Camps and Workshops
About Village Harmony Summer Camp
The concert is about to end. Twenty-three mostly barefoot teenagers grab at each others’ hands and bow, sweaty and tired, intensely pleased with themselves. They grin broadly as New Englanders of every age rise to their feet in the old wooden church building, applauding, whistling, ululating.
A note is sounded above the din and the young singers launch into a South African dance song, stilling the crowd long enough to allow them to make their way down the aisles to take a final ovation from the back of the building.
As the young people, unleashed, dive into the crowd or escape outside, you remain rooted in your pew a bit longer, shaken to the core by what you’ve just witnessed. Where did that conviction come from, that powerful centered sound you never expected to hear from an amateur—let alone a teenage—choir. Look around; other moist eyes and stunned expressions tell you that you aren’t the the only one who sensed that something life-changing has just happened among the singers—and has been shared with the audience.
This scenario is played out with up to a dozen groups--teens, adults, mixed ages--each summer. Since 1990 the singers and instrumentalists of Village Harmony summer camps have been traveling and performing throughout an ever-widening swath of the globe, participating in cultural exchanges and delighting audiences with their heart-felt renditions of world folk music. Twenty years on, Village Harmony’s recipe has withstood the test of time.
Start out with almost 300 self-selected amateur singers between the ages of 11 and 80, and divide into groups of 25-50 each. Sift in some two dozen well-seasoned music leaders gathered from around the world. Sprinkle in a a variety of languages and exotic cultures, and then saturate with vital and honest music chosen from among the world’s most powerful harmony singing traditions. Blend well during a week of intense singing, in a retreat center in some unique location. Treat the music with respect, and the participants with high expectations. To finish off, subject the entire mixture to the myriad challenges of a concert tour, ensuring that performances are polished to the highest sheen. The result? Harmony in infinite shades of the meaning of the word. Comradeship, exhilaration, and heartfelt art of an extraordinarily high order.
Village Harmony runs camps just for teenagers, camps primarily for adults, and camps for mixed age groups. Each camp session is headed by a trio of music leaders, fluent in a wide range of traditions and highly experienced as teachers. Our no-holds-barred attitude toward what is possible has resulted in ensembles whose sound remains dynamic, unpredictable, and absolutely exciting year after year. With clear command of radically-varied singing styles and infectiously joyous stage presence, Village Harmony performances always knock people’s socks off.
Village Harmony camp locations vary each year. This summer our camps will be held in New England, Oregon and Ontario, and in Corsica, Caucasus Georgia, and the Republic of Macedonia. Over the years we’ve also held camps in South Africa, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Ukraine, Russia, Ghana, and all over the UK, Scandinavia and western Europe.
During the rehearsal week, singers get to know one another, absorb the basics of new vocal styles and prepare a concert program. Rehearsals are focused and intense, usually six or more hours each day, with voice coaching and instrumental work between the group sessions. Written music is distributed for a lot of the repertoire, but many songs are taught solely by ear, and virtually everything is taught by example.
Emphasis is placed on authenticity in the spirit of each musical genre, not just on its replication. Above all we strive for total conviction, and singing with joy.
Intense as this description may seem, Village Harmony groups tend to be extremely relaxed, non-competitive and democratic in nature. The supportive and inclusive community at our camps is such that no one is afraid to give their all in performance and sing from the deepest place in their hearts.
The framework of each residency is communal, with everyone pitching in to help cook and clean. The menu is primarily vegetarian, responsive to the tastes, needs and culinary talents of camp participants. We make time for playing soccer or frisbee, dancing, and searching out swimming holes. During the rehearsal week we often find time for an evening cabaret, when stand-up comics and little-imagined talents come to the fore.
The shorter adult and teen residential workshops wrap up with one or two concerts to finish their sessions. For singers in the teen and international traveling camps, however, a different kind of adventure begins as they launch into concert tours. The groups change location nearly every day while on tour, performing in a different venue each night; and the communities that sponsor our concerts and make up our audiences provide us with meals and overnight housing.
Concerts are held in small-town community halls, in village churches, at folk festivals; we make a point of meeting and collaborating with local folk musicians, especially overseas,. Foreign audiences in particular are thrilled and gratified to see foreigners learning and performing their traditional music with so much care, respect and enthusiasm.
Regardless of whether one attends a shorter residential camp or one of the traveling ones, the intense immersion in new repertoires and the many challenges of preparing for the concert performances is exhilarating for all involved.
Unlike choirs where the aim is to have a membership whose voices blend seamlessly, Village Harmony is composed of ad-hoc, non-auditioned, inclusive groups whose basic demand of would-be members is that they be committed to making good music and not holding back. Our teen camps are open to ages 12-19.
Teenagers are welcome to join in any of our adult camps or workshops.