Congratulations to Mr. K Andersen of Southport, Lancashire, who won the Cala Records' Stokowski competition of a 12-CD set by correctly answering two questions.

News

The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music have announced that all its graded music examinations from Grade 1 through Grade 8, in over 30 instruments, as well as in singing and Theory of Music, have been accredited by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) and the corresponding regulatory authorities in Wales (AACAC) and Northern Ireland (CCEA). Richard Morris, Chief Executive of the Board states: 'This independent verification of our own very high standards of service is most welcome…Even more importantly, this accreditation, by placing Associated Board examinations within the new National Qualifications Framework, gives long overdue recognition of their major contribution to music education, alongside GCSE and A Levels'. The theory and practical exams have been placed as follows:

The Sibelius Group has signed a deal with Boosey & Hawkes that will allow customers to buy digital sheet music from an online catalogue. Visiting the Boosey website will allow customers to view and hear the music before buying. They can also chose which is its key and instrument. Stephen Richards, director of the printed music division at B&H anticipates that it will have a substantial impact on the demand for music, adding that there will be benefits for performers, composers, teachers and conductors.

Awards

The Royal Northern College of Music has received the Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education for its Wind Ensemble: commissioning, training and performance project. This is the second time the RNCM has won the award; Principal Edward Gregson expressed his gratitude to Timothy Reynish for his work with the RNCM Wind Orchestra

Dynamo, which is the main funding arm of the National Foundation for Youth Music, has provided £250,000 of awards to national and regional music organisations for the expansion of their current work and to undertake new and strategic developments. The first three awards have gone to Making Music (£180,000), Music for Youth (£25,000) and the Centre for Young Musicians (£40,000). Further details can be had from the NFYM, 40 Brunswick Square, London, WC1N 1AU, tel.: 020 7841 0800/email nfym@youthmusic.org.uk.

Competitions

The English Poetry and Song Society is asking for submissions of William Blake settings for high voice and piano. Selected songs will be performed in March 2001 during the Bath Literature Festival. The deadline for submissions is 20 January. Further details are available from Richard Carder, 76 Lower Oldfield Park, Bath, BA2 3HP, tel.: 01225 313531.

A new music group based in the North-West, Ensemble Eleven, is inviting submissions for their second Young Composers Competition. Writers under the age of 29 should submit works that are under 20 minutes in length, which are scored for flute/piccolo, clarinet/saxophone, trumpet/flugel horn, percussion, guitar, piano, violin, viola, cello and bass/bass guitar. The deadline is 1 May 2001. Six pieces will be chosen and performed in the final next autumn; the winner will receive a prize of £100. Further information is available from Ensemble Eleven, Flat 18 Carlton Mansions, 20 Carlton Road, Manchester, M16 8BB, tel, 08701 825921/email: info@ensemble11.co.uk/www.ensemble11.co.uk.

The European Community Competition for young opera singers is inviting applications for its 2001 event, which will take place between 6 and 10 March. Applicants should be under 30 on 1 January, 2001. Application forms, to be submitted by 19 February, are available at www.caribusiness.it/lirico, and further information is available from Teatro Lirico Sperimentale di Spoleto 'A Belli', Piazza G Bovio, 1-06049 Spoleto (PG), Italy, tel.: 00 30 0 743 221645/email: teatrolirico@mail.caribusiness.it.

Applications are invited for The Manoug Parikian Award and the Royal Philharmonic Society Emily Anderson Prize, both for violinists, and the Guilhermina Suggia Gift for cellists. Applicants should be under the age of 21 on 12 April, 2001. Further details and application forms are available from Susan Dolton, Awards and Trusts Administrator, The Musicians' Benevolent Fund, 16 Ogle St., London, W1W 6JA, tel.: 202 7636 4481/email sdolton@mbf.org.uk.

And finally...

It appears that the best cure for snoring is to do plenty of vocal exercises and singing. Studies carried out at Exeter University by Alise Ojay, who is incidentally a choir mistress, showed that regular singing could help reduce the volume and extent of snoring. Carried out on 20 snorers over a period of three months, tests showed that 20 minutes of singing exercises daily reduces the levels of snoring by 20 percent. Miss Ojay said: 'Some people's muscles relax as they get older but singing tenses them up and this can help snoring. Eastern European singing really exercises the throat.'