This is the new thread for the Leeds Playday

Full details are as follows, but just a couple of points to mention...

I have received applications from members whose level of ability ranges right through from Grade 1 to Grade 7/8, and parts can be supplied for all levels of ability, so if you're not yet used to ensemble playing, this is an ideal opportunity to make a start

Members' train times of arrival are varying from just after noon to around 1.30pm - Headingley station is only just down the road from the college (or up the road if you're walking ) so I don't think it will be a problem to make a few runs. We can all liaise on this again nearer the time.

If anyone is thinking of coming and has a query, please feel free to post on the thread or PM me


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♫ PLACE and TIME

It will take place on Saturday 9 Febuary at The Yorkshire College of Music & Drama in Headingley Leeds (see map).

We can arrive at the college any time from around 1.15pm - if anyone wants to arrive earlier, let me know and I'll see if it can be arranged. We'll start playing at 2pm, but if anyone can't make it for 2pm, just come when you can. We'll have a break for tea mid-afternoon, and carry on playing until 5.30pm, then pack up for 5.45pm. A few of us might be up for going for a drink/bite to eat afterwards if anyone wants to....

If anyone wants transport from/to the station, I'm sure we can arrange something.... It might be helpful if travellers could get a train to Headingley station, but don't worry if this is awkward timings - Leeds City Station will probably be fine as long as I can make sure there's somebody at the college to greet people if I do the picking up.


♫ MUSIC

Hillyb has very kindly agreed to sort out the music - many thanks hillyb! She will need to know what instrument(s) you want to play and what level you are. Most instruments can be accommodated - the only instrument with a question mark over it is piano... there is only one piano, so only one pianist can be included in the group and it's possible that not all the music we play will have a piano part. But if any pianist would like to come, please do contact either hillyb or myself to see what can be arranged


♫ FEE

There will be a playing fee of £10, which will be payable on the day, preferably by cheque, made payable to "Forum Events (Yorkshire)". The purpose of the playday is mainly to give playing/ensemble/sightreading experience to adults, although a limited number of places will be available for members or children of members over the age of 12 years. Anyone under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a responsible adult, and no fee will be payable by an accompanying adult.


♫ APPLYING

If there are any new members out there who would like to come, it would be great to meet you! If you would like to know more about playdays in general, go to this thread - Forum Concerts and other events - which gives lots of information on all the different types of forum event, including playdays. There are some links to pictures of us as well, so that if you're wondering about meeting up with "internet strangers", you can see that we look quite normal....

Anyone who didn't come to the Leeds concert will need to register an application form with me for health/safety and security purposes - please contact me for details. If I've already got your contact information, unless it's changed since last June, you don't need to send another form in - just let me know if you're coming.


Playdays are very informal - we all play together, no-one is put on the spot, and beginners are very welcome as well as more experienced players. Look forward to meeting up with friends old and new

I've had an idea....

It may not be a good one, but I thought I'd bounce it off the people who are coming to the Playday....



Let's say we have two or three playdays a year, and more or less the same people come to each one... what would you think to each one of us (those who wanted to, that is) taking a turn at entertaining the others with a solo? It would just be 3 minutes out of the afternoon, it would be a bit of extra "performance confidence" experience for the person whose turn it was, and everyone who wanted to would get a turn eventually... I would suggest that it was only the adult players who took a turn because it's adults who get the fewest playing opportunities, and that if we do it, the first "turn" could be offered to anybody who is doing an exam this session.


It's just an idea....

Could the people who are coming let me have comments either on the thread or via email please (irrespective of whether you're an adult player or a parent)....

Thank you

Sounds good to me. The non-soloists would probably be glad to take a break, albeit not a very peaceful one. I'm happy to inflict my own playing on anyone who is willing to be in the same room, but I'm not all that keen on spending an afternoon listening to other people's playing just so that I can retaliate with a bit of my own. This idea seems a good compromise. I'm not sure I'll be coming to Leeds regularly, though - depends how much fun it is!

Sounds like a great idea, I'd be happy to do a solo, that way everyone else gets to realize their playing isn't as bad as they thought.

Seriously though, it sounds like a good idea.

Sounds ok, but the attraction for me personally was the prospect of an afternoon's playing with other people in a relatively relaxed but busy kind of way.
I'm not so keen myself on the introduction of solo slots because it might interrupt that, and it's only a short afternoon after all.
Just my opinion though!
N

A very valid point.

I would agree if there were going to be several solo slots, but a single 3-minute breather might be welcome.

I feel sure that non-adults would also benefit - don't think youngsters should be excluded.

No pressure then!


Seeing as there are mixed views, what would those of you who are coming think to saying that if any of the adult players has an exam coming up and would particularly like to get some solo experience, they could play through one of their pieces (would probably last less than 3 mins) in front of the audience, but it wouldn't be a regular occurrence - it would just be like a birthday treat

Are there any adult players coming who have an exam this session anyway (email/PM me if you'd rather)

Or we could just drop the idea

I will be doing an exam this term and I have no objection to playing a solo, (it isn't my birthday for some time however!) I was just aware that there would be some time constraints and the focus initially seemed to be more on playing than performance.
N

Yes you're absolutely right Nova, it is very much primarily about playing rather than performance

I think my idea came about because I view the ensembles as having a purpose, that purpose being to give people more confidence, experience etc (as well as being a pleasurable way to spend an afternoon of course! ) And taking 3 minutes out just seemed like a another good way to enable people to add to their experience/confidence, which wouldn't detract too much from the primary focus and everyone would be offered a turn at over a period of time.


Can I suggest then that if Nova would like to, she is given the opportunity to perform one of her exam pieces (let's say just before the tea-break). That will give us all an idea as to what effect a solo slot has on the afternoon, and then sometime before the next Playday, I'll ask everybody whether they want to continue with the "slot" idea or drop it...

Would that be OK?


(If there's more than one person doing an exam this session, erm, erm.... oh let's cross that bridge if we come to it, it might not happen! )

That sounds fine to me.

Is there a reason the playdays are only 3 or 4 hours?

That's more of a play afternoon.

There are people (me for one ) that will be travelling longer than they are playing.

I'm not complaining, just curious.

The Market Harborough playdays have always been an afternoon, so I was just going by that

One of the deciding factors is the amount of music that the leader has to provide. The leader has to make sure that the music and parts are suitable for all the instruments that are coming and all levels. I don't know, but I imagine it takes quite a lot of time finding suitable pieces and possibly re-arranging some of the parts to get them to the right level for the players. It might be difficult for the leader time-wise to provide music for sessions that were much longer than an afternoon. But I might be speaking out of turn here...

Also, having been to a few of these playdays, I have to say that I've been quite tired by the end! Sightreading for an afternoon is good experience, but because you're concentrating hard, it is quite tiring and I've been ready to call it a day by the end!

As far as the venue is concerned, I was talking to the college people last night and they said that because the college is open in the morning anyway, as far as they're concerned we can start at whatever time we like. I know at least one person is arriving just after noon, so from that point of view, there is no reason why we couldn't start earlier.

So I could throw another idea into the pot ...

...as I say, it is very tiring to sightread for a whole afternoon - I would say try it this time, and then let me know if you'd like a longer session next time, and if it's what most other people want as well, I'll see if it's feasible to do that music-wise next time. In the meantime, the only other thing I can think of to extend the event is to tack on, say, half-an-hour for solo performances - a mini-concert in other words. There wouldn't be many people in the audience, but you'd get to be on the stage to perform I know there's one person arriving just after mid-day and if others wanted to come earlier as well, we could have a mini-concert from say, 12.45-1.15pm, adults or children to perform. I'd probably have to leave at some point to go and pick others up from the station, but I don't think that would matter, as long as somebody was willing to be left in charge in case anything of a health/safety/security nature cropped up (and I probably ought to check with the college on this).

I'm open to suggestions about extending the afternoon if people would like to.... this is a new event for Leeds and as long as everybody has a good time and gets what they want out of it, then the format can be flexible (as long as it's feasible )

Update... The consensus is that a longer ensemble session would be good and hillyb's fine with that. So we'll start playing at about 1pm

Will liaise with everybody on pick-up times from Headingley station nearer the day when everyone knows what time they're arriving. It will just take a few minutes to get up to the college from Headingley station by car.

Sounds good

Would it be helpful if people brought refreshment type things? I don't know if the college is providing for breaks but I'd be happy to bake something teatimey to contribute.
N

That would be great nova, thanks for the offer! I'd offer to make something myself but I really don't think anyone would thank me for it

We'll need at least one break, possibly two short ones now that we're starting earlier. I'm hoping one or two of the parents will volunteer to put the kettle on but I haven't asked them yet....

I can bake stuff too

That would be brilliant, thank you!

I don't mind making tea!

Thank you, I was hoping someone would volunteer!


When I was in the college last week, the administrator (some of you met her at the concert last year) said that she was planning to be around all afternoon now, so we can have the run of the place instead of just being in the studio. So the parents will be able to use one of the other rooms to sit in, and we'll have a proper kitchen to use. And three toilets!

There's also quite a good selection of CDs that they sell to students, which are only £1 and visitors are welcome to buy as well. They're in the reception area, along with a selection of sheet music for sale.

I'll give you a hand if you like

Thanks notmusimum There's another parent coming too - perhaps he could be persuaded to help out as well... we might need two short breaks instead of just the one seeing as it's a longer afternoon now. Or maybe it's just me that gets tired easily!


The parts for everybody are getting sorted this week so if anyone else want to come, it would be helpful if you could let me know. We've got a great mix of instruments coming - a few clarinets (inc alto) and flute, a few violins and violas, sax (tenor and alto), and possibly guitar

Hi, I may have missed something but I'm not sure how you want people to pay for this event - in advance or at the time?

Also, with reference to an earlier bit of this thread, I am now NOT doing an exam this session so somebody else who is can have the solo-exam-piece-performing slot!

Thanks for offering the opportunity anyway though.

N

Good! It'll give us a chance to have a bit of a chat!

It'll be fine on the day - preferably cheque for £10 made payable to "Forum Events (Yorkshire)" but otherwise cash will be OK.




If anyone else wants to volunteer, please feel free!

Only 3 days to go!


I'll do a Round Robin tonight confirming timings, who I'm picking up from Headingley station and what times. Look forward to seeing you all!

So when do I need to get to the college by?

We start playing at 1pm so any time before then I've gotta go now, but I'll send a proper email tonight saying what times I'll be there - it's a bit intermittent with me popping out to pick people up from the station. Look forward to meeting you for the first time Babybird!

All being well I'll get to Headingley at 1236 along with Notmusimum and daughter.

Everbody who's coming should now have had an email confirming the final arrangements - if not, let me know!


Looking forward to meeting everybody, either again or for the first time







(tries not to get too excited )

Incidentally I know there's a couple of first-study pianists coming on Saturday who are not planning to play the piano during the event, but there is a piano in the studio where the ensemble is meeting (it's the same room as last year's concert for those of you who came last year) and if anybody arrives early and wants to have a tinkle, that's fine with the college. I think it's a Bluther grand

Once all the other students have left at mid-day, the college people are happy for us to explore the building if anyone wants to Most of the rooms have a piano but some are better than others. The college building used to be the home of Julie Andrews' singing teacher, Lilian Stiles-Allen. It has character

Got the e-mail (and printed it!)

I think I've only been in two rooms in the building... one near the entrance where I warmed up and one on the floor below where I had my exam

I haven't read my email yet, so forgive me if it says in there, but is there any dress code for people who are playing?

Just wear whatever's comfortable - it's very informal Apart from a short break or two, we'll be sitting/playing for the whole afternoon so I'd recommend wearing something that you'll be comfortable in for several hours. In my case, that's my jeans

That's just reminded me - I've got mixed up! it was the exam room piano which Fsharpminor played to me on last week (what dreadful grammar!) so it must be that one that's the Bluther. I forget what it is in the studio but I don't suppose it matters - I'm just a bit into piano makes at the moment since reading "The Piano Shop on the Left Bank"

Was it Bluthner (Not Bluther), I thought it was a Bechstein ?? Maybe my memory fails me !

Anyway I hope you all have great day. Pity I'm only in Headingley two days each midweek.

(PS I can recommend 'Piano Shop on the Left Bank' by T E Carhart to anyone interested in pianos, its non-fiction by the way)

I concur! A charming book which makes me want to visit Paris (as, indeed, does Amelie - but I doubt I would meet the lovely Audrey Tautou on my travels... *sighs*)

I think you know rather more about pianos than I do so I'm sure you're right!


Thanks for the good wishes

I was shopping for work today and spied this lovely chocolate cake. I begged me to buy it to share at Leeds. If you're very lucky I might bring it along with me that's if we don't eat it first

Thank you! Can't wait!

Best wishes to you, Skylark and to everyone taking part tomorrow. Enjoy the day. Looking forward to seeing the pictures!

Thank you Daisy! Hope your day goes well tomorrow too




Message to the train travellers - I had a reccy to Headingley station today and I think I'll hover in the car at the entrance by the car park. I think there's only one exit but just in case there's an alternative pedestrian exit, go uphill rather than down! (on to Kirkstall Lane).


Look forward to seeing everybody tomorrow!

Have a wild time, all. Then come to Anglesey on March 8th and 9th.

You've no chance - they won't be able to find the form!

(...after much searching I've now found it... if anyone else wants it, it's in the first post on the Calendar thread - 's obvious innit! )



Thanks for the good wishes petrat!

Hope you all have a great time tomorrow - and safe travelling.

Thanks Maggie

Hope you all have great day.

Thanks hillyb - we'll be thinking of you too, hope it goes well!

Thanks. Enjoy - I'm sure you will