme at Trinity Laban.
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Location
All courses are held at Jackdaws in Great Elm, a small village to the west of Frome in Somerset, approximately 14 miles south of Bath. Frome Train station is just 3 miles from Jackdaws with direct trains from Bristol, Bath, Cardiff and London.
Deposit
A £45 deposit is required to secure your place on this course.
Course Fee
The Course Fee is inclusive of all meals, refreshments and tuition at Jackdaws.
B&B
Accommodation Fees are payable in addition to the Course Fee. Jackdaws will take care of booking your accommodation; B&B rooms will be allocated a few weeks before the course starts, and we will send you details of where you are staying. B&B rates start at £40 per night (single room, shared bathroom) and from £50 (en suite, subject to availability) including booking fee.
B&B accommodation is arranged with local hosts, who are happy to welcome Jackdaws course participants, and includes a continental breakfast. Several are within walking distance of Jackdaws in Great Elm, and in neighbouring villages just a short drive away (5 – 10 minutes). Alternatively, we can arrange accommodation in local inns and guest houses (with a cooked breakfast available) please call us to discuss your requirements.
Meals
If you are vegetarian/vegan or have any food allergies please let us know in plenty of time, so that our cooks can plan the meals for the weekend accordingly. All meals and refreshments (except breakfast) are prepared and served at Jackdaws by our dedicated cooks, Loo and Alex. We are ‘allergy aware’, but we rely on participants letting us know if they have specific food allergies. Please also let us know if you carry any emergency medication.
Communal lunch will be served with your fellow participants and the tutor.
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