Join OCA Music tutors Carla Rees, Chris Lawry and fellow music students for an informal web chat from the comfort of your own home. The chat will start at 6.00pm on Sunday 18 August 2019 and continue ‘live’ for at least an hour and a half. The chat will also remain open after that time for follow up conversations, or for those unable to be online at that time to catch up and read.
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Join OCA Music tutor Chris Lawry and fellow music students for an informal web chat from the comfort of your own home. The chat will start at 6.30pm on Wednesday 29 May and continue ‘live’ for at least an hour and a half. The chat will also remain open after that time for follow up conversations, or for those unable to be online at that time to catch up and read. The chat will provide an opportunity to ask questions, share ideas, inspirations and music, to highlight best practice in critical listening and compositional skills, and to engage with the wider OCA music community.
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In late July, OCA music students from across the UK and Europe met up at the MAC Birmingham for a day of music making and discussion with music tutor Chris Lawry and saxophonist and publisher Keri Degg. The day was focussed on writing for saxophone with a particular emphasis on composing music for educational and examination purposes. Students got to hear their compositions workshopped and received feedback and advice from tutor and performers, as well as bound scores and recordings to take away for further study.
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Join OCA tutor Chris Lawry and saxophonist, composer and publisher Keri Degg on Saturday 29 July 2017 for a composition workshop at MAC Birmingham. The day will consist of advice and discussion on writing for saxophone and getting pieces published and will feature performances and feedback of student compositions.
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A news item from this week probably quietly slipped past most people, announcing the death of soprano Marni Nixon. For those unaware of her body of work, I can assure you that you most probably have enjoyed the fruits of her labour at some point, and perhaps without even knowing it!
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Whilst preparing a piece for the recent Composition Workshop, Jerry Mayle decided to pursue a slightly different path than what was originally called for. Jerry asked tutor Andy Glover-Whitley in advance about the possibility of making changes and he got more than he bargained for in the process…
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We are pleased to announce a new addition to our foundations suite of courses: Foundations Music.
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On Saturday 2nd April, OCA music students gathered together from far and wide to pack out Music Room 1 of the MAC Birmingham. Students had a unique opportunity to write pieces for mezzo soprano and piano which would be recorded, premiered and discussed on the day with tutors and fellow students.
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Early in 2015 I wrote the WeAreOCA blog ‘Go on, get it played!’ about the advantages of students gaining knowledge through collaborations. These experiences are often crucial in developing orchestration skills and a personal compositional voice. Recently, OCA music student Helmuts Feldmanis got in touch about one of his recent collaborations.
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One of the many benefits of the rapid pace of technological advancement in music software, and of the internet, are the increased possibilities open to collaborating creatively from remote locations; creating music with people that have never even physically met!
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