Three of us – Carole Collins-Biggs, Roger Pinnock and I plus a new friend, viola player Leigh Kennedy from Hastings – are just back from a highly enjoyable string quartet weekend course at Benslow Music. We played together for a total for over 10 hours and benefited from four hours of intensive coaching from four different tutors, each of them excellent in his or her own way. Mostly we concentrated on Haydn Op 42 and Mozart K168 and we all feel that we made a fair bit of progress. The skill, as always, lies in listening to each other and getting it together. Well, we’re more together than we were although that may not be saying much …

Do check out Benslow Music (Hitchin, Hertfordshire) http://www.benslowmusic.org/ where there are courses all year round for all instruments at all levels, along with some singing, theory and appreciation options. The accommodation is more than acceptable (think small student hall of residence or budget hotel) and there’s certainly plenty to eat and lots of interesting people to chat to. Another bonus is beautiful gardens and lots of birds to listen to and watch. This was my second course there and I’m really looking forward to going back in October.
Susan Elkin