Rhodri Williams-Wandoch

About Rhodri Williams-Wandoch

TUTOR:

Hi! I teach piano, violin, viola and music theory. I'm also a composer (see further below), trained teacher, youth ensemble director, and concert curator. Some of my music can be heard via the links on this profile, and all events and projects are on my website: rhodrihww.wix.com/sounds

Coaching and teaching is available in person and online via Zoom, and can work very well both ways. I guide lively, inspiring, imaginative, bespoke learning-journeys for everyone, from children to adults. Together we can refine your playing or composing, get to know more music theory and analysis, explore interpretations, and delve into wider repertoire; or you can have expert coaching through a music syllabus for your school or university.

For several past students this path of discovery has led to music degrees at prestigious universities and to forming bands and careers.

Teaching background: I'm trained as a primary-school teacher and have taught piano, violin and viola at Cambridgeshire Music and Wisbech Grammar School (current), including leading ensembles and classes, in addition to independent work as a tutor of composition and theory for university students, aspiring secondary-schoolers and keen adult amateurs. You're welcome to get in touch and discuss what tuition you'd like!

COMPOSER:

I studied composition first with John Metcalf, then with Jeremy Thurlow, Robin Holloway, David Earl and Giles Swayne at the University of Cambridge. My work has been played in association with the Vale of Glamorgan Festival of Contemporary Music and Aberystwyth's MusicFest, the Britten Sinfonia with James MacMillan, Kettle's Yard in Cambridge, pianist Natalia Williams-Wandoch in various venues, the Mavron Quartet and youth orchestras.

In 2012 my string quintet 'Berceuse' was shortlisted for the Lord Mayor Composition Prize in London.
The same year saw the completion of a commission from a psychology research project to write educational songs to boost young children's phonic awareness. 'Concertino Grosso' was commissioned for beginners' string orchestra with 4 tutors as soloists, and premiered in Ely Cathedral at the 2016 end-of-year concert of Cambridgeshire Music's 'Ely Strings' project on which I taught. It's also just been performed again by different school ensembles.

In 2016 I set up ongoing Saturday coffee concerts in my town, featuring local professional and amateur performances of contemporary, classical and traditional music combined with other art-forms such as poetry, photography and dance.

Moving into multimedia work from the pandemic on, I have created a number of pieces for spoken voices and music, working with writers and others. The biggest of these is 'A Homerton Parade,' a suite of pieces, songs and tableaux for video production by my former college, based on fascinating college archive documents from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when it was a very different college. The video was produced lovingly by lots of students and staff - with a cameo role by a very famous percussionist too! - and fabulous result can be heard on vimeo at https://vimeo.com/722491522.