Term 2 starts on Monday next, 11 January, with other class nights on 18 & 25 January; 1, 8 & 22 February and 1, 8, 15 & 22 March. That’s a total of 10 class nights, same as last year’s Term 2 and the same as this year’s Term 1. As in Term 1, most lessons will be recordings released through the student section of the Club’s website, with more than a third of the total delivered live through Zoom. The big innovation for Term 2 is that we are able to provide more support and attention to students by offering extra small group or one-to-one Zoom tuition on nights other than Monday. These short “clinic” sessions are designed to provide learners with personally tailored guidance – it might be around a technical problem such as tuning or maintaining the instrument, or it might be extra help with the trickier parts of a tune. We will circulate everyone who registers for Term 2 with details of how to book these special sessions.
It will take a little while to update every class page with the Term 2 timetable, but that should be complete by Friday. Notices will then go out for the first round of Zoom classes.
Term 2 will also feature monthly Fonn Friday concerts and master classes with leading lights from the world of traditional music. The first of these, on 22 January, features Niall Vallely and Karan Casey, and we have other big names lined up for the following five months.
REGISTRATION
For returning students, the procedure is very simple – click on this link.
For new students, please go here.
The cost for Term 2 is the same as for Term 1, that is, £100 for one student; £175 for two from the same household; £225 for three, and £275 for four or more. Payment can be made by bank transfer or through the website. Your log-in credentials remain valid so long as payment is received by 29 January.
Term 3, from Easter to mid-June, will as in previous years be free of charge for anyone who has signed up for Term 1 and/or Term 2. We aren’t making any definite plans for it just yet, because with the roll-out of the vaccine programme we may dare to think of a return to some face-to-face teaching, and possibly some public performance. We only just got the 2020 Annual Concert under the wire before the March lockdown, but if there is to be a 2021 one, it could only be in the third term, and then only if we are convinced that our audiences and our children will be safe.
We are grateful for the continuing support of our funders, especially the National Lottery through the Arts Council, the Heritage Fund, and Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council.
Here’s hoping that as 2021 advances, we will regain our cherished freedoms to meet, embrace one another and make music together!
Happy New Year from Armagh Pipers Club!