We are delighted to be welcoming back the British BMG Federation for their 2025 Summer School. Choose from 3 courses – Classic Finger-style 5-string Banjo with Danielle Saxon Reeves; The Art of Playing in Ensemble with Roland Gallery; Traditional Music from the British Isles for Mixed Instruments with Nigel Gatherer – and let us know your choice when booking.
Who is it for?
Three courses are on offer; please let us know when booking which course you would like to enroll on.
Danielle Saxon Reeves: Finger-style 5-string Banjo
This course will be open to all abilities, from beginners with a sound basic knowledge of the instrument as well as more experienced players of any banjo, as long as the instrument is played with the fingers (rather than picks or plectrum). Basic notation and chord reading will be required; help can be provided with different reading abilities. We’ll use standard notation and chord symbols; music will have different difficulty levels. We will concentrate on improving confidence, technique, rhythm and tone. There will be opportunities to share challenges and discuss how to deal with them, and where we can explore our approach to practice, learning and playing. Ensemble playing and accompaniment will be covered to encourage engagement with different musical styles, other instruments and musical formats. Music will be provided, but students are welcome to bring along pieces they can already play or that they’re currently working on.
Roland Gallery: The Art of Playing in Ensemble
The course will cover a variety of music styles including Baroque and is suitable for intermediate to advanced players of any instrument in the mandolin family and guitar (including bass). Music reading skills will be required and music will be available beforehand. The primary focus of sessions will be to prepare ensemble pieces for performance, and during the classes there will be guidance, advice and instruction on most aspects of playing and performance. Topics to be covered will be warm-up exercises, technical improvement and maintenance, reading at sight, how to rehearse and work effectively in ensemble, projection and tone production, soloing and accompanying, interpretation, how to practise efficiently, and harmonic analysis where useful and appropriate.
Nigel Gatherer: Traditional Music from the British Isles for Mixed Instruments
An exploration of traditional music and song from England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. This course is open to all instruments and levels of experience. We’ll learn pieces and collaboratively arrange the music in interesting and exciting ways using harmony and dynamics. It’s not about individual musicians, but what we can achieve as a group. Music will be available beforehand in the form of notation, tablature and chords.
If you have further queries about course content and the ability level required for each group, please contact:
BMG Federation course co-ordinator Sandra Woodruff, email [email protected]
The Tutors
Danielle Saxon Reeves is a fretted instrument specialist playing Guitar, Banjo and Mandolin; with a particular personal interest in the music of the 19th century : the Early Romantic Guitar, the Classical Mandolin and the Classic Fingerstyle Banjo . Having previously studied with Craig Ogden and Mark Ashford, she then graduated from Birmingham Conservatoire in June 2001. Danielle has performed at a wide range of UK venues and festivals including at Art in Action, St David’s Cathedral Festival, The Royal Festival Hall at The South Bank; The Bolivar Hall, London; the CBSO centre in Birmingham, the Royal Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool and Birmingham Town Hall; at York Guitar Festival, Bath Banjo Festival, Droitwich Festival, Jane Austen Festival, Bath; Hagley Music Festival and numerous appearances on BBC Radio and Television both as a soloist and with various ensembles.
Roland Gallery is a leading player in the field of guitar chamber music, for ten years Roland was leader of the English Guitar Quartet; he currently leads the Segovia Trio, which he founded in 1986. With Roland Chadwick and Vincent Lindsey-Clark, he formed the Modern Guitar Trio in 1999 to perform exclusively works written by the performers in the group. He is a frequent performer in various ensembles with flute, voice and string quartets, and has recorded Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Roland has played at London’s major concert halls including Wigmore Hall, the Royal Albert Hall, the Barbican and Southbank Centre. He has toured Hungary, Israel, Australia, Canada and Germany. In 2004, at the invitation of the Venezuelan embassy, he gave a series of recitals and workshops in Venezuela. Well known as an arranger, Roland has produced over 300 arrangements and transcriptions, mostly for guitar ensemble and ranging from student repertoire to concert material. Over the years, he has worked with many composers to enrich the repertoire of the guitar. Those that have specially written works for him include Martyn Brabbins, Tim Brady, Jim Harley, Štěpán Rak, Jeffrey Sharkey, Roger Steptoe, Antonín Tučapský and Arthur Wills. Over the last few years Roland has broadcast live on BBC Radio 2, 3, 4, and Classic FM and appeared on television. He has worked regularly with the Royal Ballet and has appeared with them at the Royal Opera House, on tour and on film.
Nigel Gatherer has been involved in the traditional music of Scotland for 25 years as a collector, a player and a teacher. In 1985 he published his first book, Songs and Ballads of Dundee. Since then he has published several collections of fiddle tunes.
In the 1990s he started teaching mandolin with the Scots Music Group, and today he is in great demand all over Scotland, working with projects in Glasgow, East Kilbride, Lochgoilhead and Crieff. Nigel is also an experienced session player, often asked to lead slow sessions for festivals and events. He plays in a mandolin/guitar duet with Sam Gifford; based in Perthshire, they play concerts, castles and private functions.
The British BMG Federation aims to promote the performance and education of banjo, mandolin and guitar. It is committed to creating educational opportunities for players of all ages to learn and improve on their chosen instruments through running workshops and courses and advertising courses run by other individuals and organisations.
The Summer School is a major event in the BMG calendar; this is an annual residential weekend that moves around different venues in the UK, offering courses for banjo, mandolin and guitar.