The British Kodály Academy's website

Summer School Reviews

BKA Summmer School 2006
by Graham Boyce

If you're an experienced musician and you're looking for a bit of time to improve upon your skills then the British Kodaly Academy's Summer School is the place for you. If you're a new comer to musicianship, then the British Kodaly Academy's Summer School is still the place for you. I'm somewhere in between and I had such a great time at this years BKA Summer School that I just had to write down what I thought to share it with all of you. The sheer level of expert tution that is on offer is mind blowing. These tutors, from Hungary, really know there stuff. They really make you think about things in a totally different way and they make it challenging - at whatever level - and very, very enjoyable.

The classes on offer give you a wide range of musical areas for you to focus on. The conducting classes were invaluable to me and I learnt so much that I was just itching to get back to my choir in Scotland to try out all my new fancy techniques. And, let me tell you, they work!

The musicianship classes, I really feel were the highlight of the week. We, as a group, were really challenged to think about some really complicated theories, but it was delivered in such a way that we all really wanted to do well and to understand what was going on.

This was the general theme of the entire week. Although it was extremely challenging there was never a point were I felt that I wasn't good enough and the tutors always made time to ensure that everyone understood what they needed to understand.

Even although I did feel there were some points in the course that could have been improved upon I really felt that I was being listened to and that things will go from strength to strength with the BKA Summer School. I definately will be back and I would highly recommend it for anyone who really wants to take time to give themselves a better understanding of general musicianship skills again.

Thanks to all at BKA
Graham Boyce