The Score Lines Consort Course at Cannington Court, Somerset
Tuesday 6th - Friday 9th May 2025
Cannington Court, Church Street, Cannington, Bridgwater, Somerset, TA5 2HA
For fifteen years I ran a successful recorder consort course at Dillington House, near Ilminster, which was attended by recorder players from all over the UK. Sadly Dillington House closed in September 2023, so I’ve taken on the administration as well as the tutoring and found a wonderful new venue, not far away. We held a successful first course at Cannington Court in May 2024 and our course dates are now confirmed for 2025. Bookings will open in November 2024 - in the meantime you’ll find everything you need to know about the Score Lines Consort Course below. If you’d like to be among the first to hear about our plans for 2025 please scroll to the bottom of the page where you can subscribe to the course mailing list.
The playing level
The Score Lines Consort Course is aimed at players at the upper end of the intermediate range, allowing us the opportunity to explore a varied selection of repertoire from the Renaissance to the present day. The standard of music will be on the more challenging side, but it will always be fun and the tutoring will be unfailingly good-humoured, even if there are occasional wrong notes! To give you an idea of the level, recent repertoire has included Byrd’s The Leaves be Green, Bach’s Orchestral Suite No.3, John Hawkes’ Silver Suite and Purcell’s Chacony.
Players should be confident sight readers, comfortable holding a musical line on their own and able to play at least two different sizes of recorder.
The recorder consort
We’ll play as one large, conducted consort throughout the course. We’ll explore a variety of music, including works from throughout the recorder’s history and using the full range of instruments, from the contrabass upwards. The final music choice will be fine tuned to suit the players who book to attend the course, but will include repertoire from William Byrd, J.S.Bach and Rosemary Robinson.
Please bring along all your recorders and you’ll have ample opportunity to swap between instruments during the course.
Student numbers are limited to 22 residential places.
The timetable
Students are welcome to arrive at Cannington Court from 5pm on Monday 6th May, to settle into their rooms before dinner at 6.15pm. Our first playing session commences after dinner on the first evening.
Tuesday and Wednesday feature five or six playing sessions of 75 minutes, with a free period on Wednesday for relaxation or exploration of the local area. The Walled Gardens at Cannington Court will be open at this time if you wish to visit them.
Our final day has two playing sessions in the morning, followed by lunch and farewells. The draft timetable can be found here.
Our venue
Once a Benedictine Priory, Cannington Court was first established by the De Courcy family in about 1138. Since the Dissolution of the Monasteries it has been used for many purposes, but today the historic buildings are used by EDF Energy as a conference centre. The Grade I listed buildings have been adapted and added to over the centuries and it is now a very comfortable place to work and learn. Our playing room will be in the Priory Barn, close to the Brassage, Cannington Court’s excellent restaurant, where we’ll enjoy all our meals. The accommodation is in modern, en-suite bedrooms in the Priory Lodge, and all the buildings are within one compact courtyard. The bar will be open in the Brassage in the evenings.
Cannington Court is easily accessed from the A39, and is about a fifteen minute drive from the M5 motorway. Bridgwater station is a ten minute taxi ride away. Parking (with the exception of disabled parking) is limited on site, but course members can drop off their cases and instruments before taking their vehicles to Cannington Court’s own Park and Ride car park nearby. From here there is a complimentary shuttle bus to return you to the site and back again at the end of the course. Click here for more information about travelling to Cannington Course.
How much will the course cost?
To join the course, staying on site in one of Cannington Court’s comfortable en-suite bedrooms with all tuition and meals included, the cost for 2025 is £565. There are also a limited number of non-residential places available at £330 - this provides you with all tuition, and meals except for breakfast.
Are you raring to come and join me at Cannington Court?
Bookings for our 2025 course will open in November 2024. Members of the Score Lines Consort Course mailing list will receive early notification about exactly when bookings open.
If you’d like to join my Score Lines Courses mailing list and be among the first to hear about future courses, please complete the form below. Your personal details will never be shared with anyone else and you won’t receive more than two or three email messages each year about these events.