Former assistant CD, and still singing in the Bass section at Cottontown Chorus, Bolton.
MD to the Mountain Harmony Ladies Chorus, Mold, North Wales.

I had heard about Directors College from within my Chorus at Cottontown and also at Mountain Harmony. I successfully applied to the Harmony Foundation for grant aid, and this was the first time I have attended Directors College.

I enrolled in the "not novice" category

The Midlands was ideal, as the Central location enabled people from far and wide to attend with the least disruption. The Bablake School was an excellent venue, with superb facilities.

The hotel selection was fine. I had a comfortable clean room, and the breakfast was great.

I was a little late arriving on the Friday evening, due to work commitments and the appalling weather on the journey down! I joined mid way through Royce's opening keynote speech.

I joined Cherry Hartshorn's class, and found her to be a very enthusiastic and committed coach. She displayed kindness, had a very pleasant air, and gave me many positive things to think about.

The video review I felt was a little "tame", as we were in a group, and clearly it would not have been suitable for course members to make open criticism or essay on other team member's video performances.

We were invited and encouraged to observe, analyse, and feedback only positive comments. I felt personally that a "one to one" approach with my coach here would have benefited me at this point, as I wanted to know straight up front how she saw my performance, and be clear and critical on what key improvement areas I should concentrate on as soon as the course started. I had some specific questions to ask, but conditions in the group session were not quite conducive for this.

The sessions were designed to be crucial to our personal development as directors, and although the group approach was an excellent platform for generalising, and we all learned a great deal, I often felt a little inhibited. I wanted to get to the bones of some stuff, but felt apprehensive about taking up time in a group session.

The session when we listened to music and made directing time patterns was wasted time for me, although I appreciate the value for novice directors.

I felt that Royce's sessions were clearly of Master Class status, and I was very impressed.

Overall, I enjoyed the course very much. The organisation was superb. Clearly the College Team have worked tremendously hard, thought of everything down to the finest detail, and I congratulate them all on a fine job. I brought back some positive things to my Chorus, and would not hesitate to recommend the College to any aspiring directors.

Derek Hollis