Emily Wilson Clarinettist
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'I learnt how to effectively improvise, and make it sound interesting to the audience'
Top winds 2024 participant, aged 14
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'I most enjoyed meeting other musicians at different levels, and the ensembles'
Top winds 2024 participant, aged 11
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'My child enjoyed the opportunity to play with other musicians, learn new skills and develop technique'
Parent of Top winds 2024 participant
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'A huge thankyou to Emily and Jenna and the pianist for a fantastic concert. To achieve so much in such a short space of time is fantastic...look forward to next year!'
Parent of Top winds 2024 participant
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100% of our 2024 students said they would recommend the course to a friend!
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Welcome to Top Winds!
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Following the success of our 2024 Summer School, we are back this year with another course for flute and clarinet students aged 10-14. The course will run from 4th-6th August.
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This three-day course will feature large and small ensembles, jazz workshops and improvisation, composition sessions, and solo-masterclasses. There will also be an opportunity to rehearse and perform with a professional piano accompanist. The course will culminate in an informal concert for friends and family, which will be free to attend.
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This course takes place at Union Chapel, Wellington Road, Fallowfield, Manchester, M14 6EQ. It will run from 10.30-3.30 every day. Students will be asked to bring a packed lunch.
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The cost of the course is £150. We are offering a 10% early bird discount for applications and deposits entered before the 4th April. Sibling discounts are available, and we offer bursaries for anyone struggling to afford costs.
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You must have your own instrument and already be having lessons. You do not need to have taken Grades, but the ability to read music to a basic level is required.
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Spaces for this course are limited, so book soon to avoid disappointment!
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If you have any questions, please contact us on topwindssummerschool@gmail.com
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Click to visit the Top Winds facebook page
About us
Top Winds founders Emily Wilson and Jenna Thackray met in 2014, whilst studying at the Royal Northern College of Music. In 2016 they co-founded chamber ensemble Salford Keys, and have worked together for many years with the aim of introducing flute and clarinet chamber repertoire to audiences. The duo has performed in numerous concert series across the country with venues including Union Chapel and Kew Gardens in London. They have also performed in residency at Royal Manchester Eye Hospital and curated a woodwind classical concert for children. Emily and Jenna have taught alongside each other at Opera North In-Harmony and Sheffield Music Academy, and formed Top Winds summer school with the aim of bringing young musicians together to make friends through making music, as they did.
Jenna Thackray - Flute Tutor
Jenna Thackray studied at the Royal Northern College of Music, supported by a John Fewkes Instrumental Scholarship, graduating with honours in 2016. Jenna has been fortunate enough to enjoy a varied career as a professional performer in orchestras, shows and sessions, and as a solo and chamber musician. She has performed with Hallé Orchestra, Opera North Orchestra, Manchester Camerata and English Symphony Orchestra.
Alongside her freelance career, Jenna has ten years’ experience as a woodwind teacher and has held tutor posts at Opera North, Birkenhead School and the Flute School (North Wales). She is also a deputy teacher for Junior Royal Northern College of Music, Liverpool Philharmonic and Sheffield Music Academy. Jenna enjoys teaching privately and has launched a concert series in Manchester for students to perform together in ensemble and solo.
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Emily Wilson - Clarinet tutor
Emily graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music Masters programme with Distinction in 2016, under the tutelage of John Bradbury and Lynsey Marsh. Whilst at the RNCM Emily won the Gilbert-Fell prize for contemporary solo performance, a Music at Beaulieu Award and Third Prize in the Virovitica International Clarinet Competition.
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Emily enjoys a huge variety of freelance work. Recent solo engagements include the Copland Clarinet Concerto in Huddersfield Town Hall with Slaithwaite Philharmonic, Weber's Clarinet Concerto No. 1 with Warwickshire Symphony Orchestra, and the world premiere of Andy Fisher's Bass Clarinet Concerto with Southampton Sinfonietta and Chloé Van Soeterstède. As an orchestral musician, Emily does extras work across the UK for the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Ulster Orchestra, Sinfonia Cymru, the Hallé Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
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Emily teaches clarinet at the Manchester Grammar School, Sheffield University and Sheffield Music Academy, where she also conducts the concert band.
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