Are you interested in playing wind music?  Do you play a wind instrument and would like to meet up with others to do so?  Would you like to improve your technique, interpretative skills or ensemble playing?  Are you organising an event requiring an experienced and professional adjudicator?  Do you organise or take part in an ensemble or chamber group, and need further inspiration regarding repertoire?  Is there repertoire for other combinations of instruments that you would like arranged for yours?  Does your group need a conductor or music director, whether on a permanent or ad hoc basis?  Are you in need of an original speaker for an event that requires humour, interest and a fund of fascinating stories?  

Kerry Camden is well known as a distinguished bassoonist, teacher, wind tutor, conductor, adjudicator and arranger.  In addition, he is a well-known organiser and/or director of various opportunities for playing wind music, particularly wind chamber music.  Below are mentioned some of these opportunities, which may interest you and in which you may wish to join.  Alternatively, contact us for information about other opportunities or if you are interested in suggesting or creating further such opportunities.

For further information on specific music courses, especially residential courses, click on   Berwang Holiday Music Course or Other Music Courses, including a new spring music/wine long weekend in the Mosel valley for 16th-19th May 2008 and 24th-27th October 2008, and a Tyrolean winter ski/music holiday for late January 2009.  Alternatively, click on Music Diary for a list of current music activities which may still have available places.  

In addition to the above-mentioned courses, Kerry is also involved in other opportunities for playing wind music. 

For example, Kerry Camden is the permanent conductor of the Letchworth Sinfonia; Whiteacre Winds (Fulbourn, near Cambridge); and the Brookfield Ensemble (based at Brentwood in Essex).  The Whiteacre Winds and Brookfield Ensemble are examples of groups who organise a regular series of wind playing weekends, which Kerry directs.  These wind playing sessions cover a wide range of repertoire, including octets, nonets, decets (with contrabassoon or string bass), not forgetting the larger scale masterpieces, such as the Dvořák Serenade (opus 44); Richard Strauss' Serenade (opus 7) and Suite (opus 4); and the Grand Partita for 13 Wind by Mozart (K361).  

Kerry also directs an annual workshop weekend (now in its 17^th year) studying the Sonatina and Symphony for Winds by Richard Strauss.  These two, large-scale works (namely, 'The Invalids Workshop' and 'The Happy Workshop') are very demanding and substantial pieces.  They were each written for exactly the same combination of instruments: two each of flute, oboe, B flat clarinet and bassoon; clarinet in C; basset horn; bass clarinet; contrabassoon and four horns!  These two Richard Strauss works are only available on hire, so the players always start equal at these workshops, since no-one can obtain their part for prior practice! 

Kerry also has substantial experience as a music judge or adjudicator, in adjudicating at music festivals and competitions.  As someone with over 40 years' experience as a professional bassoonist, as an orchestral player, soloist and member of many well-known chamber ensembles, Kerry is able to pass on constructive help and advice on all aspects of performance.  However, Kerry is not only a professional bassoonist but also spent many years studying the clarinet, with which he originally gained entrance to the Royal College of Music (RCM), and this background is also of great value to his work in this area.  Kerry also has intimate knowledge of other instruments, especially as he was brought up in a household of instrumentalists (both string and wind players), including his late brother Anthony Camden, the distinguished oboist.  Furthermore, having completed over 40 years' teaching, both at the RCM and privately, Kerry brings a wealth of experience to support his adjudications.

This variety of experience and the calibre of those with whom he has collaborated mean that Kerry is a humorous and lively speaker.  He has a very entertaining fund of stories for illustrating talks and speeches suitable for almost any occasion.  These stories range from those about Sir Thomas Beecham through to accounts of his taking part in the music for the James Bond movies (under the baton of John Barrie), or from playing on ice, with John Currie whizzing past on skates, through to investitures at Buckingham Palace or cup finals at Wembley Stadium!!

Also well-known as a teacher, especially as Professor of bassoon at the Royal College of Music in London (1964-2001), Kerry has a variety of private pupils, from children to senior adults, to whom he teaches the bassoon.  Past pupils include:  Principal of the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam); Principal of the BBC Philharmonic; players in the Philharmonia; BBC Symphony; and the Welsh and Scottish Opera orchestras; and many others in different parts of the world.  Teaching can take place at any mutually convenient venue; home visits are undertaken.

Kerry is also a music arranger: in view of the relative dearth of available music suitable for, particularly, larger wind chamber groups, Kerry has, for many years, arranged well-established orchestral works for various configurations.  These arrangements are especially of works by composers who did not write ensemble music for wind alone, which adds interest and a diversification of styles of available repertoire.  Some examples of arrangements he has available for groups engaging him as (permanent or temporary) conductor/tutor include:

Danse Macabre by Saint-Saens (for double wind quintet);

Masques et Bergamasques by Faure (also for double wind quintet);

Adagio & Rondo by Mozart (for double wind quartet);

Siegfried Idyll by Wagner (for double wind quintet plus string bass);

and many others either 'under construction' or 'under consideration for construction' - watch this space!!

For further details or to discuss ideas/your requirements for other music activities, please telephone Kerry on +44 (0)1923-263715 or e-mail him at info@musicholiday.com.