Workshops

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IN PERSON WORKSHOPS
2020 -Due to all our usual workshops being cancelled because of Covid 19 we are currently planning online Vocal Jazz, Songwriting and Creative Writing workshops. Please sign up to my e-newsletter if you would like to hear more information about these once the dates and formats have been finalised.

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Fri 13th March (evening tutors house concert) to Sun 15th March 2020 in Seahouses, Northumberland CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19
ALL ABOUT THE SONG in Northumberland – A guided creative retreat exploring lyric and song-writing with tutors Sara Colman and Sophie Bancroft
Have you always wanted to write a song but never thought you could?
We are able to offer our ALL ABOUT THE SONG Writing Retreat 2020 in a wonderful seaside location in Northumberland. There is space for 7 students to participate in 2 days of intensive study in the beautiful surroundings of the Northumberland coastline by Seahouses and Bamburgh. In your time off there are fantastic beaches to walk, nearby castles to explore and the fresh sea air to breathe.

Here are some thoughts from previous All About The Song students……

“At the ‘All About The Song’ retreat I felt supported and encouraged every step of the way – Although I was out of my comfort zone it didn’t seem to matter. Deep down I really didn’t believe I could write a song never mind one I’d be proud of. Miracles do happen, dreams do come true!”

“Sophie and Sara’s songwriting workshop is a safe and nurturing space to write and create. They give you practical tools and exercises to get your creativity flowing and deepen your understanding of the many ways a song can be crafted. I cannot recommend their workshop highly enough and I’m so grateful for their support in writing my first ever song!”

“It’s so important to reconnect with our creativity and no safer place to do it than one of these workshops. “

“Heartfelt thanks to you and Sara for arranging such a useful and thought-provoking workshop. It was great to come away with tools for sparking new ideas, thoughts on how to structure the form – and half a song!”

What happens at an ALL ABOUT THE SONG retreat?

You will have space and time to write with support and mentoring as you do
You’ll be helped along with group writing exercises and song analysis
We’ll examine song form and lyrical structure, learning to listen to music with new ears.
There will be group discussions and sharing of work as well as masterclasses critiquing and developing your writing in a constructive and positive way

All About The Song Tutors:

Sara Colman –With an MA in Song-Writing, writing music has always been central to Sara with original music being a consistent theme throughout her three albums. Her song ‘Rock’ made the final 10 of 15,000 entries to BBC Radio 2’s Sold on Song competition, and she won the Jazz category of the UK Songwriting Completion with the title track of her 2018 album What We’re Made of as well as winning the Lyrics of the Year Competition 2018. Sara’s collaborations with pianist and composer Rebecca Nash will feature on the forthcoming Atlas album Peaceful King and she was recently commissioned to write a song for The Canales Project. Sara teaches voice and song-writing at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and Guildhall School of Music.

Sophie Bancroft –Recently gaining a Masters in Creative Writing Sophie has been song-writing from an early age. Her songs have been used on American hit TV show ‘Six Feet Under’, been remixed and featured in European and American dance charts, and recorded by various jazz artistes around Europe including multi-award winning vocalist Liane Carroll and American award-winning jazz pianist Louis Durra. Her most recent CD ‘Songs’ featuring her own compositions was listed in the ‘Top 50 albums of 2015’ by The Herald, Scotland. Sophie has taught at many of the major music universities in Scotland and the North of England as well as lecturing and leading workshops on song-writing in numerous secondary schools.

Workshop fee: £460 includes all tuition, Friday night welcome drink and nibbles, Saturday and Sunday lunches, refreshments during the day and a group dinner out at the fantastic local pizzeria.
Monthly payment plan possible.

Workshop Location: North Sunderland, Seahouses, NE68 7TU
TRAVEL – Closest mainline station is Berwick-upon-Tweed Train Station. We can pick you up / drop you off from Berwick-upon-Tweed Train Station, coordinating with other students arriving by train @ £10 each way.
ACCOMMODATION – There are numerous hotels, bed and breakfasts and self-catering accommodation close to the workshop venue as well as plenty of good cafes and restaurants plus a COOP supermarket that is open until 10pm each evening.

Please contact Sophie for further info and to book:
sbancroft@btinternet.com

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Thurs 16th April (evening tutors concert), Workshop all day Fri 17th – Sun 20th Apr 2020: CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19
CROMARTY VOCAL JAZZ WORKSHOP with tutors Liane Carroll, Fionna Duncan, Sara Colman, Sophie Bancroft  & Brian Kellock
Workshop focus areas include song interpretation and phrasing, vocal technique, performance focus, communication with instrumentalists, bodywork and much more all surrounded by the most beautiful scenery, great food, good company and much laughter.
– Tutors concert on Thursday night,
– Singers Night Jam Session on Saturday night,
– Student concert on Sunday afternoon.
 Workshop Location and Residential Accommodation in  The Old Brewery, Cromarty
Travel: Cromarty is a 30 minute bus journey from Inverness airport which receives national and international flights, and Inverness station which is on the main east coast line from London
B+Bs available nearby if required

The residential workshop fees include:
– Free entry to the tutors concert on Thursday evening.
–  2 1/2 days of intensive teaching including group song work, technique, bodywork and 4 masterclasses with each tutor (max 5 students in each masterclass) with a good deal of individual focus time.
– Singers night jam session on Saturday night accompanied by Liane Carroll, Brian Kellock, Sophie Bancroft or Sara Colman.
– Student concert on Sunday afternoon accompanied by Brian Kellock.
 – Accommodation, dinner on Thurs, Fri and Sat, breakfast and lunch on Fri, Sat, Sun and teas/coffees.

WORKSHOP FEES: Residential w/ single room: £675 /Residential w/ twin room: £635 / Non-residential (includes all above except breakfast and accommodation): £550
A non-refundable deposit of £300 is required to secure your place on the workshop  and the balance of fee is required by the 28th Feb 2020. (the balance of fee for cancellations within 14 days of the workshop start date will be non-refundable unless a replacement student can be found). Monthly payments on the payment plan are non-refundable.
Email Sophie to book at sbancroft@btinternet.com
Email Sophie to book

Fri 26th June (evening) to Sun 28th June: RESIDENTIAL CREATIVE WRITING RETREAT in Northumberland CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19– a guided creative writing retreat to explore your own writing, whether it’s poetry, prose or song-writing in the beautiful surroundings of the Northumberland coastline by Seahouses and Bamburgh. In your time off there are fantastic beaches to walk, castles to explore and the fresh sea air to breathe.

 THE CREATIVE WRITING RETREAT offers you

the space and time to write accompanied by support and mentoring if and when needed
inspiration through group writing exercises and poem, prose and song analysis
group discussions and sharing of work as well as a masterclass to critique and develop your writing in a constructive and positive way
beautiful walks in the local area if you need to get out and move after a long stint of sitting and writing
wonderful home cooking from our dedicated Residential Creative Writing Retreat Chef

Workshop Fee: £480 includes all tuition, accommodation, dinner on Friday and Saturday, breakfast, lunch, coffees and teas on Saturday and Sunday.
Monthly payment plan possible.

Sophie Bancroft – Recently gaining a Masters with Distinction in Creative Writing, professional musician, songwriter and music and creative writing tutor Sophie Bancroft has been writing poems and songs from an early age and lately has been turning her pen to life-writing and memoir. Her songs have been used on American hit TV show ‘Six Feet Under’ and recorded by various jazz artistes around Europe including multi-award winning vocalist Liane Carroll and American award-winning jazz pianist Louis Durra. Her most recent CD ‘Songs’ featuring her own compositions was listed in the ‘Top 50 albums of 2015’ by The Herald, Scotland. She is a commissioned poet and published writer now specialising in life-writing as well as song-writing. Sophie has taught at several of the major music universities in Scotland and North England as well as leading workshops on song-writing in numerous secondary schools, teacher conferences and privately run retreats.  Her passion, alongside writing herself, is to facilitate others in exploring their own creativity through word, whether in poetic, prose or song form.

Testimonials from previous Creative Writing Retreat participants

“Your workshops give me confidence in my ability and my potential. I can’t thank you enough”

“You provide a safe and nurturing space to write and create.”

“It’s so important to reconnect with our creativity and no safer place to do it than one of these workshops. “

Please contact Sophie for further info and to book:
sbancroft@btinternet.com

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Fri 16th (starts 5.30pm) to Sun 18th Oct 2020 (ends 3.30pm)
THE BIGGER AND BETTER VOCAL JAZZ WORKSHOP IN HASTINGS CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19
with tutors Liane Carroll, Sara Colman and Sophie Bancroft
featuring additional singing clinics and sunday morning workshop as well as the usual masterclasses, group song and technique work. In association with the Memorial Art Gallery, Hastings
Maximum 12 students, 3 master classes (max 4 people with each tutor) plus group work, singing clinics and technique/warm ups.
Workshop focus areas: interpretation, phrasing, technique, performance focus, communication with musicians and much more.
Tutors concert @ Kino Teatr on Sat 22nd Feb tbc (free entry for workshop students)
Informal student concert on Sunday afternoon @ Porters Wine Bar, with students accompanied by Liane.
Venue: Memorial Art Gallery, Hastings
Fee: £460 (includes sunday lunch at Porters, refreshments and entry to tutors concert)
Monthly payment plan possible.
A non-refundable deposit of £235 is required to secure your place on the workshop  and the balance of fee is required by the 1st Oct 2020. (NB the balance of fee for cancellations within 14 days of the workshop start date will be non-refundable unless a replacement student can be found).

Please contact Sophie for further info and to book:
sbancroft@btinternet.com

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Thurs 12th November (evening tutors concert), Workshop all day Fri 13th – Sun 15th Nov 2020: CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19
CROMARTY VOCAL JAZZ WORKSHOP with tutors Liane Carroll, Fionna Duncan, Sara Colman, Sophie Bancroft  & Brian Kellock
Workshop focus areas include song interpretation and phrasing, vocal technique, performance focus, communication with instrumentalists, bodywork and much more all surrounded by the most beautiful scenery, great food, good company and much laughter.
– Tutors concert on Thursday night,
– Singers Night Jam Session on Saturday night,
– Student concert on Sunday afternoon.
 Workshop Location and Residential Accommodation in  The Old Brewery, Cromarty
Travel: Cromarty is a 30 minute bus journey from Inverness airport which receives national and international flights, and Inverness station which is on the main east coast line from London
B+Bs available nearby if required

The residential workshop fees include:
– Free entry to the tutors concert on Thursday evening.
–  2 1/2 days of intensive teaching including group song work, technique, bodywork and 4 masterclasses with each tutor (max 5 students in each masterclass) with a good deal of individual focus time.
– Singers night jam session on Saturday night accompanied by Liane Carroll, Brian Kellock, Sophie Bancroft or Sara Colman.
– Student concert on Sunday afternoon accompanied by Brian Kellock.
 – Accommodation, dinner on Thurs, Fri and Sat, breakfast and lunch on Fri, Sat, Sun and teas/coffees.

WORKSHOP FEES: Residential w/ single room: £675 /Residential w/ twin room: £635 / Non-residential (includes all above except breakfast and accommodation): £550
A non-refundable deposit of £300 is required to secure your place on the workshop  and the balance of fee is required by the 28th Feb 2020. (the balance of fee for cancellations within 14 days of the workshop start date will be non-refundable unless a replacement student can be found). Monthly payments on the payment plan are non-refundable.
Email Sophie to book at sbancroft@btinternet.com
Email Sophie to book

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Any questions about any of the workshops, please do contact Sophie by email
Email: sbancroft@btinternet.com

STUDENT TESTIMONIALS FROM THE HASTINGS, CROMARTY AND  MEDITERRANEAN SUMMER SCHOOL WORKSHOPS

Huge thanks to you all for another brilliant weekend. What a team!!! I’ve never been to a health spa, but whatever their claims I can’t believe they come anywhere near the benefits of your workshops. The Heineken effect; you get to the parts that others don’t reach.

Thank you so much, it was a wonderful weekend and I learnt so much – surprisingly emotional too, it felt very cathartic.

I wanted to thank you for such a marvellous course. I got so much out of it and was able to have the confidence to go a little bit further with all the things I find challenging. I love singing so much and interpreting the great songs brings so much emotion as well as bringing you close to some great people. I have always felt hampered by my lack of confidence as a relative newcomer to jazz but I gain something from each course and the skill and manner of the teaching really helped me to be a bit more daring.

Thanks for the kind comments and for all your hard work and very valuable input from all three of you this weekend. I hope it will all help to close the gap between where I am with my singing and where I’d like to be.

Thank you for the weekend, which was inspiring. I have taken many good things away from it, and although it’s too early to say how it will all impact on my singing, or my teaching, one thing I feel absolutely sure of is that it will.

I have to say that for me personally, it was the most terrifying thing I think I have ever done – and I will treasure every second of it in my mind for ever because it has changed me for ever in a way that is extremely growthful and empowering.

Thanks again for a wonderful workshop, it was really inspirational and I cant wait to to start singing again

What great teachers!

I love and look forward to spending time with you all and consider myself hugely privileged to be a participant in your workshops. I learn so much and am keen to have opportunities to put it all into practice.

Thank you both so much for all the help and support you have given me as a singer and as another human being.

You are all such inspiring teachers…