GUITAR CIRCUS auditions are back!
It’s time for our annual search for the UK’s most talented young classical guitarists to join our ensembles in London and Birmingham. Our auditions will be held at the Royal College of Music, London and Birmingham Conservatoire in November, and you can apply on line here.
If you want to join one of our ensembles you will need to be playing at a minimum of Grade 5 standard and aged between 12 and 18 years old. Our auditions are very friendly and we try very hard to make it an enjoyable day! You can find out more about what is involved and how to prepare on our auditions page.
GUITAR CIRCUS has had a busy Summer with performances at Winchester Guitar Festival and the opening night concert at the World Youth Guitar Festival in Cheltenham, where they gave the premiere of Johannes Moller’s new work Nocturnal Bells, which was written especially for them. Keep an eye on the website for a full report coming soon.
**NEW** for 2011 has been the launch of two TRAINING ensembles to cope with the demand for places in GUITAR CIRCUS and all that incredible talent out there. Our London Training branch, under the musical direction of Matthew Robinson were also on stage at WYGF this summer and huge congratulations to all for such inspirational performances.
We are very much looking forward to welcoming new members to both our branches, so please get those applications into us as soon as possible.
Posted in: Latest News.
Tagged: Application form · auditions · auditions 2011 · Birmingham · Gary Ryan · London · Mark Ashford · on-line application
GUITAR CIRCUS is excited to announce that we will be auditioning for our London and Birmingham ensembles in November 2010. We are looking for gifted young classical guitarists aged 12 upwards who have reached Grade 5 standard or higher to train monthly during term-time under the inspirational direction of Gary Ryan (London) and Mark Ashford (Birmingham)
Auditions dates are as follows:
Sunday 7 November 2010: Royal College of Music, London
Sunday 28 November 2010: Birmingham Conservatoire
Because auditions for GUITAR CIRCUS are very much a ‘hands-on’ experience, all applicants will play their prepared solo piece for the panel and will also have a 2-hour ensemble trial together. If you’re allocated a morning solo audition, then you’ll remain with us until the end of the ensemble trial at 2.30 PM, if your solo audition is in our afternoon session, you’ll take part in the ensemble trial and then stay until you have finished your solo audition later in the afternoon.
Further details about the audition process are here on the website, and you are able to apply on-line as well. Once you’ve pressed the send button on your application please don’t forget to send your supporting reference, photo and £13 audition fee to us so we are able to confirm your audition place.
GOOD LUCK!
Posted in: Latest News.
Tagged: 2010 · auditions · Birmingham · Birmingham Conservatoire · Gary Ryan · Guitar Circus · Helen Sanderson · London · Mark Ashford · November 2010 · Royal College of Music
GUITAR CIRCUS will be running its first TRAINING Ensemble on Monday 26 July 2010 at Southampton University.
The event, WYGF-EXTRA, is jointly promoted with the World Youth Guitar Festival and Southampton Music Service, and in addition to the GUITAR CIRCUS Training Ensemble, there will be other young guitarists being put through their paces under the expert eyes of tutors including: Mark Ashford (Director of GUITAR CIRCUS Birmingham), Chris Stell, Mark Eden, Frank Gerstmeier and Helen Sanderson.
We’re thrilled that our GUITAR CIRCUS London branch will be giving their debut concert as part of the day’s events: Gary Ryan reports that rehearsals have been going very well since the launch in January, so it will be a fantastic opportunity to catch them in action.
If you are interested in taking part in the TRAINING Ensemble, you can apply online, or feel free to contact us for further details. We have limited places available so you’ll have to get your skates on to secure a place. The whole day, including the concert is £25: all music will be provided and you’ll need to bring a packed lunch and all your guitar kit.
Posted in: Latest News.
Tagged: Chris Stell · debut concert · Frank Gerstmeier · GUITAR CIRCUS London · GUITAR CIRCUS Training ensemble · Helen Sanderson · Mark Ashford · Mark Eden · Monday 26 July 2010 · Southampton University
Guitar Circus are proud to announce the support of The Worshipful Company of Musicians.
GUITAR CIRCUS is delighted to announce that the Worshipful Company of Musicians is generously supporting us in our inaugural year. The current Master of the Company is Maurice Summerfield, Managing Editor of Classical Guitar Magazine and he has personally championed our organisation during his year as Master. Classical Guitar Magazine is the only worldwide magazine dedicated to the Classical Guitar.
We are very honoured to have the support of the Worshipful Company of Musicians and very much hope that Maurice Summerfield will be able to hear our ensembles in action before too long.
Posted in: Latest News.
Tagged: The Worshipful Company of Musicians · WCoM
2010 is the year of GUITAR CIRCUS.
After some really fantastic auditions in November for our London and Birmingham branches of GUITAR CIRCUS, we are preparing for the launch of both these ensembles on 17 January 2010.
We had a wonderful response for our London auditions and Gary Ryan (GUITAR CIRCUS Musical Director) and myself were bowled over by the enthusiasm and talent of all the young guitarists who came to spend the day with us. It was tough to whittle everyone down to the final selection, so much so that we are going to run a GUITAR CIRCUS training scheme that will meet throughout the year to help some of our most promising young guitarists develop some of the skills we are looking for in the GUITAR CIRCUS ensemble. Details of the 2010 training scheme dates will be released as soon as they are available. Continue reading →
Posted in: Latest News.
Tagged: auditions Birmingham and Manchester · Craig Ogden · Gary Ryan · Guitar Circus · Mark Ashford
If you are interested in applying to join GUITAR CIRCUS Birmingham or Manchester, then it’s not too late to apply for our November auditions (if you really get your skates on). We’re holding auditions for Birmingham on 15th November at the Birmingham Conservatoire and for Manchester on 22nd November at the Royal Northern College of Music.
If the thought of doing an audition fills you with dread, please don’t panic! We try to keep the whole process as informal and enjoyable as possible: everyone is asked to play a short solo piece to the panel and then all applicants join in with the ensemble trial part of the audition. This really gives us a chance to see how you respond as part of an ensemble, how you can take direction from our Musical Directors – Mark Ashford (Birmingham) and Craig Ogden (Manchester), and how quickly you can get to grips with new pieces. Continue reading →
Posted in: Latest News.
Tagged: auditions · Birmingham · bursary · Manchester
The announcement of the launch of GUITAR CIRCUS has generated a great deal of interest and we’re already receiving on-line applications for our auditions in November. The audition dates are fully confirmed and will be held at the following venues:
8 Nov 2009 – London: Royal College of Music, Prince Consort Road, South Kensington, London, SW7 2BS
15 Nov 2009 – Birmingham: Birmingham Conservatoire, Paradise Place, Birmingham, B3 3HG
22 Nov 2009 – Manchester: Royal Northern College of Music, 124 Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9RD
The closing date for LONDON applications is 25 October, but applications for BIRMINGHAM and MANCHESTER close on 5 November.
We will be contacting everyone with the audition timetable the week following each closing date.
Because auditions for GUITAR CIRCUS are very much a ‘hands-on’ experience, all applicants will play their prepared solo piece for the panel and will also have a 2-hour ensemble trial together. If you’re allocated a morning solo audition, then you’ll remain with us until the end of the ensemble trial at 2.30 PM, if your solo audition is in our afternoon session, you’ll need to arrive 30 mins before the ensemble trial begins at 11.15 AM and then stay until you have finished your solo audition later in the afternoon.
Once you have applied on-line, don’t forget to send your supporting reference, photo and £12 audition fee to us so we are able to confirm your audition place.
GOOD LUCK!
Posted in: Latest News.
Tagged: audition · Birmingham · closing date · ensemble · London · Manchester · sight-reading · trial
