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The Arts Circus - Festivals |
Winchester Guitar Festival
Launched in 2004, the Winchester Guitar Festival is a 3-day residential
classical guitar festival focusing on ensemble playing, led by Artistic
Directors the Eden/Stell Guitar Duo.
The course has offered ensemble coaching sessions, individual tuition, professional concerts, technique classes and an opportunity to play in the festival orchestra.
It has been our policy to offer bursaries for financial hardship and WGF2006 awarded one scholarship of a fully-funded place and five bursary places with 32% course fee reduction.
Past concert artists have included, Gary Ryan (UK), Amadeus
Duo (DEU/CAN), Duo Agostino (AUS), Helen Sanderson (UK), Susan Legg (UK),
and the Eden Stell Guitar Duo (UK). The festival has experienced healthy
annual growth with a 71% increase in the students between 2005 and 2006.
The WGF will now become a biannual festival alternating with The Arts Circus 's new venture, the World Youth Guitar Festival which will be launched in July 2007.
www.winchesterguitarfestival.co.uk
World Youth Guitar Festival
In July 2007 The Arts Circus will launch the biannual 'World Youth Guitar
Festival' for classical guitarists aged 8 to 18. We believe this innovative
event is the only such residential festival worldwide catering solely for
this age group. We aim to be truly international, bringing together and
engaging young classical guitarists from all over the world giving them a
chance to perform in ensembles, hear professional concerts, take part in
workshops, classes, and most importantly foster relationships with one
another.
All students will be fully integrated into graded festival guitar
orchestras. This nurtures important life-skills such as communication and
teamwork, provides an outlet for self-expression, and builds
self-confidence. WYGF believes that ensemble playing develops instinctive
musicality, general fingerboard knowledge and sight-reading, and needs to be
encouraged at the earliest stages, and as a non-orchestral instrumentalists,
guitarists often struggle to experience the benefits of social music-making.
Additionally there will be shared performance platforms, individual
consultation lessons with tutors from leading music conservatoires, a
professional CD recording for two ensembles, and a final concert for all
participants. Because WYGF is a youth festival, our outreach programme is
focused on young people in the local area who have special needs.
Concerts
and workshops will be given for two venues; one school which is the largest
secondary school in the UK for children with moderate learning difficulties,
and a hospice for young people who have life-limiting conditions. The WYGF
supports students of all backgrounds and abilities, is committed to keeping
course costs to a minimum and offers bursaries for financial hardship.