Play ON: Victoria Wood Foundation bursaries for students and recent graduates

Wednesday, March 16, 2022

We are excited to announce a new student-bursary programme, funded by a grant from the Victoria Wood Foundation. The Play ON project will provide bursary-funded places on our London weekend rehearsal courses in 2022 and 2023 to current conservatoire students and young professional players, particularly those who graduated during the pandemic.

Over the course of six decades many, many thousands of players have directly benefitted from Rehearsal Orchestra’s work and virtually every professional orchestra in the UK includes musicians whom we have helped excel in their playing, creating an impact on the musical culture nationwide which belies the modest size of our charity.

Even without a bursary, all places on our courses are heavily subsidised to enable as many players as possible to benefit from the opportunities on offer. Students and young professional musicians in particular benefit from having access to the Rehearsal Orchestra as a training and development resource. In addition to enhancing their orchestral skills, courses also offer young players a chance to network with their peers as well as with more experienced players.

The pandemic severely restricted young musicians’ opportunities for gaining orchestral experience and collaborating with others. At the same time, they were among those most adversely impacted financially by the pandemic, most having received no, or very little, Government assistance to replace lost freelance income from performing and teaching.

The Play ON project tackles these problems by offering fully-funded bursary places on our weekend courses in 2022 and 2023. Each bursary also includes a travel allowance. To apply to take part in the project, please email the Administrator, with Play ON in the subject line, and attach a brief CV.

Play ON continues Rehearsal Orchestra’s long-standing commitment to supporting young orchestral players as they move into the profession, by offering valuable and, no less importantly, enjoyable experience. We are indebted to the Victoria Wood Foundation for their support for this venture.

Rehearsal Orchestra is committed to encouraging equality, diversity and inclusion.

 

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