Bolton Priory Choral Course

Choral Holidays will return for the third time to the wonderful setting of Bolton Priory to sing four choral evensongs.

Each day we will prepare music for the evening service. As ever with Choral Holidays, our focus will be on enjoying expressing ourselves through music, and understanding both the text and why the composer has set the text in a certain way.

Course content

Although the repertoire is not yet chosen it will cover several different periods of music, so there will be something for everyone. We hope that, if there is a piece you don’t at once like, as your understanding of it grows, so will your love of it.

One of the most memorable parts of our previous visits to Bolton Priory has been the chance to sing a service of plainsong Compline in the old Quire of the ruins, where the same office would have been sung centuries ago.

Who this course is for

This course is aimed at people of all levels. We are able to balance helping those who need help musically with challenging those who are more able to go further in terms of performance and vocal technique.

The less experienced participants tend to improve because they are near the stronger ones, but the stronger ones improve because we constantly challenge them to do things better technically and to use their understanding of the text to perform more fully.

Schedule

Each day will consist of rehearsals from 10am until 1pm, then from 2.30pm until 4.30pm, with choral evensong at 5pm.

Course leaders

The course will be run by our musical director, Jeff Stewart, with assistance from our organist, Ben Saul.

About Bolton Priory

At the heart of Bolton Abbey Estate, within the stunning surroundings of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, lies the Priory Church and Ruins of an Augustinian Priory in its beautiful riverside setting. The land was gifted to the Augustinian canons by Alice de Rumilly in 1154. The canons lived and worshipped here until 1539, when the dissolution of the monasteries stripped the Priory of its assets. Despite the loss of most of the Priory buildings during the dissolution, the western half of the original nave was preserved so that the local parish could continue its worship there.

Bookings

The fee for this course does not include accommodation or food: we like people to be able to choose their own budget, and there are plenty of options for accommodation and food nearby. We do, however, organise meals each night, which the participants are free to attend or not, as suits them.

Costs

• Course fee: £200 (deposit £100)