Roderick Seed Flute Retreat
Next retreat :
27th - 30th March 2027
from 9:30am on 27th to 7pm on 30th March
(Recommended arrival: 26th evening; departure on 31st morning)
Dorset, UK
with Roderick Seed and Kiyoka Ohara
*2 spaces left*
Flute retreat for adults of an intermediate-advanced level with Altus Flutes Artist Roderick Seed, in the beautiful Kingcombe Meadows Nature Reserve in Dorset. Come and improve your flute playing, enjoy music making and a supportive, non-competitive environment with like-minded musicians!
"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)
What to expect
Detailed schedule to be provided to participants upon registration
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 - duets, trios, quartets and larger ensemble
Marcel Moyse classes
Using Sonority, 24 Little Melodic Studies & Tone Development Through Interpretation to work on fundamentals and musical expression
Private lesson
Chamber Music coaching
Small class sizes
Peaceful and inspiring location
Supportive, friendly environment
Great food and drink
Note: Meals not included in course fee
This retreat is for adults aged 18 and above.
Registration
Participant
Included: Perform in all technique and repertoire classes, chamber music coaching, and receive a private lesson.
Participant fee: £525
Day Pass
Come for a day and participate in all classes, receive one private lesson. Please let me know which day you would like to attend
Day Pass rate: £150
Observer
Come for a day and observe all classes and join in with the chamber music and group warm-up! Optional extra: private lesson. Please email to request which day you'd like to attend and I'll send an invoice.
Observer rate per day: £80
Registration Form and Deposit
All places have now been filled, but if you would like to be added to the waiting list, please email me.
Kingcombe Meadows Nature Reserve
The location of this retreat is right in the middle of the Kingcombe Meadows Nature Reserve, which is pretty near Dorchester. Bridport is to the south, with its famous Jurassic Coast beaches.
Classes will take place at Swallow Barn, which is next to the Kingcombe Meadows Visitor Centre.
The nearest station is Maiden Newton, but the easiest station to get to is probably Dorcesher South, which is about 2 hours 45 mins from London Waterloo station. From Dorchester station, it is about 25 minutes by taxi/car to the nature reserve. If coming by train, we can organise a lift share or taxi.
Accommodation
There is a cottage on site for participants to share. Please enquire about availability. There is one room currently available.
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.
Morning
Warm up class and technique workshop
(Flexibility, scale patterns, resonance, intervals etc)
Interpretation Class (Moyse)
or Repertoire class
Lunch break
Afternoon
Alexander Technique/Coastal path walk/
Private lessons/flute and piano coaching session
Chamber Music
Evening
Dinner as a group at a local restaurant/pub.
Feedback from Roderick's masterclasses
"I feel like I've finally unlocked my voice.. Life changing"
(2025 Retreat participant)
"This was an absolutely brilliant weekend - totally inspired!" (2023 Retreat participant)
"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)
"This was such a great experience for me. Thank you Rod for such inspring and insightful teaching!" (2023 Retreat Participant)
"Thank you for your inspirational teaching!" (2022 Retreat Participant)
"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)
"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)
"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)
"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)
"I felt very welcomed and it was nice there was only a few people! Thank you!" (2019 Retreat participant)
"It was amazing. The course was very detailed and I've got a lifetime of techniques to put into practice" (2019 Retreat participant)
"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?