Welcome

LOOKING FORWARD TO 2022

Our 2021 online Festival was a great success with many outstanding performances. We will build on this success in 2022 with our return to mostly live competitions.

Music classes will be in the Free Church Hampstead Garden Suburb from Monday 14 March to Friday 1 April and from Friday 22 April to Saturday 14 May.

Harp classes will be in North Bank House, Muswell Hill on Sunday 1 and Monday 2 May

Speech and Drama will be in King Alfred Phoenix Theatre on Sunday 8 May

Choir competitions will continue to be online and will be held on Wednesday 4 May

We have a new chairman

Allan Clay is a pianist, organist, conductor and composer, with long experience in education and as an adjudicator. He was educated in Essex and went on to the Royal Academy of Music, London, studying piano with Alexander Kelly, organ with Christopher Bowers-Broadbent and composition with Roger Steptoe. After graduating, he worked as a freelance musician and was the founding conductor of the Surrey Sinfonietta (now the London Camerata) who gave the first performance of his Oboe Concerto with Hilary Dennis. In the mid-90s, Allan joined the staff of Felsted School, and subsequently has been Director of Music in schools in the South of England, as well as at Harrow School, Bangkok, where also he worked with the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra, Zambia and Vietnam. He examines extensively for ABRSM, both in the UK and internationally.

We have started planning for the 2022 Festival and will include details on this website when they are available.

Emanuel Trophy Piano Competition – we will not be running this competition in 2022

As, during 2021, few music festivals have been able to take place, we have decided not to run the Emanuel Trophy Piano Competition in 2022. Any pianists who would normally be nominated for the 2022 competition will instead be eligible to be nominated for the 2023 competition. If you are the secretary of a festival that usually nominates entrants for the Emanuel Competition and have any questions, please contact Janice Twiselton – admin@northlondonfestival.org.uk.

Read more

Entries to the North London Festival are accepted only from performers living or studying in the UK or the Republic of Ireland.

Where entry to a competition depends on a person’s age, we use the age on the previous 1st September, so that all entrants in the same school year are in the same competition.

Our entry system, powered by Play and Perform, applies to all classes. Please click on the link below for how to apply and for hints on creating an effective video performance for online competitions. The first time you use the entry system, you will need to register. Entrants must also upload copies of the music.

 

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2020 ONLINE COMPETITIONS

Please see the Speech and Drama page for details of the 2020 One Minute Monologue Competition.

Please see the harp page for details of the 2020 online Harp Competitions.

MEMORIES OF THE FESTIVAL

The festival started in November 1920 and Rosemary Cook has started writing a history of the Festival. She would be delighted to hear from anyone who has memories of the Festival and especially musicians who took part in the Festival as children.

FESTIVAL MEMBERS

The Members of the North London Festival participate in the Festival’s most important decisions and perform a crucial role in holding the Executive to account. The Festival is actively seeking new Members either to attend the AGM once a year and vote, or to contribute ideas, contacts, and active support. A modest annual subscription is payable. To request more information on Membership, or a Membership Application Form, or to discuss possible participation in other ways, please email enquiriesnlf@outlook.com.