The day will consist of ensemble playing and performance workshops covering a wide variety of musical styles and will finish with an informal concert for both course participants and tutors. If you would like any help with a piece – perhaps something for an upcoming exam, audition or concert – please do bring it along (and the piano part too!). Places are limited and we are anticipating a high demand, so make sure to book your place to ensure you don’t miss out!

Tea and coffee will be provided, and lunch can be pre-booked for a small additional charge.

For those wishing to attend the Saturday workshop and the Sunday concert while making the most of the beautiful Exmoor countryside, there may be accommodation available.

Peter Nichols is a clarinettist and saxophonist. He studied at Oxford University and Trinity College of Music, London. As a soloist and chamber musician he has given live broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM, performed at venues such as the Wigmore Hall and the South Bank as well as in Japan, the USA and throughout Europe. He has also worked with many of Britain’s leading orchestras and in several West End shows, including being a full-time member of the orchestra of The Phantom of the Opera for twenty years. Peter has wide experience of teaching all styles of music and at all levels, including posts at The Royal College of Music Junior Department and at The University of Surrey. He has also been a Woodwind and Diploma Examiner for the Guildhall School of Music and a director of the British Saxophone Congress. He is much in demand for his masterclasses and as an adjudicator both in the UK and abroad.

From early on in her career Margaret Roberts has worked as an accompanist, playing for some of the first BBC Young Musician of the Year competitions. As a music student at Brasenose College, Oxford, she specialised in piano performance and graduated with first class honours before postgraduate study at the Royal College of Music. She has pursued a varied career, teaching piano in school and university music departments, and accompanying young musicians in competitions, auditions and recitals. She has premiered and recorded specially commissioned works, and with The Holywell Ensemble she has performed at major venues including London’s South Bank and the Wigmore Hall. She has toured for the British Council and recorded for the ABRSM graded examinations.