search

logon

main navigation

• Who we are
• What we do
• Training
• Mission
• Caedmon
• Shop
• Contact

A unique and specially designed course for artists held at one of the UK's premier music and arts complexes.  For those seriously committed to creativity, excellence and shaping our culture.

"ngm academy's courses are an awesome opportunity to be part of a community of people buzzing with passion, life and creativity." 

George Mhondera (Whistlejacket, Luv Esther)

The Boot camp course of comprises of several elements, detailed course layout can be found below:

Art Forms

Arts are right at the core of all we do here at ngm. Our passion is to train up and release artists of excellence to make a difference in society. This Boot camp is designed to develop you in your artform through:

• Regular tuition with trained ngm tutors

• Master classes from people working in the industry

• Performance opportunities

• Regular assessments

• Studio and DVD recordings

You can either major in one artform or choose a combination of two. The artforms we have available are:

• Dance

• Vocals

• Communication (must be done alongside another artform)

• DJ-ing

• Engineering

Keep Reading on to find More detailed information on these artforms

Bands/Musicians- please contact us to find out if there may be ways we can help you.

Spiritual

We believe it is very important for artists to have a good grounding in biblical understanding as well as getting to grips with the culture that they will be working in. We also know that it is vital to develop intimacy with God as well as tackle character issues if we are to raise up artists passionate for God and able to make a difference in society. This will be done through a variety of ways:

Teaching & Practical Sessions

Each week there will be sessions from different speakers on areas which we believe will help develop your character and your biblical understanding. These sessions will be a mix of teaching, discussion and practical activities that will help you grow and develop in your walk with God. We are working with colleagues such as Trinity Church College in Bristol as well as a wide variety of speakers ranging from local pastors to international teachers to put together a really exciting course! In addition to the discipleship streams detailed below, you will also read books throughout the year that will challenge you to go deeper in your walk with god.

• Spiritual Disciplines
  Each discipleship day will begin with a spiritual discipline. This is a time for you to engage with God through creative activities and focus on the day ahead.

• Biblical Artistry
  This stream will take a look at what the bible has to say about the arts and artist. It will equip you as a creative to understand how you can connect your gifting with God's purposes.

• Biblical Foundations
  Biblical foundations will get you excited about God's word! You will gain a deeper understanding of the 'greatest story ever old' as well as learning about key themes throughout the bible.

• Biblical Lifestyle
  These sessions will be focused on what it really means to be a disciple of Jesus. With plenty of space for all these tough questions, we will be looking at all aspects of living a biblical life.

One-to-one Mentoring

In ngm everyone has a personal mentor; someone they can pray with, ask advice from and who can encourage them in all the areas of their life. Over the past 20 years of ngm's history we have come to recognise this as something that is vital to each individual's growth and development.

"Any hope of restoring culture starts with restoring individuals who make our culture, and any hope of restoring individuals starts with rediscovering the origin of our capacities in the one who made us" -  Dick Staub

Missional

Mission is an integral part of who we are at ngm and is central to our discipleship programme. You will have the opportunity to get involved in mission on many different levels as we believe it not only helps to open our eyes to the needs all around us, but getting stuck in helps us grow and develop our character.

Local Mission:
We work in projects in Bristol such as the homeless cafe, an outreach project for the young people who attend night clubs and we are also involved in youth projects in an around Thornbury. You will get the opportunity to get involved either weekly or fortnightly  in one or more of these projects. This is a fantastic chance to get alongside and help the poor, needy and hurting in our society and also grow and develop in your character, whilst working alongside others in ngm. If you want to be stretched and developed and see God use you in amazing ways, then these are brilliant projects to be involved in.

Arts-Based Mission
This can be local, national or international, and is an opportunity for you to teach your artform, which in turn can help mature you as an artist. This can take place in the form of a school workshops, after school clubs, concerts etc. and can be anything from one lesson a week to a week long mission. Again, you will be working with others from ngm as well as churches and organisations who we partner with.

International Mission
During the year you will have the chance to go on one international mission. Over the last few years teams have visited South Africa, Mozambique, Kenya and Belarus; however, we are working with partners to extend our mission opportunities to include Nigeria too. These mission will give you the chance to use your artforms as well as see God use you in amazing ways through spending with the hurt and the needy in the world.

"The world is more malleable than you think and it's waiting for us to hammer it into shape" - Bono (U2)

Courses

Dance

Course Overview
The dance stream is designed to build a versatile performers who have an understanding and ownership of their artform. The syllabus looks to build a strong foundation with regular dance technique classes, encourage creativity through choreography projects and improvisation classes and regular performing opportunities through internal evaluations and external work.

Dance Technique
As a dancer, technique is fundamental to all forms of dance. The dance classes are designed to give you understanding of your body and how to use it as a dancer to improve control, flexibility and co-ordination. The class will include warm-up, cool downs, turns, traveling work, kicks, jumps and leaps, working with different dynamics as well as improving the core strength and flexibility.

Street Dance Projects
Working with members of ngm's Urban Dance Crew you will be exploring different street dance techniques and styles. You will be learning to work as a crew, and perform with flair, energy and precision.

Musical Theatre Projects
In collabration with the vocalists you will be working together on pieces from the past and present musical theatre repertoire. You will be given the opportunity to explore characterisation work and a practical outlet for improving your performance skills.

Choreography
learn how to translate your dance ideas onto dancers' bodies by choreographing with your fellow students. You will also hone your people-management skills by organising and directing a group to create an entirely new dance pieces.

Personal Fitness
You will take part in regular Gym sessions to improve your personal fitness and build stamina for performance.

Performance Skills Classes
These classes are integrated with students on the vocals syllabus and are designed to increase your stage presence, confidence and overall performance standard.

Pop Band Projects
These projects will focus on the art if combining vocals with dance and work on the techniques and skills needed. You will be placed in a group with a vocalist and a fellow dancer to rehearse songs with accompanying dance routines designed to further your skills and build a repertoire for mission performances.

Master Classes
Throughout the year there will be opportunities to work with dancers who are currently working professionally. Natalie Murdoch is our Dance Master Class Tutor who will come to ngm approximately every month.

DJ's -

DJing is now part of our 2-year ADP course for more experienced artists

 
Course Overview
This course will help you examine and work on the fundamental skills that you need to be a successful performer, to share your skills with others and to use your art form to worship God and draw other people into His presence. Learning is done through hands-on practice with discussion and reflection on theoretical topics and terminology.

Understanding the Role of the DJ
You will learn about equipment set-up, operation, maintenance and troubleshooting, how to source music material and gain an overview of different contexts and styles that DJs can work in.  You can also study the history of the DJ and the role that DJs play in the development and shaping of music culture.

DJ Skills Stage 1: The Fundamentals
This module will introduce and develop skills in timing, pitch control, beat-matching and cueing.  Individual attention from the tutor will help you progress from your current skill level to having greater dexterity and more accurate execution in these core skills.

DJ Skills  Stage 2: Developments
Once you have handled the basics, you wíll move on to more sophisticated techniques including volume and EQ controls, manipulating headphone levels, panning and level matching.  You will also explore the importance of musical phrasing, beat structures and have a go at high-speed cueing. There is also an introduction to CDJing.

DJ Skills Stage 3: Extras
You will learn to produce a swift and smooth mix with advanced mixing techniques including beat-juggling, endurance mixing, back-to-back mixing and fills. You'll also study FX techniques and refine your beat-dropping.  You will spend time identifying musical sounds, understanding their usage and manipulating them in different ways.  Finally, there is an introduction to scratching techniques.

Collaboration & Solo Projects
Your tutor will set you projects that you'll work on either on your own or with others.  Tasks will test your performance skills as well as your DJing and may include working with live musicians, singers and MCs, music production projects and learning to DJ in a worship context at ngm evening meetings.

Master Classes
Master Classes will be provided with top DJ's on varying topics throughout the year, giving valued insight of the inner workings of the industry with top tips and tricks to make sure you're not just another DJ.

Workshop Skills
You will spend time shadowing our tutors at workshops in local schools and at Ashfield Young Offenders Institution to acquire basic skills in running workshops with young people.  This is practice-based learning where you will observe, as well as try out techniques in workshop planning, communication skills, group management and progressing through to being able to lead workshops yourself.

DJ PROFILE - Leon
Leon Hollings aka `Studious' is a DJ and Music Producer.
He has been working to raise up DJ's into the club scene for 2 years now under many aliases. Studious has an eclectic selection of music including Breaks, Electro House, Grime, Dubstep and Drum and Bass.  Although Leon's passion is creating and mixing all types of music in the studio and in the clubs, he is also passionate about inspiring people to use music to express themselves, and so works alongside prisons and schools to run workshops;  either one-to-one or as a group, teaching and inspiring people to live their dream.

"I personally am very committed to the work of ngm and I will do everything possible to support Ray and Nancy and their work at ngm.  Trinity College, Bristol, and ngm will enter into a strategic partnership where we will be able to offer theological comprehension and theological insights about the world in which we live and about contemporary culture.  I think this is going to be a great partnership, watch this space!"

Revd Canon George Kavoor, Trinity College Principal, Chaplain to the Queen

 For Vocals,Tech Internships and Communication artforms, as well as course fees please refer to Boot Camp pt II

Latest News