Programme for Saturday

October 21, 2023
  • 09:30
    Registration, coffee and networking

    Welcome! Grab a coffee, meet colleagues and have a first look at the exhibition

  • 10:30
    Welcome and opening plenary: How to make your choir sound awesome! With Lucy Hollins and Suzzie Vango

    The ultimate warm-up session to start the weekend, with Lucy Hollins and Suzzie Vango. Lucy and Suzzie are evangelical about the power of proper warm-ups and the magic they can work on the sound of any choir, so much so, they wrote a book about it! Decades spent vocal coaching, conducting and leading choirs has given them both an unrivalled command of other people's vocal folds!

  • 11:45
    Session 1a: Diversify your programme! With Jeremy Haneman

    A hot topic in the choral world, in this session Jeremy Haneman will look at the advantages to diversifying your concerts, how to source non-standard repertoire, current issues around 'world music' such as authenticity and integrity, persuading your choir and committee to embrace change, creating inclusive and thematic concerts, suggested best practices and resources to help you programme exciting and engaging performances, the challenges of working in new languages, and how to bring your audiences on the journey with you. You'll also get a preview of the new diversity resource kit which will shortly be available on the abcd website.

  • 11:45
    Session 1b: Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. With Roxanna Panufnik and Peter Broadbent

    We're delighted to welcome Roxanna Panufnik as our featured composer at Convention. Roxanna is one of the most versatile British composers working today. With works for opera, ballet, choirs, orchestras, chamber music and a particular love of world music, her compositions encompass a huge range of genres. Earlier this year she was commissioned to write for the King's Coronation and her song cycle Gallery of Memories has just been premiered. She was Composer in residence at this year's Presteigne Festival and is Composer in residence with VOCES8. This is an unmissable opportunity to hear Roxanna talking about some of her choral music which is particularly suited to amateur choirs, as well as singing some of it and chatting with her. She will be joined by conductor Peter Broadbent, founder conductor of the Joyful Company of Singers, who have premiered and performed many of Roxanna's works.

  • 11:45
    Session 1c: Copy Music Right! With Mark De Lisser

    Join Mark De-Lisser, one of the most sought after choral directors and arrangers in the music industry, for a practical guide to the importance of being copyright compliant as a choir, and how you can do it easily, whether you work in a school or with adults. You can also hear about about PMLL's Ultimate Guide to running your choir, and enjoy a bonus mini workshop with Mark himself! Printed Music Licensing Ltd (PMLL) is a non-profit organisation owned by Music Publishers Association Group. PMLL issue licences on behalf of the rights-holders, which permits the reproduction of printed music in many different sectors.

  • 12:45
    Lunch, networking and exhibition

  • 14:15
    Session 2a: A wealth of vocal health. With Charles MacDougall

    Delivered with his characteristic charisma and energy, Charles MacDougall returns to abcd to present a highly interactive session exploring vocal health for singers and choir trainers, including the fundamentals of warming up, the role of the cool down and some key areas of consideration for general vocal health. Whether you're a vocal specialist or non-specialist, Charles' skill in explaining vocal technique and health will help you feel confident feel inspired, equipped with effective ideas to easily put in to practice in your own vocal work or when working with singers. "Charles MacDougall's infectious energy won't fail to get you ready for the day. You'll also take away a fresh understanding of the key components of a successful vocal warm-up and a toolkit of new activities to use with your students." Music Teacher Magazine January 2023

  • 14:15
    Session 2b: Composer discussion panel with Roxanna Panufnik, Philip Wilby & Toby Young

    Another welcome return for Convention, our composers' forum is a unique gathering of composers, each with their own distinctive sound. Find out their different working methods which bring about their success and chat with them about their current projects. Composers include Roxanna Panufnik, Toby Young and Philip Wilby and our panel is chaired by abcd Trustee Leslie East.

  • 14:15
    Session 2c: Embedding musicianship and notation in whole-class singing. With Lizzie Leather and Daniel Rodriguez

    A practical session with Diocese of Leeds Schools Singing Programme Choral Directors Lizzie Leather and Daniel Rodriguez. Since 2021 DOLSP sessions have included a sustained and incremental musicianship scheme written for the National Schools Singing Programme by Lucinda Geoghegan. Laying foundations in KS1 and moving through KS2 and junior choirs, this provides short nuggets of Kodaly-based work that sit comfortably within the 'flow' of a session, moving from the physical experience of beat through to sight-singing pentatonic melodies on staff notation. Lizzie and Daniel will take you through sample sessions and share their planning and teaching experience.

  • 15:15
    Tea, networking and exhibition

  • 15:45
    Session 3a: Gestures speak volumes for the silent musician. With Amy Bebbington

    Sound requires movement, but what should that movement look like and how do we show this through our gestures and conventional beat patterns? How can we initiate and invite the vocal sounds we desire through the silent movements we make? abcd Director of Training Amy Bebbington will touch on a variety of approaches that will hopefully inspire you to think more broadly about how to teach and lead singing groups, both conventionally and unconventionally!

  • 15:45
    Session 3b: Introduction to SAM-Klang - new ways with repertoire for all choirs. With Jonathan Wikeley

    Our Gold members Hal Leonard Europe present the SAM-Klang choral series, offering choral masterworks that cater to three major challenges choirs face today: a lack of lower voices, financial burdens of large orchestral productions, and the need for accessible choral works for developing voices. Expertly arranged by Morten Schuldt-Jensen, the editions can be combined with any existing orchestration, as well as original choral versions. In this session, led by Jonathan Wikeley, editor of the SAM-Klang series at Hal Leonard Europe, you'll have the chance to try out publications from the series and find out more about it.

  • 15:45
    Session 3c: Repertoire discovery I - music for young voices. With Charles MacDougall

    In this first repertoire discovery session, discover lots of new music for your school or youth choir, including changing voices. Charles will lead you through highlights, and you can explore the full range on our website.

  • 17:00
    Session 4a: Musicianship in choirs. With Rebecca Berkley

    Rebecca Berkley, Associate Professor in Music Education at the University of Reading, leads this practical workshop, which demonstrates ways of integrating musicianship training for choirs into rehearsals to help singers develop better rhythmic, pitch and harmonic understanding. Learn how you can include musicianship training alongside vocal warm-ups to help singers develop their co-ordination, ensemble awareness and team work, and also how to devise musicianship exercises and games from different choral repertoire suitable for choirs working at all levels of challenge, from foundation level, community choirs to advanced groups

  • 17:00
    Session 4b: Repertoire discovery II - sacred music for adult voices. With Amy Bebbington

    In the second of our repertoire discovery sessions, discover new sacred music for adult choirs of all kinds. You'll be able to sing highlights with Amy, and you can explore the full range on our website.

  • 17:00
    Session 4c: Curriculum in Choir! With Jenny Trattles

    Jenny Trattles explores repertoire and techniques that lend themselves to the three pillars of good music curriculum - Technical, Constructive, and Expressive. Ofsted's research review of music in schools identified that there is confusion between children 'doing' music and 'learning' music. The aim of this session is to equip and clarify how good, thought out, ensemble singing is essential to the music curriculum, resulting in it being easier to share with Senior Leadership in schools how a choir can be used seamlessly with the curriculum whilst also proving the co-curriculum desired by the refreshed NPME. The session is aimed at UKS2 and KS3 (Years 5 - 9 in English years).

  • 18:00
    Drinks, networking and exhibition

  • 19:00
    Performance by Leeds Cathedral Senior Girls Choir

    Leeds Cathedral Choir is made up of seven separate choirs with its membership of around 150 drawn from our whole-class school singing sessions: the Children's Choir, the Junior Boys Choir and Junior Girls Choirs, the Senior Boys Choir and Senior Girls Choir, the Schools Scholars, for boys with changing voices; and the Choral Scholars, a select group of university and conservatoire students. The senior choirs and scholars sing for daily Cathedral services, broadcast regularly on national BBC radio and television, have made many recordings, and take part in tours, concerts and projects with internationally-renowned choral groups. The Senior Girls and Scholars will be performing for Convention, with a programme featuring music from their liturgical repertoire, from Gregorian Chant to new commissions.

  • 20:00
    Convention dinner and bar

    Join us for our Convention dinner - a chance to sit and catch up with friends, and make new ones. The bar will be open!