Oundle International Festival
Encyclopedia
The Oundle International Festival (OIF) is a music festival and organ school held in Oundle
, England
.
of Denmark
and installed in Oundle School
Chapel. A concurrent festival programme for the general public was also planned as a recurrent feature of the enterprise. Thus, every July OIF has welcomed up to 60 young organists each year, in the age range 14 to 24. An international team of distinguished organists is engaged to provide intensive coaching.
The Festival and Summer School at inception were part of, and supported by, Oundle School
, but since 1995 OIF has been an independent company limited by guarantee, and a registered charity. It has a Management Committee of eight, which meets three times a year.
organ scholarships (an average of 80% per year of those attending the Prospective Organ Scholars course), and in performing public recitals at prestigious venues arranged by OIF.
OIF’s Pulling Out the Stops course is targeted at recruiting beginner organists in the age range 9 to 14. Leading figures have commented that OIF has done much to address the well publicised dearth of those prepared to learn and play the organ in churches.
Since July 2002 the Prospective Organ Scholars course has been separated from the main summer school in Oundle
and now takes place in Cambridge
and Oxford
in alternate years. The students are accommodated in an Oxbridge College, and thus are given a real boost prior to their all-important organ scholarship examinations in September. They are required to direct, sing and accompany three Evensongs in different college chapels, with Compline on two evenings. Mornings and late evening are taken up with organ tuition and practice, with full access being given to most of the superb college organs in Cambridge
and Oxford
.
and the wider community in this under-provisioned, very rural area. The second aim was to enlighten students attending the concurrent Summer Schools for Young Organists that there are other kinds of music beyond “organ, organ all the time”. Young artists are also encouraged alongside the more established, famous names. For the last years a Festival has been promoted in July, mostly of classical music but with gradual additions over the years, so that the Festival now also encompasses jazz, open-air theatre and various kinds of exhibition, town walks etc. It is seen as a success, with audience numbers increasing year on year.
In 2007 the Festival undertook a community opera for the first time, with three performances of Tobias and the Angel by Jonathan Dove. It was very successful, with three choruses of local people (one comprising around 40 local primary schoolchildren), celebrated professional opera singers and a small orchestra of professional musicians. In addition many local people were involved in costume-making, set design and build and much else.
Concerts are also now promoted at other times of the year, under the Festival banner. ‘Music in Quiet Places’ serves the local community by bringing a series of professional concerts to rural villages in May and June.
Since 1994 a fundraising jazz & firework concert has been held on Oundle School
playing fields, which has become the highlight of the year in this small market town, attracting an audience of up to 5,000 from all over the Midlands.
Oundle
Oundle is an ancient market town on the River Nene in Northamptonshire, England, with a population of 5,345 or 5,674 . It lies some north of London and south-west of Peterborough...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Background
Oundle International Festival (OIF) was founded in 1985, with the training of young organists as its core component. The summer schools were to be centred upon a new organ, built by FrobeniusFrobenius Orgelbyggeri
-History:Frobenius Orgelbyggeri was founded in Copenhagen by Theodor Frobenius in 1909. The firm moved to Lyngby in 1925. Theodor's sons Walther and Erik joined the company in 1944, at the same time that they began to build organs in the classical tradition, with mechanical actions and slider...
of Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
and installed in Oundle School
Oundle School
Oundle School is a co-educational British public school located in the ancient market town of Oundle in Northamptonshire. The school has been maintained by the Worshipful Company of Grocers of the City of London since its foundation in 1556. Oundle has eight boys' houses, five girls' houses, a day...
Chapel. A concurrent festival programme for the general public was also planned as a recurrent feature of the enterprise. Thus, every July OIF has welcomed up to 60 young organists each year, in the age range 14 to 24. An international team of distinguished organists is engaged to provide intensive coaching.
The Festival and Summer School at inception were part of, and supported by, Oundle School
Oundle School
Oundle School is a co-educational British public school located in the ancient market town of Oundle in Northamptonshire. The school has been maintained by the Worshipful Company of Grocers of the City of London since its foundation in 1556. Oundle has eight boys' houses, five girls' houses, a day...
, but since 1995 OIF has been an independent company limited by guarantee, and a registered charity. It has a Management Committee of eight, which meets three times a year.
Education for young organists
OIF is recognised worldwide as the leading provider of organ tuition in a non-competitive environment. As indicators of the success achieved on one level, we can point to the outstanding success of OIF students in gaining OxbridgeOxbridge
Oxbridge is a portmanteau of the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge in England, and the term is now used to refer to them collectively, often with implications of perceived superior social status...
organ scholarships (an average of 80% per year of those attending the Prospective Organ Scholars course), and in performing public recitals at prestigious venues arranged by OIF.
OIF’s Pulling Out the Stops course is targeted at recruiting beginner organists in the age range 9 to 14. Leading figures have commented that OIF has done much to address the well publicised dearth of those prepared to learn and play the organ in churches.
Since July 2002 the Prospective Organ Scholars course has been separated from the main summer school in Oundle
Oundle
Oundle is an ancient market town on the River Nene in Northamptonshire, England, with a population of 5,345 or 5,674 . It lies some north of London and south-west of Peterborough...
and now takes place in Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
and Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
in alternate years. The students are accommodated in an Oxbridge College, and thus are given a real boost prior to their all-important organ scholarship examinations in September. They are required to direct, sing and accompany three Evensongs in different college chapels, with Compline on two evenings. Mornings and late evening are taken up with organ tuition and practice, with full access being given to most of the superb college organs in Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
and Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
.
Festival
The Festival was founded with two aims: foremost was the desire to provide high calibre concerts to serve OundleOundle
Oundle is an ancient market town on the River Nene in Northamptonshire, England, with a population of 5,345 or 5,674 . It lies some north of London and south-west of Peterborough...
and the wider community in this under-provisioned, very rural area. The second aim was to enlighten students attending the concurrent Summer Schools for Young Organists that there are other kinds of music beyond “organ, organ all the time”. Young artists are also encouraged alongside the more established, famous names. For the last years a Festival has been promoted in July, mostly of classical music but with gradual additions over the years, so that the Festival now also encompasses jazz, open-air theatre and various kinds of exhibition, town walks etc. It is seen as a success, with audience numbers increasing year on year.
In 2007 the Festival undertook a community opera for the first time, with three performances of Tobias and the Angel by Jonathan Dove. It was very successful, with three choruses of local people (one comprising around 40 local primary schoolchildren), celebrated professional opera singers and a small orchestra of professional musicians. In addition many local people were involved in costume-making, set design and build and much else.
Concerts are also now promoted at other times of the year, under the Festival banner. ‘Music in Quiet Places’ serves the local community by bringing a series of professional concerts to rural villages in May and June.
Since 1994 a fundraising jazz & firework concert has been held on Oundle School
Oundle School
Oundle School is a co-educational British public school located in the ancient market town of Oundle in Northamptonshire. The school has been maintained by the Worshipful Company of Grocers of the City of London since its foundation in 1556. Oundle has eight boys' houses, five girls' houses, a day...
playing fields, which has become the highlight of the year in this small market town, attracting an audience of up to 5,000 from all over the Midlands.