National Conference 2012

The National Association of Choirs is pleased to be able to announce details of its forthcoming National Conference for 2012. This year sees the introduction of the National Conference being open to all - non members included!!

The National Association of Choirs will be holding its National Conference in the heart of the Lake District in the popular resort town of Bowness - on - Windermere at the Belsfield Hotel. Built in 1845, this Victorian hotel stands within six acres of beautiful gardens located in a truly stunning location overlooking the tranquil Lake Windermere and the glorious Cumbrian Hills, this fabulous Victorian hotel is the ideal place for a relaxing retreat in the heart of The Lake District and lends itself perfectly to host our National Conference.

Inside the Belsfield Hotel guests will find recently renovated elegant and classic decor, within spacious and comfortable rooms which command stunning views of the local area including the gardens and the magnificent Lake Windermere. The hotel offers 64 en-suite rooms in a variety of styles, equipped with satellite television and radio, hairdryers, trouser press and a hospitality tray, combined with free Wi-Fi internet and an indoor heated swimming pool, gym and sauna facilities, games room, putting green and an outdoor patio (perfect for resting and unwinding after a day of workshops and seminars) the hotel is well equipped to look after you, our delegates. In the evening delegates can indulge with fine food, fine wine and beautiful views of the lake in Moonwaters Restaurant in a variety of comfortable communal rooms. The hotel has a relaxed atmosphere which is the perfect way to end a busy day of seminars and workshops.

The Belsfield Hotel was originally built in the 19th century for the Baroness Von Sternberg, as a private house and since then this building has a fascinating history. Its most famous owner was Henry Schneider, who was engaged in commercial pursuits until 1840 when he decided to prospect for iron in the Lake District. He settled in Ulverston, taking a royalty on the Park Farm from the Earl of Burlington (later the Duke of Devonshire). After a disappointing start and the expenditure of £25,000 he purchased and leased other mines in the area, which he worked successfully. The House then became a hotel in 1892 where Lieutenant A .D . Macleod became proprietor. His tenure was marked by his colleagues by the presentation of a rifle which is now proudly displayed on the Lounge wall, adjacent to the Drawing room. Between 1910 and 1911 drastic alterations were made, when an entire storey was added between the existing first and second floors. The wing, which now includes the Moonwater Restaurant on the ground floor, was added and the then existing tower was removed stone by stone and reconstructed above the new storey. Since transferring from a private house to a commercial hotel the house has seen many owners and was even part of the hostile take-over by TrustHouse Forte Plc group before finally ending up in the ownership of the Corus Group.

Headlining this year's National Conference is none other than the internationally renowned David Lawrence who is one of the UK's most versatile conductors, working with orchestras, symphony choruses and national youth choirs. He was recently nominated for a Gramophone Award for his conducting, and currently holds the Guinness World Record for conducting the UK's largest choir - 6,846 singers!

David's work has taken him all over the world. His positive and engaging manner makes him a popular guest conductor, and he is an experienced and respected trainer of choral conductors. He teaches regularly alongside Ghislaine Morgan in Portugal, and for the company Artsworks delivers management training and team building through the media of singing and conducting. With particular experience in the field of contemporary music, David has prepared and conducted première performances by Per Nørgård, Pierre Boulez, Iannis Xenakis, Mauricio Kagel, Graham Fitkin, James Wood, Bob Chilcott and others. As a guest chorusmaster of the Netherlands Radio Choir he has worked with conductors such as Kenneth Montgomery, Frans Brüggen, and John Adams. Working closely with Stockhausen David also conducted this exceptional choir in the German première of Scene II from his opera Sontag aus Licht. David has worked with the London Philharmonic Choir, the Hallé Choir, and the CBSO Chorus for whom he is the Associate Conductor, as well as the national youth choirs of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

David has adjudicated at international choral festivals as well as for the BBC Choir of the Year and Young Musician of the Year competitions. He conducts for BBC Television's 'Songs of Praise' and directed ‘The People's Chorus' for BBC Four.

As Principal Conductor of Young Voices David directs massed choirs in an annual series of concerts with some choirs incorporating more than 8,000 singers. He continues to work with Sinfonia Viva as their Choral Advisor, a project leader and conductor, and has also directed large scale education projects with the Orchestra of Welsh National Opera, the English Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. In 2011 David will conduct Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Barrier Reef Orchestra as part of a six week visit to Queensland and in 2012 will be the principal speaker, workshop leader and seminar presenter for the National Association of Choirs National Conference.

Liz Garnett studied music at the Universities of Bristol (BA Hons, 1st class) and Southampton (PhD, 1995). She then taught at Colchester Institute's School of Music and Performance Arts for four years, before moving to Birmingham Conservatoire, where she was Head of Postgraduate Studies until 2009. Her teaching experience is varied in subject area, delivery style and level, from lectures in Musical Philosophies to practical workshops on Playing by Ear and one-to-one tutorials in Professional Development for Musicians.

As a student, she studied piano with Christopher Northam (gaining an LRAM in piano teaching) and singing with Glynn Davenport, Duncan Robertson and Molly Petrie. She started conducting as an undergraduate, attending the Choral Conducting course at the Canford Summer School of Music at age 19, then went on to conduct the Southampton University Light Opera Society as a postgraduate.

She became involved in barbershop music after the completion of her PhD, and it became the subject of her first book. She is one of the UK's most prominent arrangers and performance coaches, having coached and/or arranged for many of the UK's top choruses and quartets, and arranged for groups from the UK, Ireland, the USA, Canada, Germany and Holland. She certified as a Music Category judge in 2000, and served as LABBS Music Category Director from 2006-2009. She has adjudicated in both barbershop and ‘mainstream' choral classes at the Llangollen International Eisteddfod and the Sligo International Choral Festival, and is the founder-director of a female close-harmony choir called Magenta.

After the completion of the barbershop book, her research and practical interests focused back on conducting, leading to a five-year project that produced her second major book, Choral Conducting and the Construction of Meaning. The research process involved visits to more than 40 choirs in rehearsal, and these observations provided not only material for the book, but also a deep understanding of the conductor-choir dynamic in a wide variety of contexts and styles. This experience continues to nourish her work as a choral clinician, giving rich and varied insights into the problems that conductors and choirs face, and the relative success of different approaches to solving them.

A full and packed Conference awaits, consisting of Trade Stands (especially chosen for the expertise and understanding of the Choral World) offering products and services required to help and assist all choirs as well workshops and seminars covering a whole host of subjects and themes.

The entertainment on Saturday evening will be a change from the normal massed voice concert. We have arranged for the La Serenata Trio to perform for us - formed eight years ago by Charles Edmondson, who accompanies soprano Tracie Penwarden and flautist David Edmonds, this well known local trio have given over fifty concerts in churches and concert halls throughout South Cumbria and North Lancashire.

All in all I think you'll agree that the National Conference weekend is going to be fun packed, busy weekend in a stunning location giving you an ideal opportunity to catch up with old friends, make some new ones, sing and learn, be challenged musically, vocally and hopefully take back to your choirs the benefit of the wisdom and expertise given to you throughout the weekend's seminars and workshops.

The National Conference is sure to appeal to everyone; places are strictly limited and you are encouraged to make your booking early to guarantee your place. This year the Officer Team have taken the decision to include non-members of the Association to join with you at the National Conference and enjoy the benefits of the talented and well versed presenters and speakers.

Make a date in your diaries and get your booking form today by downloading it here. Remember places are strictly limited and are sure to go fast, due to the location and the speakers presenting.