Stephen Varcoe

Song Workshop at Ansells Farm, February 2012: “Old & New”

Tom Goskar — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:26:04 +0000

Saturday February 25th: This time the theme is ‘Old & New’, inspired by the turn of the year. Think of past pleasures and future adventures, dawn and dusk, birth and death – all sorts of beginnings and ends find expression in songs. Search out some interesting pieces and bring them along.

Also A DATE FOR YOUR DIARY! Our 4th annual Ansells Summer Music Weekend will take place from Friday 29th June – Sunday 1st July. More details soon.

As always, contact us at stephen@varcoe.com for information or to apply.

Song Workshop at Ansells Farm, November 2011: High Days & Holy Days

Tom Goskar — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 22:42:42 +0000

November 26th 2011 – ” High Days & Holy Days”, songs for celebrations and festivals.

With Christmas just around the corner, and the rest of the calendar full of red-letter days (whether secular, religious or just plain fun), bring along some songs for special occasions large or small, national or personal. Please email stephen@varcoe.com to apply or for more details.

Song Workshop at Ansells Farm, October 2011: Mists & Mellow Fruitfulness

Tom Goskar — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 22:42:18 +0000

The October ‘Mists & Mellow Fruitfulness‘ workshop is now fully booked, but as always there is a waiting list in case of cancellations, so do contact Stephen (stephen@varcoe.com) if you’d like to be added to this.

Song workshop at Ansells Farm, July 2011: Wine, Women and Song

Tom Goskar — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 16:30:58 +0000

July 1-3 2011

The theme was the Joy of Life, and in this extended version of our normal Song Workshops we had more opportunity to explore this repertoire.

Actor Timothy West with Stephen Varcoe and Christina Lawrie after the marvellosly entertaining ' Wine, Women and Song' programme which began the weekend's music-making. Baby Mairi-Anna is Christina's latest and greatest production, and the weekend's youngest participant - 6 weeks old here

Some of the participants in this year's workshop at Ansells

Please email stephen@varcoe.com for details. Find out more about our Song Workshops.

Song workshop at Ansells Farm, April 2011: Sing a Song of Springtime

Tom Goskar — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 16:20:18 +0000

Spring is traditionally when a young man’s fancy does its thing, and naturally enough, a young woman’s as well. Since the majority of songs are about Love, a good number of them are Spring songs too. Bring along your favourites and hear what others have found. Find out more about our Song Workshops.

Please email stephen@varcoe.com for details.

Song workshop at Ansells Farm, February 2011: Songs to Share

Tom Goskar — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 16:17:58 +0000

Songs to Share is now fully booked, but we have a waiting list in case of cancellations. Please email stephen@varcoe.com for details. Find out more about our Song Workshops.

Celebrating Grainger 2011

Tom Goskar — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 18:34:53 +0000

Stephen will be appearing in The Harmonious Songsmith, a part of the “Celebrating Grainger 2011” series from 17th-20th February 2011 at Kings Place, London.

50 years after his death, the virtuoso pianist and composer Percy Grainger (1882-1961) is emerging as one of the most revolutionary cultural figures of the 20th century. Come and discover the joy of his music and some of its background in more than 120 works – a spectacular four days you will not forget.
Penelope Thwaites, Artistic Director

Song Workshop at Ansells Farm, Saturday November 27th 2010

Tom Goskar — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 22:08:47 +0000

Our next song workshop at Ansells Farm has the theme “Comedy & Tragedy – The Two Faces of Drama”. This workshop has been postponed from October 2nd until November 27th due to circumstances beyond our control.

Contact Stephen Varcoe (stephen@varcoe.com) to book a place. Find out more about our Song Workshops.

Ansells Music Weekend with Stephen & Melinda Varcoe July 2nd – 4th 2010

Tom Goskar — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 22:03:43 +0000

“… your weekends really are the most perfect experiences”…

A quote from one of the letters we received after this, our second annual festival, voted even better than last year’s by participants and audiences. Once again the weather gods were soothed by the prospect of mellifluous music into behaving impeccably, and the sunshine and warmth enhanced our theme of Travel, Holidays and Adventures. Eight students of singing spent all day Saturday, and Sunday morning, in intensive masterclasses with Stephen and accompanist Susi Morrow; then in the evening everyone relaxed, and members of the public joined us to enjoy picnics in the summery garden before two wonderful concerts, given by distinguished guest musicians.

Friday night’s concert, a complete sell-out, was a wonderful treat. Renowned actress Prunella Scales joined Stephen in a programme entitled ‘Travelling Hopefully’, an anthology of words and music from exotic travellers’ tales to hilarious holiday experiences, with songs to match.

‘Travelling Hopefully’, with Prunella Scales, Stephen Varcoe and accompanist Christina Lawrie

On Saturday, brilliant young husband and wife duo Marcus Barcham-Stevens and Christina Lawrie took us (and their violin and piano) round Europe on a musical adventure, and Stephen joined Marcus as narrator for a performance of Alan Ridout’s delightful ‘Ferdinand the Bull’.

The final concert on Sunday afternoon saw our eight singing-workshop participants presenting a varied programme of songs to an enthusiastic audience, followed by tea and homemade cakes in the garden.

Singing workshop participants and musicians

It’s clear that we’ve started a new Alphamstone tradition, and we’re already planning for next year’s festival, when we hope to equal (or even exceed?) this year’s triumph – dates to be announced later!

Song Workshop at Ansells Farm, April 2010

Tom Goskar — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 20:23:24 +0000

We hosted the first Song Workshop of the year on Feb 13th entitled “Love in Adversity”, which was fully subscribed and greatly enjoyed.

The next one is on Apr 24th, exploring songs by composers with significant anniversaries this year – Mahler, Wolf and Barber among others. Contact Stephen (stephen@varcoe.com) to book a place. Find out more about our Song Workshops.

Then ADVANCE NOTICE, a date for the diary! Our Ansells Summer Music weekend this year runs from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon 2nd – 4th July. More details soon, but places for eight singers to work with Stephen towards presenting a short concert before an audience on the Sunday afternoon.