Testimonials/Media
Course 3
2023
I was lucky enough to be invited to the inaugural Opera Muzik Fermata Course – a fantastic weekend of doing, sharing and learning. It was wonderful to work alongside the conductors and the workshops were run very well! What an incredible opportunity to open the discussion to talk about what we need as singers in a rehearsal room and how to offer that. As a singer, I also learnt a lot about the process and how to work with/communicate better with different conductors. Thank you for inviting me to sing, MuzikFermata.
The weekend spent working on excerpts from Britten’s The Turn of the Screw was fantastic to be part of from a singer’s perspective. As a working singer it is unusual to be able to work on a role in such a simultaneously focussed and free way, and to take in so many different interpretations and ideas from the conducting participants in such a short space of time.
It was brilliant to see the way that Toby coached the participants, and was able to so quickly identify their specific areas of interest within this challenging genre. The whole weekend was so excellently organised and structured, and it was a real joy to work with such a supportive, talented, and passionate group of musicians and conductors.
Rachel Speirs
Loved being a part of ‘The Turn of the Screw’ conducting workshop with MuzikFermata. It was incredible to see the progression of the conductors as they gained insight from Toby Purser, which in turn improved my singing and personal response to the music. A fabulous weekend in Oxford with a great group.