NEWSFLASH
Del Natrano - known to us mere mortals as Derek Nuttall - has made it through to the 2008 X-Factor Boot Camp, being voted in by all four judges. Simon Cowell hinted that Derek may be Louis Walsh's long lost Irish brother and Danii Minogue voted for him because 'he is cute' (well, don't we know it). Congratulations Derek. You have our votes too.
GIFT VOUCHERS
MEhr Clef Gift Vouchers are now available from £10 to the full value of a course or workshop. Contact info@mehrclef.com for details.
Ealing Jazz Festival 2008
We are very fortunate to have been offered a gig for our 2007 week 2 Summer School students at the Ealing Jazz Festival this year. Ealing is still one of the largest almost free (£1 entry) Jazz Festivals in Europe. This is a fantastic opportunity for this wonderfully talented group of young musicians to perform at such a prestigious event. Details can be found on our events page.
Nick Weldon
Nick Weldon has launched his website www.jazzpiano.co.uk, with details of forthcoming courses. The fab trio of Nick, Jeff and Trevor, who are the Musical Directors on our summer course at Roehampton, are still keeping the Silsoe course going for 5 days in the summer on a much smaller scale. Nick also runs regular workshops at The Shoefactory in Rushden, Northants. Check out his website for details
Easter Course 2008
Another fantastic week at the Hythe Imperial Hotel in Kent. We now have a regular following of Jazz fans and each night the bar was so full that latecomers only had standing room. The Gala Night was completely sold out, even the annexed rooms to the function suite were fully booked.This year there were a number of students who travelled from Italy, Netherlands, Finland, Ireland and Japan to attend. The tutors Lee Gibson, Norma Winstone, Pete Churchill, Jeff Clyne and Trevor Tomkins are simply amazing.
Dates for 2009 have already been finalised (see Courses) and details of the 606 gig will be announced in the summer. Photos will be available on the website as soon as they have been collated. A big thank you to everyone for making the week so successful.
Ursula Malewski
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The Easter Mehr Clef course for jazz vocalists and instrumentalists is a course like no other. It is a 'professional development' , very rigorous 5 days for musicians who really want to 'challenge themselves', 'fill-in gaps in their jazz/musical knowledge' and 'polish performance skills'. As a tutor it is wonderful to hear and see the difference in the musicians taking part during the course and appreciate the quality of their performances and growing confidence.
Tina May
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CONGRATULATIONS to Fiona Rowden for winning the Angela Carrington Award on Saturday 26th March 2008. This is the second year running that the award has been won by a MEhr Clef student.
CONGRATULATIONS to vocalist Helen Burnett and guitarist Richard Rozze, both MEhr Clef students, who have been accepted for the Postgraduate Jazz Performance Diploma Course (PGDipMus) from September 2007 at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.