Stan Bounford
Stan Bounford is responsible for conducting the Intermediate Orchestra.
Stan lives in Mansfield and has spent the whole of his working life as a violin teacher for the Nottinghamshire Arts Support Service.
He originates from North Staffs where as a pupil he was a member of the City of Stoke-on-Trent Youth Orchestra and Youth Operatic Society.
He graduated from the Northern School of Music in Manchester as a violin teacher, having studied with Maurice Clare. He then obtained a post graduate teaching qualification from Bretton Hall, ( University of Leeds ).
As well as working for the local authority and teaching privately, he has long been involved with the Nottingham Choral Trust. He has played in the orchestra and ensembles accompanying their choral performances, and more significantly, has conducted large groups in the annual “Stringwise” youth string orchestra courses.
Stan is a founder member of the Nottingham Philharmonic Orchestra and has gained great experience and enjoyment playing an enormously varied and demanding repertoire over the last 30 years.
He has a particular love of chamber music and feels that the intimacy of string quartet playing is vital in developing musicality and awareness in all string players.
On a wider level he has been involved with youth music projects in Poznan ( Poland ) and Nancy ( France ). He is currently running a “wider opportunities” project at St Mary’s Primary School in Edwinstowe with a colleague, Fiona O’Connor, in which they are teaching whole classes of children to play the violin. At the moment about half of the school are having the “violin experience”, including three members of staff!
Other than music and CD collecting, Stan is very keen on watching cricket and football and has a great interest in history. He has been involved with the Nottingham Youth Orchestra as both a string tutor and a conductor since about 1996 .His four children having passed through the ranks of the different NYO departments, have all gone on to enjoy playing in various university and academy orchestras.
Stan is very keen to provide the NYiO players with as varied a musical diet as possible frequently presenting the students with styles ranging from classical music through to more modern idioms such as jazz, film scores and musicals. With the valued assistance of the NYiO tutors and the hard work and dedication of the young players the eventual performances in the Albert Hall are always exciting and leave the audience wanting more.
