Roderick Seed Flute Retreat in Coverack
Next retreat dates to be announced
Coverack, Cornwall
with Roderick Seed and Kiyoka Ohara
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Flute retreat for adults of an intermediate-advanced level with Altus Flutes Artist Roderick Seed in Coverack, a beautiful coastal village on the east side of the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall. Come and improve your flute playing, enjoy music making and a supportive, non-competitive environment with like-minded musicians! Grateful to Jane Orchard and JTS for their help organising this retreat. ​​
"I greatly appreciated the safe and inclusive environment Rod created. I feel privileged to have attended. I enjoyed the inspirational teaching, congenial and welcoming participants, excellent venue and food."
(Retreat Participant)
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What to expect
Detailed schedule to be provided to participants upon registration
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Flute technique classes
Tone, flexibility, intonation, fingers, breathing, scales to find courage and ease of expression.
Repertoire classes
Alexander Technique inspired exercises
Daily warm ups
on resonance, breathing, flexibility, and more. Using Taffanel & Gaubert and Reichert daily exercises and exercises from my books.
Chamber Music
Student recital
Marcel Moyse classes
Using Sonority, 24 Little Melodic Studies & Tone Development Through Interpretation to work on fundamentals and musical expression
Private lessons ​
Flute and piano coaching sessions
Small class sizes
Peaceful location
Supportive, friendly environment
Great food and drink
Meals not included in course fee
Please note: this retreat is for adults aged 18 and above.
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Registration
Participant
Included: Perform in all technique and repertoire classes, chamber music, student concert, and receive a private lesson.
Day Pass
Come for a day and participate in all classes!
Observer
Come for a day and observe all classes and join in with the chamber music!
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Registration Form and Deposit
To apply for a place on the retreat, please click "Book Now" on the appropriate course below. Upon registration, you will be asked to pay a deposit of 50% of the total, to secure your space.
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Ended
400 British poundsEnded
From 150 British poundsEnded
400 British poundsEnded
700 British pounds
Accommodation options and getting to Coverack
​Participants can choose either to book their own accommodation or request to share a house with a few other participants which Roderick can book for them. This is subject to availability.
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Shared accommodation with other participants
I will book a house for some participants to share. This is often the cheaper option, but can vary depending on the season.
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Private accommodation
If you prefer to book your own accommodation, The Old Post Office B&B, The Bay Hotel and the Paris Hotel are excellent centrally located options. For a full list of B&Bs and hotels in Coverack, please visit the following link.
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Coverack​​
Coverack is situated right on the coast, with the nearest train stations being Redruth, or Penryn. Both stations are accessible from London Paddington station. Station pickups available by retreat staff for a small fee or participants can share a taxi. It's about 40 minutes' drive from the station.
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If coming by car, use postcode TR12 6TB. All classes will take place at St Peter's Hall, overlooking the sea, where you can park for free. We will also use St Peter's Church for concerts and classes.
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Coverack has some lovely shops, cafes and restaurants on the seafront, making it a very convenient place to be.
St Peter's Hall, Coverack
​Classes and chamber music will be held at the village hall: St. Peter's Hall. There are kitchen facilities and a WC. We will take breaks throughout the day for tea/coffee/snacks (provided). All meals to be bought separately (not included in course fee). We will aim to have at least one home-cooked dinner at the booked accommodation, or at the hall, and also enjoy the local restaurants as a group for some other dinners. Participants can make their own breakfasts before heading to the hall and for lunch either bring a packed lunch, make something in the kitchen, or buy lunch from a nearby shop/cafe.
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We will also have access to St. Peter's church for one or two concerts throughout the week, so participants will be able to play a piece of their choice to each other and the local community.
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A pianist will be available to accompany the classes and concerts, to be confirmed.
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Roderick is grateful to be joined by friend and flautist Kiyoka Ohara, who will be available to give lessons and assist with giving classes. Thank you to Jane Orchard for all her help with organising this retreat.
Typical daily schedule
This will be different each day, but here's a typical schedule. It's pretty full of activities, but with breaks throughout to recharge and rest.
8am-9am: Breakfast
9am: Warm up class
(Flexibility, scale patterns, resonance, intervals etc)
10am: Technique/Interpretation Class part 1
(Moyse 24 Little Melodic Studies/Tone Development Through Interpretation)
11:30am Tea Break
12:00: Technique/Interpretation Class part 2
1pm: Lunch break
2pm: Alexander Technique/Coastal path walk/Private lessons
3pm-5pm: Repertoire class
5pm - 6:30pm: Chamber music - duets/trios/whole group.
7pm: Dinner​
Feedback from Roderick's masterclasses
"This was an absolutely brilliant weekend - totally inspired!" (2023 Retreat participant)
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"I greatly appreciated the safe and inclusive environment Rod created. I feel privileged to have attended. I enjoyed the inspirational teaching, congenial and welcoming participants, excellent venue and food." (2023 Retreat Participant)
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"This was such a great experience for me. Thank you Rod for such inspring and insightful teaching!" (2023 Retreat Participant)
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"Thank you for your inspirational teaching!" (2022 Retreat Participant)
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"I enjoyed everything about the retreat. Rod led it in a gentle but very controlled way. The accommodation was great. The other participants were friendly and kind. The teaching was outstanding. I would love to come next year. It was one of the nicest things I've been to. A big thank you to Rod" (2021 Retreat participant)
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"I appreciated the calm atmosphere and how Rod made all the exercises and classes applicable to everyone . It was amazing to see everyone improve as the weekend went by. Each person’s playing was stretched and Rod paced it carefully for each individual." (2021 Retreat participant)
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"Well planned programme for the day. Relaxed, friendly unjudgmental atmosphere. Roomy airy light beautiful venue. Although I only observed for a day, I took away so much! I particularly enjoyed the warm up, the singing and playing, and watching Rod guide players through repertoire pieces." (2021 Retreat observer)
"Thank you for a wonderful weekend...The teaching was especially inspirational because, no matter what our issues were, you were able to pinpoint the problem and give both specific and more general approaches to further develop our playing. What you said to one person could nearly always be applied to all of us in some way so it was always interesting . It was amazing to hear the progress each person made in each session. The opportunity to play with others and to socialise with other like-minded people was also really great." (2021 Retreat participant)
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"I learnt something in every session. The variety and the inclusion of the Alexander class and chamber music sessions kept things lively.. a big thank you for planning it so thoroughly." (2021 Retreat participant)
"Perfect! Rod made it feel personal and created a very relaxed environment" (2019 Retreat participant)
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"I felt very welcomed and it was nice there was only a few people! Thank you!" (2019 Retreat participant)
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"It was amazing. The course was very detailed and I've got a lifetime of techniques to put into practice" (2019 Retreat participant)
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"Fab retreat. Well done" (2019 Retreat participant)
"Roderick got to the core of the most important parts of flute playing. He introduced us to many valuable techniques for building stronger, fuller sound and demonstrated ways in which we can enhance our playing by using these important elements in our daily practice."
"I thoroughly enjoyed his teaching and the gentle guidance and individual approach he provided. I learned a lot in a few days. I am encouraged to become a better player."
"I really appreciate his different flute-teaching techniques - how to change what you're doing in/with your body, in order to change the sound & technique. He didn't just ask us to try to achieve a certain sound or technique; he demonstrated WHAT TO CHANGE, in order to achieve the results."
"Many useful ideas for improving technique.
These were very interesting and some of them were new to me."
"Rod is very well informed, calm and supportive."
"Excellent technique and practice tips"​
Any questions?
