Organ Recital Awards from COfO
What is a Recital Award?
A Recital Award is an opportunity for our students to perform a public organ recital themselves. We partner with a number of churches and cathedrals around the UK, who offer the chance for a COfO student to perform, generally in a regular recital series.
Who are the Awards for?
COfO courses are non-competitive. We aim to help you succeed by assessing your standard, progress, and potential, building on your strengths and helping you address weaknesses. Recital Awards are offered to those students, at the right stage of their study, whom tutors feel might benefit from the experience of preparing for public performance,
Usually, we offer these awards provisionally to most of our students. This is because we understand that a student’s regular tutor may have plans for study that would be compromised by recital preparation. In some cases, a teacher may feel that a recital would be counterproductive to progress, or parents may not be happy for a student to undertake a public performance yet. Even if you have left school we would urge you to have a chat with your teacher before accepting; your overall musical development is more important at this stage than any one recital.
How Do They Work?
We write to you and, if applicable, your parents and tutor about your provisional award. Assuming that your teachers and parents are happy, it will then be up to you to contact the venue we have assigned to you, saying that you are the recipient of this year’s Creative Oundle for Organists recital award. We no longer automatically give your contact details to venues, due to Data Protection issues, but if you would like to us to make the initial contact on your behalf, then we can do this once we have permission to share your details.
The next step is to work out a mutually convenient time for the recital to take place. It does not have to be within the next year necessarily, if a date can’t be found that suits. It is also advisable to discuss any programme requirements.
We at COfO bow out of the process at this stage, unless you are having difficulty or need advice. Do get in touch with us if you don’t receive a response from the venue, for example; we’re always happy to help if need be. Emails regarding recitals awards should be sent to courses@oundlecreative.co.uk or Ann Elise at annelise@creativeoundle.co.uk
Travel costs
Students and any accompanying adults are responsible for their own travel costs. However, if the cost of travel makes it prohibitive for you to accept a recital, please contact us. We can help!
How else can we support you?
Good preparation for a recital is obviously crucial. We provide our students with advice about programme planning and about liaising with venues in a professional manner.
Safeguarding
If you are under 18, some venues may insist that you be accompanied by an adult, due to safeguarding rules. That is something you will need to ascertain upon contacting the venue. COfO also makes no guarantees regarding safeguarding status at these venues, although they all should have robust policies in place. If you have questions or concerns, you should contact the venue directly about their safeguarding policy.