String Workshop & Social for senior NYO
Sunday 14th July 9:30-17:00 workshop
17:30-20:30 pizza night social
Virtuoso violinist and conductor David Greed directed a very enjoyable all-day workshop for our senior string players on Sunday 14th July at Southwell in Nottinghamshire. David is Europe's longest serving orchestra leader having worked with Opera North from 1978-2022.
The day started with the welcoming sight of breakfast pastries, hot and cold drinks, giving everyone time to chat and meet up with friends.
David then led the workshop with a focus on Baroque bowing styles in a Handel Concerto Grosso, a look back at the dance styles of the 18th century in Grieg's 'neo-classical' Holberg Suite, and exploration of 20th century string techniques in Bartok's Romanian Folk Dances: Bartok was a pioneer exploiting the techniques he learned from his study of folk music.
In addition to picnic lunch outside, there was time for regular breaks and refreshments, as well as a question and answer session with David Greed. David also treated everyone to an impromptu performance of a movement from a Bach Violin Sonata, which provided a moment of calm before a final run through of the workshop repertoire.
The day was followed by an end of academic year pizza and social for all orchestra members when we had an exclusive visit by a woodfired pizza van. It was a very useful day and the students did really well sight-reading and performing under David's baton, especially those who had solos in the Handel and Bartok.
