NYCB+ is the National Youth Concert Band’s brand new online offering. When the Covid-19 pandemic forced us to reschedule our courses and events, we decided that we could bring added value to our members with online content that wouldn't be possible during our regular courses.
Featuring masterclasses in performance, composition and instrumental technique with professionals from all over the world, NYCB+ online events give our members the highest quality tuition, all year round.
Easter 2021
Project supported by BASBWE
We’re excited to announce more details about our Easter NYCB+ event! We have a series of webinars planned with some of the leading names in the British music and education world. Paul Harris will be giving a class on how to practise effectively, Anne Chmelewsky a class on composing for media and Amos Miller in well-being and how we speak to ourselves as musicians.. Throughout the week will be sectionals with our inspirational tutors and full band rehearsals alongside brass and percussion masterclasses from Helen Vollam and Matthew Hardy and a woodwind masterclass from star saxophonist Jess Gillam. On the Thursday evening there will be a solo concert open to all of our young musicians and there will be a final, full band play through on the Friday ahead of a virtual performance being released after the course.
Webinars
Paul Harris is one of the UK’s most influential music educationalists. He studied the clarinet at the Royal Academy of Music, where he won the August Manns Prize for outstanding performance in clarinet playing and where he now teaches. He is in great demand as a teacher, composer, and writer (he has written over 600 books); and his inspirational masterclasses and workshops continue to influence thousands of young musicians and teachers all over the world in both the principles and practice of musical performance and education.
Anne Chmelewsky is a composer and writer for screen and stage. She trained in composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and went on to study with the support of an Astor study award at the Royal College of Music, where she obtained a Masters in composition for screen in 2007.
Since, Anne has been composing for film and TV: she recently composed the score for Amma Asante's feature film Where Hands Touch, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2018. Past projects include the music for Mark Weeden's feature film Only People (Winner: Best Canadian feature film - Canada Independent Film Festival 2019), Sofian Khan's Do We Belong (The Atlantic Selects 2018) and An Act of Worship, (Field of Vision 2017), as well as the Emmy & Golden Globes nominated Derek (dir. Ricky Gervais, Netflix / C4).
Besides film music, Anne writes operatic comedy in her spare time. Her third operetta, 'Pygmalion 2.0’, has been developed with the support of the PRS foundation ‘Women Make Music', and is currently previewing in the UK. Her second opera, The Looking Screen, a one woman opera about online dating, was performed extensively both throughout the UK and in the Netherlands (Edinburgh Fringe, Bush Theatre, King’s Place…) as well as broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland and London. She has also written for The Independent and The Huffington Post.
Amos Miller studied Experimental Psychology at Oxford University and trombone at the Royal Academy of Music, learning with John Berry, Eric Crees, Denis Wick and Ian Bousfield, and played principal trombone for the National and European Youth Orchestras. Having gained the Dip.RAM, the RAM’s highest award for performance, he completed the Jazz Course at the Banff Center for the Arts in Canada, under artists such as Jim Hall and Kenny Wheeler. Amos is one of the founding members of Onyx Brass and a member of the Royal Ballet Sinfonia, the orchestra of the Birmingham Royal Ballet where he holds the position of Principal Trombone. He is also a member of the City of London Sinfonia and a busy freelance musician, in demand with many orchestras and recording studios across the country. Since 2018, Amos has held the post of Head of Brass at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. Amos is a B & S artist. His interests away from music include photography, cooking and being a sofa-based sports fan.
Masterclasses
Hailing from Ulverston in Cumbria, Jess Gillam is animating the music world with her outstanding talent and infectious personality.
After performing at the prestigious Last Night of the Proms in 2018 and having her performance described as “the indisputable highlight” by BBC News, Jess continues to grow her international career as well as presenting on TV and Radio.
A free spirit in style and character, Gillam is a passionate advocate for the power of music in society, often combining her concert engagements with educational and social projects. She is a patron for Awards for Young Musicians and a trustee for the HarrisonParrott Foundation, working towards full inclusivity of all ethnicities, genders, disabilities and social backgrounds with equal access to the arts.
Helen Vollam is Principal Trombone of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and is also a member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Bones Apart Trombone Quartet. She enjoys a busy and varied career combining orchestral playing, chamber music, solo work and teaching.
Helen was appointedPrincipal Trombone of the BBC Symphony Orchestra in 2004, and is the first woman to be appointed principal trombone of a London orchestra. With the BBCSO she performs in their Barbican concert season, studio concerts, recordings and tours, as well as performing around a dozen concerts at theBBC Proms, including the legendary‘Last Night of the Proms’,broadcast worldwide.
Helen studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London with Eric Crees and Simon Wills. During this time she was Principal Trombone of the European Union Youth Orchestra and won the Bronze Medal in theShell/LSO Music Scholarship, the Morris Smith Trombone Prize,Harry MortimerAward and a postgraduate award from the Countess of Munster MusicalTrust.
Matthew Hardy, originally from Bath, started playing the trumpet and piano at the age of 7 before seeing the light and studying percussion and timpani under Chris Stock and Steve Barnard at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.
Matthew has been a member of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra since 2014 and has also worked regularly with some of the UK’s finest ensembles including the Academy of St Martins-in-the-Fields, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Philharmonia and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra amongst others. He feels incredibly lucky to have travelled all over the world to work, which has fuelled his love of food and cooking. Matthew is a keen runner and lover of all sports, which mitigates at least some of the touring calories!
Aside from performing, Matthew also teaches at Wells Cathedral School and has tutored for a variety of National Youth Ensembles in England, Scotland and Wales. Matthew has devised and led workshops with both adults and young people of all ages and abilities.
