Norfolk County Music Festival

Registered Charity number 1081411
Affiliated to the British Federation of Festivals for Music, Dance and Speech
Festival Administrator: 01508 493629 (office hours only Mon - Fri)
E-mail: ncmfestival@aol.com

President Paul Harris ARAM GRSM LRAM ARCM MTC Hon TCL

Last updated: January 2010

The Norfolk County Music Festival (affiliated to the British Federation of Festivals for Music, Dance and Speech) aims to raise the standard of amateur music making by giving its practitioners the opportunity to perform in public and under concert conditions. The performer can hear fellow performers and obtain a detailed assessment of their work from a wide range of professional adjudicators who are practising professional musicians in their own right.

The Festival was founded in 1925 arising from the vision of Arthur Shorten, one of the two Members of Parliament for Norwich. Mr Shorten's name lives on through the award of the Shorten Cup and the cash prizes each year, kindly donated by his daughter.

It is truly an open Festival - the only requirement being that amateur status is observed. Schools, colleges, groups of musicians and individuals and families of all ages enter. There are classes for practically all types of musical instruments, combinations of instruments and types of music. It is not a competition as there are no prizewinners (and therefore no losers) but is an opportunity for these musicians to enter designated classes to be judged by professional and specialist musicians. As such, all entrants are awarded a certificate with classifications according to merit.

Entries closed for 2010

Please note that entries for the Festival in 2010 have now closed - please bookmark this site for 2011.

Syllabus: Please Note

Set music for class B3, School choirs two part singing, is quite challenging. In view of the fact that many schools have limited rehearsal time, it would be quite acceptable to modify or simplify the second part.

Alternatively, you may wish to use another edition with a more straightforwad second part.

Our overriding wish is to encourage children to enjoy part singing.

The Shorten Ensemble Class

This is a prestigious class for Instrumentalists or Singers of 18 years and under. Over the past few years entry numbers have significantly declined and there has been a strong dominance of brass and woodwind entries.

In order to encourage as wide a range as possible which reflect the full scope of the festival, the following changes are being introduced for 2010.

There are four categories for entry:

a. Brass and Saxophone
b. Woodwind
c. Strings
d. Vocal or any combination (eg Brass and Strings)

The total prize money of £200 will be divided so that the winning performance for each group will receive £50. This will be at the discretion of the adjudicator. The adjudicator will decide which group will receive the Shorten Cup.

What we can offer you

An opportunity to perform in public.
An opportunity to perform in front of a specialist adjudicator and an informal and sympathetic audience.
An opportunity to hear alternative interpretations of the same music and speech.
An opportunity to learn how to improve your own performance.
An opportunity to learn from the advice given to other performers.
An opportunity for teachers and participants to extend their teaching and learning techniques.

Remember

Taking part in our Festival is not an exam. The adjudicators can give a broader overview of the performance and provide instant feedback.

The Norfolk County Music Festival exists solely to promote, to encourage and to support performers.

We want you to enjoy taking part, feel stimulated and hope fully inspired by the experience of performing before some of the top professional people in the country who are acting as adjudicators for our Festival.