The following article appeared in a recent edition of Classical Guitar Magazine:-

Good News for Guitarists

A new guitar orchestra weekend on the eastern side of the country, at Buckden, off the A1 south of Huntingdon. The inaugural weekend took place in early October 2008, organised by Tony Ainsworth, Chairman of the Cambridge Guitar Orchestra, as Administrator and Peter Rueffer, who directs the Cambridge Guitar Orchestra, as Musical Director. Peter founded and directs the Dillington Guitar Summer School, and is particularly well known as founder of the Pro Arte Trio in 1987. He is also recognised as an accomplished arranger, as well as holding teaching posts at Christ’s Hospital School and Anglia Ruskin University.

The course started at 5pm on the Friday and finished after the in-house student concert on Sunday afternoon. It was made up of 5 sessions for guitar orchestra, and also individual coaching throughout Saturday afternoon. Peter Rueffer’s fine arrangement for guitar orchestra of three works by Grieg formed the main focus for the weekend. Richard Hand, member of the Pro Arte trio, joined Peter on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning in providing helpful guidance in the personal coaching sessions, which formed a very valuable part of the weekend programme. Richard, together with his duo partner, Tom Dupre, the Hand Dupre Duo, gave a public concert to a full house on the Saturday evening, with Peter joining them for the final part as the Pro Arte Trio. At the students’ concert on the Sunday afternoon the course participants performed the Grieg pieces to a small audience, and some of the duos played the pieces worked on during the coaching sessions.

The course was held at an atmospheric venue, Buckden Towers, originally built in the 15th century as a Bishop’s Palace with the mediaeval gatehouse and some ancient monastic buildings still in use. The later Victorian house, where most of the bedrooms are located, has been refurbished, and there is a lake and a recently created Elizabethan style knot garden. Buckden Towers is now run as a Christian retreat centre and provides simple twin bed accommodation and home style meals. This weekend gave an excellent opportunity for twenty guitarists to enjoy ensemble guitar playing in a very friendly, inclusive environment. The level of playing ranged from lower intermediate to performance standard and course members came from various parts of the country, including East Anglia, Somerset, Dorset and the North of England. The spirit of the Dillington Guitar Summer School was reproduced in this delightful venue and the same feeling of passion for classical guitar was quite obvious amongst this enthusiastic group of guitarists. It was a surprise and added bonus when Peter Nutall arrived and joined in with us during the Saturday activities, performing an impromptu duet with Peter Rueffer.

Peter and Tony had organised every detail of the course in advance and Tony, helped by his wife, Sue, successfully made sure that the weekend was smooth running. What I felt made the weekend unusual was that participants who did not have a duo partner when registering were offered the chance to be put in touch with other players well before the course started so that they could prepare an agreed piece of music in advance, In this way they were able to benefit more from the private coaching. The other unusual feature of the weekend was that partners/friends were welcome to stay, at a shared room and board price, and join in with meals and evening activities. During the day they had the chance to explore the surrounding countryside and riverside walks near Godmanchester and also the historic village of Buckden with its two Georgian inns, reminders of the heyday of the village when the Great North Road passed through the main street. A particular attraction for the ladies was the well known dress shop just down the road from Buckden Towers. The weekend course will be held again this year from 2nd to 4th October at Buckden. Coaching this year will be by Peter Nutall and Peter Rueffer and the Satturday evening concert will be performed by Fiona Harrison.

Most of those who took part in the first weekend in 2008 have already enrolled a second time, an indication of the success of the initial course. There are a few vacancies so if you would like further details please visit the Cambridge Guitar Orchestra website www.cgo.org.uk and click the Cambridge Guitar Weekend option.

We have already booked the fabulous Eden Stell Duo for 2010!