Monday August 28 – Friday September 1, 2023, Oxford UK.
After the very successful Oxford Workshop every other year from 2008 to 2018 (unfortunately cancelled in 2020 and 2022 due to Covid-19), coached by members of the UK Albion Ensemble and others, we have booked a repeat event for late summer of 2023.
Where is the workshop?
St. Edmund Hall – This college traces its history back to the academic halls of the thirteenth century, and is one of the oldest institutions in Oxford University. It has a small, intimate Front Quadrangle, surrounded by buildings that date from the seventeenth century. We shall use rooms and halls dating from this period as well as the newest buildings in the college.
There will be free time during the workshop for sightseeing in this historic city. There is also an excellent music shop (Blackwells Music) for sheet music, books and CDs.
Registration will take place at St Edmund Hall, Oxford University, on Sunday August 27 from 9:00 a.m to 10:00 a.m. and on Sunday evening from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Kammermusik Workshops will not offer an organised tour this year; however, as with 2018’s workshop, we will provide tours and excursions information so you can investigate Oxford and its environs and see what’s of most interest to you.
On Sunday August 27, after dinner, there will be a cash bar social to get to know each other. Monday August 28 through Friday September 1st will be spent playing in coached ensembles. Departure is after breakfast on Saturday September 2nd for those staying at the College.
Please see the separate page for advice on travelling internationally with musical instruments to the workshop.
Who are the coaches?
Coaches are drawn from members of leading UK and European chamber music ensembles and orchestras, including the Albion Ensemble, the Schubert Ensemble, the Razumovsky Ensemble, the Coull Quartet, the English Chamber Orchestra, the London Mozart Players and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
Principal coaches are Robert Manasse, Flute; George Caird, Oboe; Marie Ross, Clarinet; Anthea Wood, Bassoon; Stephen Stirling, French Horn; Roger Coull, Violin; and Jane Salmon, Cello. Details of the coaches are here.
Who can attend?
The instrumentation will be woodwinds: Flutes, Oboes, Clarinets, Bassoons and Horns; strings: Violins, Violas, Cellos and Basses. We also anticipate resident piano accompanists.
Is this workshop right for me?
This workshop is for players who can commit to practicing the music ahead of the workshop. We ask all new applicants to assess themselves carefully and honestly per the ACMP Guide to Playing Levels so that we can select participants and assign parts appropriately, ensuring maximum enjoyment for all. We accept Intermediate to Professional level players. If you’ve been to one of our workshops before but have improved since then, feel free to rate yourself again using the guide! If you haven’t been before, you may wish to send us a recording and/or a reference from a teacher to assist us in placement, though this is not an absolute requirement.
What will happen each day?
In the Oxford workshop, we shall play a mixture of large and small group music. Each day, one or two large groups will play works such as the Spohr Nonet, Mozart Gran Partitta or a chamber orchestra work such as a Brahms Serenade, the remainder of the participants will play in groups of 2 – 6, with or without a piano. An extensive library will be available of such works. Groups will change each day, though larger works may span two days.
We shall endeavour to match players with parts of appropriate difficulty. Feel free to explain your background to us in a comment or email, in addition to completing the ACMP rating (honestly!).
A short and very informal recital of some of the works rehearsed in the day will be given before dinner each evening (but after players and audience are refreshed from the bar!). These are “works-in-progress” to introduce others to the very wide repertoire that we use in the course and to give experience of performing with relatively short preparation time. Most people are pleasantly surprised by what can be accomplished in a day, and this is an important distinction between Kammermusik Workshops and many other courses, in which the emphasis is on polished performance of a narrow repertoire at the end of the course. Participants should therefore expect to perform several times during the week but can be assured that the atmosphere is supportive and not critical!
There will be some time in the afternoons and evenings for informal pick-up groups. Players are encouraged to bring any music that they specially want to play.
No individual lessons are included in the workshop schedule. However, participants are welcome to arrange individual lessons privately with a coach. The standard fee for these lessons is £60 an hour, and payment should be made direct to the coach.
How much will it cost?
Here is the table of options and costs.
| Item | Amount | What it covers |
| Workshop fee | £510 | Coaching, music rental, rehearsal room rental, administrative costs |
| Full meals package | £174 | Lunches Mon – Fri and dinners Sun – Fri |
| Lunches package | £45 | Lunches, Monday – Friday |
| Dinners package | £129 | Dinners, Sunday – Friday |
| Individual lunches | £9 | One lunch, 5 available |
| Individual dinners | £21 | One dinner, 5 available |
| Final dinner | £24 | One dinner, 1 available. The final dinner is a 3-course served dinner to celebrate the end of the course. |
| Single room (shared bathroom) – Package | £330 | Standard Room and breakfasts for 1 person, shared bath, check-in Sunday 27 Aug., checkout Saturday 2 Sept. (6 nights), including VAT. Additional nights £55. |
| Single room with bathroom – Package | £372 | Standard Room and breakfasts for 1 person, with en suite bath, check-in Sunday 27 Aug., checkout Saturday 2 Sept. (6 nights), including VAT. Additional nights £65. |
| Twin (double) room (shared bathroom) – Package | £540 | Room and breakfasts for 2 people, shared bathroom, check-in Sunday 27 Aug., checkout Saturday 2 Sept. (6 nights), including VAT. Additional nights £90. |
| Twin (double) room with bathroom- Package | £660 | Room and breakfasts for 2 people, with en suite bath, check-in Sunday 27 Aug., checkout Saturday 2 Sept. (6 nights), including VAT. Additional nights £110. |
| Private Lesson | £60 | A one-hour private lesson with any of the coaches |
You are welcome to bring a guest to the workshop. Guests will pay no workshop fee and pay the same prices for meals and accommodation. Arrangements may be made (in advance only, by contacting the workshop director) if your guest only wants occasional meals rather than the full week package.
Most of the rooms will be in the modern Miller Building, a short (6-8 min) walk from the college. A few rooms have been reserved in college for those with walking difficulty. Rooms may be reserved for extra days before or after the workshop and you will find instructions on the registration form for how to request these. Please understand that extra days are subject to availability and may necessitate your moving to/from a room of a different type than your main selection—and your billing will be adjusted appropriately in such cases.
College accommodation must be booked through Kammermusik, but non-resident players are welcome, and you are also free to make independent arrangements for accommodation.
Please note that charges and payments for the UK workshop are in pounds sterling. The current exchange rate is roughly £1 = $1.21. PayPal may be used to send money conveniently from the US to the UK. We have had so much trouble at both ends with international bank transfers that we are only accepting PayPal; however, UK account holders may pay by UK cheque or cash as well as by PayPal.
What if I cannot afford it?
We have a limited financial aid program which allows us to award a few “scholarships” up to around £500. To apply, please make the appropriate selection on the registration form. More on scholarships can be found here.
How do I register?
Complete the online registration form by July 1, 2023. But don’t delay – available spots fill up quickly!
Registration will be confirmed once you are accepted for the workshop via email and have paid a deposit of £200 (you will receive email instructions on how to do this). The balance may be sent in advance or paid at the workshop. You may cancel your reservation up to July 31, 2023 and will obtain a full refund of any payments. Cancellations on or after August 1, 2023 will forfeit the deposit.
Kammermusik Workshops is excited to announce a reciprocal discount of 20% off the registration fee for our attendees who, within 18 months, attend the Ischia Chamber Music Festival. Or for Ischia players who join a Kammermusik Workshop. If you are registered for Ischia 2023 or attended in the last 18 months, you may take advantage of the discount—please check the appropriate box on the registration form. Please visit https://ischiachambermusic.org/faqs/ to learn more about the Ischia festival.
What if I have questions?
After you are accepted into the workshop, additional workshop details will be provided via email nearer the time of the workshop. You also may contact the Workshop Director by email if you have any other questions.
Privacy Notice
This is your formal notice under privacy and data protection regulations that information that you submit to Kammermusik Workshps will be kept on a secure computer database on behalf of Kammermusik Workshops, Inc. and will not be shared with any other groups or forwarded to third parties without your express permission.
Sponsorship
This program has been made possible in part through the generosity of ACMP – The Chamber Music Network, and the Clinton B. Ford Fund of its ACMP Foundation, an organization that promotes chamber music activities for amateur musicians. MEMBERSHIP TO ACMP IS NOW FREE!
To find out how you can assist with workshop sponsorship, click here.