BRATTLEBORO — On President's Day weekend, The Western Wind vocal ensemble presents its annual “Winter Wonderland” Workshop in Ensemble Singing at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church.
These workshops are opportunities for singers at all levels to experience the joy of ensemble singing.
Focusing on the small group experience, participants sing music from a diverse repertoire: medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Early American; 19th and 20th century part-songs, rounds, hymns, and folk songs; jazz, pop, doo-wop, and improvisation. Coaching in vocal style, performance practice, and ensemble techniques enhances the interpretation of this wide range of musical genres.
Enrollment is open to everyone from professionals to amateurs, soloists and ensemble performers, conductors and music teachers. For workshop information, visit the Western Wind website at www.westernwind.org. Scholarships and discounts are still available for last-minute enrollees.
The workshop begins with a Western Wind concert, “A Musical Valentine,” on Friday, February 14, at 8 p.m. at All Souls Church. The program includes music about the pains and joys of love by Renaissance, early American, and contemporary composers including Luca Marenzio, Orlando di Lasso, Orazio Vecchi, Thomas Bateson, John Dowland, William Billings, Kurt Weill, Duke Ellington, Lionel Bart, James Taylor and more.
Tickets are $15 for general admission and $10 for students and seniors. For tickets and information, contact The Western Wind at [email protected], or 800-788-2187, or visit their website.
Since 1969, this internationally acclaimed vocal sextet has devoted itself to the special beauty and variety of a cappella music. The ensemble's repertoire reveals its diverse background: from Renaissance motets to Fifties rock 'n' roll, from medieval carols to Duke Ellington, from complex works by avant-garde composers to the simplest folk melodies.
In addition to a demanding performance schedule, the group runs a highly acclaimed arts-in-education program for the New York public school system and presents an annual series of singing workshops in New York, Northampton, Mass., and Brattleboro and Woodstock in Vermont. They have also produced a series of holiday programs broadcast over National Public Radio and Public Radio International, and to date have released 19 recordings, one of them nominated for a Grammy.
Members of the group are currently Michele Kennedy, soprano; Linda Lee Jones, soprano; Todd Frizzell, tenor; Elliot Z. Levine, baritone; David Vanderwal, tenor; and William Zukof, countertenor.
Their various backgrounds all include extensive choral and solo singing with renowned ensembles large and small; each has also some combination of other experience and skills, among them choral conducting, composition and music arranging, instrumental performance, and serving in a range of production roles for opera and music theater.
All Souls Church, which is handicap accessible, is located at 29 South Street in West Brattleboro, just across the road from the West Brattleboro fire station and village green. Head up the wooded drive to a large parking area by the building. For further information about All Souls Church, call 802-254-9377.