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CAMBRIDGE GUITAR WEEKEND – COURSE OVERVIEW

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The Course

The Cambridge Guitar Weekend is an annual event on the first weekend in October. It offers a weekend of ensemble playing for classical guitarists of all ages and abilities. It is however, not suitable for complete beginners. A focal point of the weekend will be the guitar orchestra but there will also be coaching for smaller ensembles such as guitar duo and trio. For applicants without a playing partner there will be an opportunity to form a duo etc and suitable pairings can be organised in advanced of the course. The weekend culminates with a students’ concert on Sunday afternoon.

Full details of this year's course are here: http://www.cgo.org.uk/cgw-details.php .


Orchestra Rehearsal

All music required for the orchestra and small ensembles (where requested) will be made available one month before the course allowing some advance preparation to be made. Existing duo partnerships (or larger groups) attending the course may offer their own repertoire. The course fee also includes admission to the concert on Saturday evening.




Musical Director and Tutors



Valérie Hartzell and the Two Peters (Peter Nuttall is seated on the left, Peter Rueffer on the right)

Valérie Hartzell is Musical Diretor of the CGW, as well as being one of the Tutors. Valérie is of course also Musical Director of the Cambridge Guitar Orchestra and you can read more about her here: http://cgo.org.uk/home/our-musical-director/.

Apart from her work with CGW and CGO, she teaches and performs widely, and directs the Classical Minds guitar festival in the USA. (For full details, visit her web site: http://www.valeriehartzell.co.uk/ )

Peter Rueffer has a wide experience in the field of guitar ensemble ranging from duo partnerships with guitarists Jason Carter, Nick Hunt, Jeff Rodrigues and Gerard Cousins to being a member of ensembles such as the London Guitar Orchestra and the contemporary music group Omega. He is best known however, through his work with the Pro Arte Guitar Trio, a group he co-founded in 1987. With the trio he has recorded five CDs, undertaken several European tours and performed throughout the UK including many recitals at London’s Purcell Room and Wigmore Hall.

His work as an arranger is well known and his settings for guitar orchestra were awarded the arranger's prize at the biennial National Guitar Orchestra Competition on three successive occasions in 1998, 2000 and 2002.

He is the founder and director of the Dillington Guitar Summer School & Festival, an event devoted entirely to the guitar ensemble and which is now in it’s 15th year. He was musical director of the Cambridge Guitar Orchestra from 1996 until 2017, when he handed over to Valérie.

Peter Nuttall is an experienced teacher and a well-known composer of guitar music for students. He gained an open scholarship to Oxford University in 1968, and after graduating with honours he trained as a secondary school teacher. He moved to Northampton to work as a peripatetic guitarist for the education authority, and then as a private guitar teacher.

At that time there was a scarcity of attractive and accessible music for students. This led Peter to begin composing music that his students found enjoyable and playable even with a limited technique. Peter wrote and published the first versions of what eventually became “The Guitarist’s Way” series. At that time they were just called “The Peter Nuttall guitar books” (five volumes). Later John Whitworth worked with him to transform them into the very popular“Guitarist’s Way” series in four volumes.

It is Peter’s ability to take simple material and create attractive and accessible “guitaristic” gems that has made his music so popular with students around the world. His music has been recorded and is often used in festivals and competitions.

Recently he worked on the jury of the Bad Nauheim GOFI (Guitar Orchestra Festival International) contest.

Buckden Towers


The Main Building

Buckden Towers is of considerable architectural and historical interest being first mentioned in the Domesday Survey of 1086 when it was described as a manor belonging to the Bishop of Lincoln. Between the 12th and 15th centuries the site was further developed and while several buildings from this period, including the Great Tower and the Inner Gate House have survived, most of estate dates from the 1870s and is the work of the fashionable Victorian architect Col. Sir Robert Edis.



The Old Gatehouse

Located in the lovely village of Buckden close to the A1 and just south of the interchange with the A14, Buckden Towers is easily accessible from East Anglia, the Midlands and South Yorkshire and is approximately one hour from North London and the M25. The House is in the village centre and there are Georgian Inns within 150 metres.
Visit The Claret Centre for further information on Buckden Towers.

Saturday Concert

Valérie Hartzell will perform a solo programme on Saturday, Sept 30 at 8pm with works by Dumigan, Houghton, Ponce, Tarrega, Ibbotson, and Dyens. At the end of the programme, the CGW Trio (Valérie & the 2 Peters) will perform a Brian Wilson arrangement of "The warmth of the sun"





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