We are all soloists within our playing. We all are the interpreters of the wonderful composers who wrote us such beautiful music. We are all here to shine and use our gifts. We are musicians deep within.
In our January sessions we shall look at bringing our playing to another level. That of the soloist: full of purpose, direction, confidence and clarity.
Part I – 22 January
Repertoire Suggestions:
Baroque
JS Bach - Partita in a minor - Sarabande
CPE Bach - Sonata in a minor - Movt 1- Poco Adagio
Telemann - Fantasies
French Solo works
Debussy- Syrinx
Honegger- Danse de la Chevre
Ibert - Piece
Note: Please feel free to play for us whatever you are working on that might be proving challenging or confusing for you.
Part II – 29 January
Repertoire Suggestions:
Short solo bits within the piece:
Chaminade - Concertino
Debussy - The girl with the Flaxen Hair
Poulenc Sonata: Movt 3 - Subito più Lento
Gaubert - Madrigal
Poulenc Sonata: Movt 3 - Subito più Lento
Ravel - Piece en Forme De Habenera
Cadenzas:
Mozart D major Concerto - Donjon
Mozart Concerto - G Major
Stamitz Concerto - G Major
Vivaldi Concerti
Any concerto
Note: Please feel free to play for us whatever you are working on that might be proving challenging or confusing for you.
Clarity is a word sometimes overlooked as we work on our exercises and repertoire, especially solo repertoire.
We might have an idea of how we want our piece to sound, how to finger scales, how to move our embouchure, maybe how we want that cadenza to sound or the Partita of JS Bach or Debussy’s Syrinx.
We speak of knowing where the next note is as we develop our ears, the placement of our tongue as we work our double tonguing and the breathing mechanism to sustain our sound and long phrases. But what of the moment when we are playing on our own whether in a cadenza, a short solo in your orchestral or ensemble or adding a solo piece to our performance?
Are we clear and confident on how to bring out the harmonic structure and virtuosity needed to carry our playing to our listener or bring that bravura to our performance?
Let's delve together with a few of our favourite pieces that I hope will add confidence and ideas to your playing and take your playing on and off the stage to another level.
We hope this month of our Adult Sessions will start you off well giving you a great springboard for a year full of musical endeavours!
This session will be recorded and available to view until 29 February 2026.