Who is the course for?

This course is open to classical guitarists of any level who are looking for an intensive, inspirational experience.

During the course you will:

• develop technically and musically • build repertoire and performance experience • receive advice for practice planning and further study • access guitar teaching of the highest level • meet like-minded guitarists and develop ensemble skills

Entry Requirements

This is an open access course with no specific entry requirements.

Venue, Date, Cost

Royal Conservatoire of Scotland 100 Renfrew Street Glasgow, G2 3DB 15 – 19 July 2013 (5 days) 10am - 5pm £210

Classical GuitarSummer School Young People 12-17 years

This course is a one week immersion in the study of classical guitar focusing on technical and musical development.

Throughout this short course, students will develop skills aiding them in further study, audition preparation, competition entry and practice planning. At the beginning of the week each student will be assessed on technique, musicianship and current level, enabling tutors to tailor the course to the individual’s needs.

You will have the opportunity to experience the life of a full time music student whilst working with our renowned Conservatoire teaching staff.

Course Outline

Daily Warm Up Morning group classes will focus on warm up exercises and techniques, setting up the hands for each full study day. Helpful tips to avoid injury and how to get the best out of every practice session will also be covered. Individual Lessons One to one lessons will focus on developing the student’s interpretation and understanding of current repertoire and knowledge of the instrument. Technical weaknesses will be identified with tutors offering solutions and repertoire for further study. Technique Class Peter Stewart will lead groups working on scales, arpeggios, slurs, stretches, tone production, posture and other areas of classical guitar technique. Performance Class Students will have the opportunity to perform to fellow students in a more formal class directed by Matthew McAllister. Matthew will be working on improving stage presence as well as techniques for calming nerves. Guitar Orchestra / Guitar Ensembles Guitarists rarely have the opportunity to play together in large groups. Participation in this class will encourage and develop chamber music skills and demonstrate the importance of teamwork whilst producing high quality music making. Repertoire Class Students will be guided through the main study books / technical manuals available today alongside an introduction to the cornerstones of the guitar repertoire and their historical importance to the instrument’s development. Sight Reading An in-depth look at the skills required to play a piece of music at sight. Skills developed here include key signature recognition, rhythmical accuracy when reading from a score, note recognition, chordal awareness and positional playing on the guitar. Improvisation / Creativity Class Students are exposed to and encouraged to develop improvisation techniques within small groups led by Michael McGeary in this class. Any compositions that the students have to share or any experience with more popular guitar styles such as folk, blues and jazz are welcome.

Course Leader

Matthew McAllister

Matthew McAllister is widely regarded as one of the most exciting and talented classical guitarists in Europe. After an extremely busy start to his professional career, Matthew has been delighting audiences across Europe and beyond with his thoughtful performances and effortless presentation. From renaissance miniatures to contemporary masterpieces, Matthew’s style is an eclectic one that is reflected in his critically acclaimed and vast output with Natural Studio Records.

Matthew studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with Allan Neave, and during his studies he toured with Scottish Ballet, performed at The 5th & 7th Simon Bolivar Guitar Festivals held at The Venezuelan Embassy in London, and appeared on BBC and TVE Spanish Television. Since graduating with Honours, Matthew has enjoyed continued success and is a regular performer and educator at Classical Guitar Festivals and Concert Series worldwide. Matthew has performed live on British, Spanish, Malaysian, Peruvian and Chilean television, and has been featured on numerous radio broadcasts worldwide. Matthew has also toured extensively throughout North & South America, Europe and Asia both as a soloist and chamber musician.

Matthew has performed at major venues across the world such as The Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), The Bridgewater Hall (Manchester), Caesars Palace (Las Vegas), Cenart (Mexico City), The Purcell Room (London), Oberste Stadtkirche (Iserlohn), Eugene O’Neil Theatre (San Jose), The Teatro Britanico (Lima) and The Barockmuseum (Salzburg).

Course Tutors

Michael McGeary As a young boy, Michael learned to play the mandolin and performed regularly with the Edinburgh Ukrainian Mandolin Orchestra. At the age of 11, he took up guitar and in 1978 became the first guitarist to study at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Michael has performed numerous recitals throughout the UK as a soloist, accompanist and member of the Edinburgh Guitar Quartet, as well as giving concerto performances. He has broadcast on both BBC and commercial radio. Several original works have been dedicated to him, most notably Threnody (1990) by the Turkish Armenian composer Gilbert Biberian. Throughout Michael’s illustrious teaching career, over 30 of his students have progressed to full-time musical studies at conservatoires and universities in the UK. In 1999, he was nominated for Yamaha Instrumental Teacher of the Year. In 2004, Michael was appointed Head of the Instrumental Music Service in Edinburgh and managed 80 instrumental teachers. He was also responsible for the musical education of around 5,000 pupils. As chair of the Heads of Instrumental Teaching Scotland, he organised an education conference (2008) which attracted over 1,000 teachers from all over Scotland. Michael’s introductory guitar book The Guitar Tree was first published in 2009 and to date has sold almost 3,000 copies. In 2012, he returned to full-time teaching and hopes to write new didactic material. He now teaches in Edinburgh schools, for the Royal Conservatoire’s Junior Conservatoire and St. Mary’s specialist music school.

Peter Stewart

Peter Stewart lectures at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and the Aberdeen City Music School and has previously taught at Aberdeen College of Music and Performing Arts. Peter performed for 16 years with Irish guitarist Tracey Boyd; they were endorsed as Savarez Artists and were highly praised by respected critics for their musically sensitive, emotive and stylish performances. The duo performed throughout the UK and Europe and broadcast for BBC Radio Scotland. Many works were dedicated to them; most notably a series of works composed by John W. Duarte and published by Mel Bay USA. During that period, Peter directed the Glasgow Classical Guitar Workshop and the very successful Oatridge International Guitar Festival. Peter’s success as a composer has been met with international critical acclaim and his music has been performed as far afield as the USA, South America and Russia. Many of his works have been commercially recorded by international artists including Alfonso Montes (Venezuela), Irina Kircher (Germany), Antonio De Innocentis (Italy) Matthew McAllister (UK) and Professor Allan Neave (UK); he is published by Guitar Score Publications (Scotland), Ricordi (England) and Chanterelle (Germany). Peter is also an adjudicator for Live Music Now – Wales, the Fife Music Festival and the Rago International Competition at the Stuttgart Musikschule, Germany.

Guest Artist Masterclass

Professor Allan Neave

Professor Allan Neave will be running a Guest Artist Masterclass on this summer school. Allan is Senior Lecturer in Strings and Head of Guitar Studies at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (1984) and the Royal Northern College of Music (1988) and has since been performing worldwide. Allan is a regular guest at many of the world’s leading musical events and has worked with many influential musicians including Nikita Koshkin, Edward McGuire, Hans Werner Henze and Stephen Dodgson.

To date, some of Allan’s career highlights include recording Gordon McPherson’s concerto Born of Funk and Fear of Failing with new music group, Psappha, performing Scottish Guitar Music in Peru, a tour of Australia with virtuoso flautist Alison Mitchell, a tour of the far east with Tetra Guitar quartet, performances of Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in their prom season and recording the soundtrack for a film documentary about the great Scottish painter, John Bellany.

Allan has also been Artistic Director of the Dundee International Guitar Festival since its inception and in 2000 he received the ‘Scotland on Sunday’ Glenfiddich® Spirit of Scotland Award for Music. These awards were set up to recognise individuals who lead the way in Scottish culture.

Preparing for your Course

Please wear long sleeved T-shirts or tops as this will prevent your arms sticking to the edges of the guitar. Please also bring pencils, an eraser, a notebook, spare strings, a tuner, a footstool or other guitar supports.

Get in Touch

To book a place or find out more information on this course, please contact the Short Courses team on:

Telephone: 0141 270 8213Email: shortcourses@rcs.ac.uk