Our vocal team is brought together by the world famous choral leader and TV personality Gareth Malone.
His experience in leading vocal courses for adults and children alike is world renowned. His infectious enthusiasm, creativity and expertise inspires all who work with him and this year he will be joined by Swingle Singer Imogen Parry, choral leader Laurel Neighbour and pianist and composer Harry Baker.
More information on our faculty can be found here.
This 7 day course that will sharpen your vocal skills, deepen your musical interpretation, and teach invaluable ensemble skills. We’ll be tackling a range of vocal styles through classical, close harmony, pop, as well as working with the VIMA string orchestra. Each day will feature games, creative work, vocal technique exercises, guided rehearsals, and ensemble practice.
To be accepted onto the course you will need to be able to read music to around grade 5 standard in order to be able to enjoy and benefit from the tuition. You do not need to be a trained singer to apply. The course will culminate in a final concert, giving everyone a chance to develop and to shine.
A typical day will begin with fun physical warmups, a detailed vocal warmup, and games to get your brain going. We’ll learn a variety of workshop songs to get you in the zone for singing. After that we’ll split into smaller groups for focussed group work on repertoire before joining together for the main choir before lunch.
Afternoons include social time and an opportunity to rotate between tutors to work on different skills. There’ll be an emphasis on working together to produce better sound, individual work on voice and posture, performance skills, and interacting with audiences.
We’ll then join together with the VIMA string players to rehearse music for the end of week concert. We’ll be learning in a fun, supportive and unpressured environment that is bespoke and tailored to the young singers. Singers will be singing in front to each other all day and building confidence and skills through the week.
Location
Virtuoso International Music Academy is held at Winchester College.
Its spectacular medieval buildings of Winchester College have been used as locations for many movies including Tom Hooper’s Les Misérables (2012) featuring Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe.
The College consists of 94 listed buildings, set in grounds of 250 acres, of which 100 acres are water meadows, 52 acres are playing fields, and 11 acres are formal gardens. The music school has been extended in a beautiful modern style with Steinway pianos and an organ in the concert hall.
Cost
Course fee for 7 days is £2500.
Please contact info@vima.org.uk for further information.
For students struggling to pay for the course we can offer a bursary of up to £1000 per student dependent on financial circumstances.
Please write to info@vima.org.uk for more information.
Once the limited number of places on the course are filled, then the application process will be closed.
This does not include travel to/from Winchester.
The fee is payable within two weeks of acceptance onto the course. If payment is not received by this time, the place will be forfeited.
If you require a delay in the fee payment, please write to info@vima.org.uk explaining the reasons and requested timescale for payment and we will advise whether we can hold the place for you.
For families with a combined annual income of less than £50k we can offer a bursary of up to £500 per student.
Please write to info@vima.org.uk for more information.
Dates
Course dates are 3rd – 9th August 2025.
Arrival for students is 10am on the morning of Sunday 3rd August.
Course ends after the final concert on Saturday 9th.
If students require accommodation before or after the course, please contact info@vima.org.uk to discuss options.
Although we cannot accommodate any adults on this course there is a wonderful array of hotels in and around Winchester.
hotels winchester – Google Search should you wish to enjoy this historic town while your child/student is resident on the course.
