Conductors aren’t born, they’re forged. With this bold statement the Forge choral conducting mentorship has been launched. A mentoring programme for aspiring choral conductors, Forge has been founded by choral conductors Tori Longdon and Greg Beardsall.
Despite the remarkable number of choral conductors in the UK, only two British conservatoires provide postgraduate study for choral conductors, totalling fewer than seven available training places each year. A third programme, previously run by Birmingham University, was discontinued last year due to funding constraints.
As a result many choral conductors learn ‘on the job,’ without peer support or guidance. Any training that is available is either either limited to brief courses, or full-time Master’s programmes that are both costly and difficult to balance with a freelance career.
Forge is a fully online mentoring and development programme designed to support and sustain the choral tradition, with a 30-week programme that gives aspiring conductors access to a roster of world-class mentors, all of whom teach at conservatoire level, in a flexible, affordable format. Each small cohort of twelve student conductors will meet weekly online to review rehearsal footage of one student working with their own choir, followed by a programme of seminars delivered by the mentor team which will deepen a wide range of leadership skills.
The current mentor team includes: Ben Parry (London Voices), Mariana Rosas (London Symphony Chorus), Anthony Trecek-King (Handel and Haydn Society), Jonas Rasmussen (Royal Academy Of Music, Arhus), Tracy Wong (Wilfrid Laurier University), Sanna Valvanne (Sing & Shine Choirs), and Felix Shuen (Diocesan Boys’ Choir Hong Kong).
Applications will open on the 1st October for courses starting in January, May and September.
Full details from the Forge website.
