David Vinden GRSM LRAM BMus (Hons London) ARAM Churchill Fellow Adv Dip Kodály Institute

Born in Truro, Cornwall, David began his music career as a chorister at Truro Cathedral. He went to study at the Royal Academy of Music studying singing with Joy Mammen and Pieter Van der Stolk and organ with Michael Austin. After his GRSM he took up orchestral conducting with Maurice Miles. This year was paid for by the award of a choral scholarship from St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. David then went on the Royal Holloway College and took the London B.Mus graduating with honours in 1974. At Windsor he was a founder member and resident conductor of the Collegium Musicum  of Windsor. In the Autumn of that year he took part in the International conducting competition in Besançon in France. His first job was as director of music at Tiffin Girl’s school in Kingston. Concerned about the way music education was going David went to study for two years at the Kodály Institute in Kecskemét, Hungary. He studied choral conducting with Peter Erdei and Solfčge musicianship with Lilla Gabor and Ildiko Herboly-Kocsar. On his return to England in 1983 he took up a position at the Purcell School of Music and became its director of Music in 1987 – 1995. He then became a lecturer in Kodály at Trinity College of Music, then Birmingham Conservatoire and latterly at the Guildhall School of Music. He also works with the Szilvay Foundation (Colourstrings) teaching children at the Saturday school as well as training adults on the summer courses with Géza and Csaba Szilvay. He has just been re-elected to serve on the board of the International Kodály Society.

He is in great demand as a lecturer, teacher and conductor and has been invited annually to teach on the Kodály Institute summer courses in Kecskemét, the Kodály courses at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, USA, and Kodály summer courses at Portland State University. He has also been a guest lecturer at the Liszt Academy, Debrecen and Szeged Conservatoires. He co-founded the Kodály Centre of London with his wife, Yuko, in 1992, and has produced and published over 30 books of Kodály musicianship material and teaching aids. He has also edited Music Transalpina I of 1588, the complete canons of Cherubini as well many by Caldara. He has just completed the co-authorship with Cyrilla Rowsell of the 3rd volume of Jolly Music, which will be a 7 year curriculum of lesson plans and material for Primary schools published by Jolly Phonics, Britain’s leading phonics company. He is also co-authoring a harmony book with a Hungarian colleague Mónika Benedek which they hope to finish by 2010.