MAGDALEN FARM STRINGS
Approaching its 20th Year, Magdalen Farm Strings is a well-established annual course for young string players aged 8 – 18 who come together for a fun week of music making and outdoor learning. Most of our participants love it so much that they keep coming back year after year. With around 30 participants each year, we are a small, tailored course with a family feel. If you are new to Magdalen Farm Strings, we can’t wait to meet you.
We are extremely fortunate that the internationally-renowned composer Colin Matthews composes a new piece for Magdalen Farm Strings each year and continues to be our very active and enthusiastic patron. We are very grateful to Colin Matthews, the Albert and Eugenie Frost Music Trust, the Joyce Fletcher Trust, the Christina Aitchison Trust, and other generous individuals for their support, without which Magdalen Farm Strings would not be able to continue in its present form.
If you would like to discover more about Magdalen Farm Strings, check availability for future courses or just ask us anything related to our music courses, simply fill in the enquiry form below and we’ll get back to you.
"She has come back singing and inspired and has grown in overall confidence."
A Musical Overview:
Magdalen Farm Strings is all about playing music together. There are three group sizes that everyone will be involved in: chamber groups (3-6 people), chamber orchestra (10-15 people) and tutti orchestra (the whole group). By playing together in groups of different sizes, participants will develop their confidence, collaboration skills, independence and many valuable musical skills.
At Magdalen Farm Strings we aim to nurture the whole musician by including daily choir and Dalcroze Eurythmics sessions. Singing is invaluable for general musicianship and has well-documented positive effects on well-being. Dalcroze Eurythmics is an approach to learning music through movement. It aims to enhance musicianship, improve coordination and concentration, and develop the skills needed to be a performer, such as confidence, communication, expression, and creativity.
Additionally, we have evening activities with visiting musicians from different backgrounds and genres. In the past these have included folk and jazz workshops, writing music for film, songwriting and a djembe workshop.
About the site:
The course takes place at Magdalen Farm, comprising 130 acres of beautiful organic farmland, which is home to The Magdalen Environmental Trust, an education centre and charity teaching about sustainability and environmental issues. Magdalen is ideal for our purposes, with comfortable bunk-bedded accommodation for participants and plenty of indoor space for making music, as well as endless opportunities for exciting outdoor activities.
Each day, there is an afternoon activity out on the farm led by qualified environmental education staff, where the participants learn about Magdalen Farm’s current sustainability projects whilst enjoying the freedom of being outdoors and exploring nature.
dates
Easter Holidays
3rd - 9th April 2027
course information
Age Range: 8 -18
Instruments: Strings (violin, viola, cello, double bass)
Accommodation: Bunkbeds in shared dormitories
Arrival time: 4pm on 3rd April
Final Concert: 9th April at 11.30am. The concert will finish at approximately 1pm and there will be an optional lunch after the concert.
Location
Magdalen Farm, Chard, Dorset, TA20 4PA
Fees for 2027:
Residential Place: £550
Day Place: £330 (includes lunch and dinner every day)
There is a £10 reduction per child if paid in full before 31st January 2027, and an additional £10 reduction per child for siblings.
Unfortunately, we currently aren’t offering bursary places for Magdalen Farm Strings but if cost is a barrier to applying, please get in touch with Bonnie at bonnie@linkingoutdoorsandmusic.org, and we will see if there is anything we can do to help.
Meet the Team
Alma orr-ewing
Artistic director and music tutor.
bonnie schwarz
Managing director and music tutor.
poppy orr-ewing
Pastoral lead, outdoor activity coordinator and music tutor.
pete shaw
Media, graphic desing and music tutor.
polly orr-ewing
Dalcroze Eurhythmics teacher and music tutor.
hilary boxer
Music tutor.
serena forwood
Pastoral assistant and music tutor.
our founder
sarah gleadell
Sarah Gleadell founded Magdalen Farm Strings back in 2008. We are incredibly grateful for her hard work, support and dedication over all these years. Magdalen Farm Strings and LOAM would not exist without Sarah and we look forward to expanding the legacy that she started.
Sarah was Development Manager at The Magdalen Environmental Trust from 2007 to 2017, when she retired to become a Trustee of the charity. Before that she ran a successful £1.5 million building appeal for The Marchant-Holliday School, a Special Needs School near Wincanton. Sarah and her husband moved to Somerset in 2000 from London, where she was an editor at Faber and Faber for several years and more latterly worked for Macmillan Cancer Support, notably as fund raiser for The Pembridge Centre, a hospice in North Kensington.
The idea for Magdalen Farm Strings was inspired by her violinist daughter’s enjoyment of music camps in which she took part during her teenage years. The music-making, companionship and fun she experienced at Pigotts made a lasting impression, and were certainly a major factor in her decision to make music her career.