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Learn songs from around the world in two, three and four part harmony round the logs fires of Smithy Cottage, on the Banks of the river Clough, near Sedbergh. And then sing them up the river in the woods and on the fellside. Learning by ear with warm ups. £45
Join the Lakeland Voices community choir for a day out in the Lake District - workshop, Little Langdale valley singing walk visiting caves & waterfalls, pub singing, concert, ceilidh, ‘Jacob's Join’ supper. 10am-10pm. £7.50 to £19.50
Join a workshop round the log fires of Smithy Cottage on the banks of the river Clough, learning simple songs in two, three and four part harmony from sacred traditions around the world (including Taize and Iona.) And then singing them in places that include the recently-refurbished Dent Meditation Centre in the cobbled village of Dent.. ‘Jacob's Join’ lunch or cafe, evening singaround, Learning by ear - though written music will be provided after the workshop. CDs of parts available. Beginners welcome. £45
Whole weekend or day visitors welcome. Join us in Sedbergh over the weekend of May 11 - 13 with singers from a Slovenian women's choir from Zrece, the Northumbrian male voice folk choir Voice Male, and several local choirs including Lakeland Voices community choir, the Sedbergh groups Howgills Harmony and the Cautley Carollers, and others from further afield.
As well as the main concerts, there will also be opportunities for small performances around Sedbergh, to learn the other choir's songs (and teach your own if wanted,) workshops with the Slovene singers for completely new material, and a singing walk via waterfalls. bluebells and woodland between Sedbergh and Dentdale (with a vehicle to carry non-walkers.)
Times: Workshops are in the People's Hall from 10am - 4.30pm on Saturday May 12. The concert starts at 7.30pm. Pub session for instrumentalists will start at 9.30pm. The Bunk Barn accommodation is available from Friday 4pm with evening meal at 7pm.
Cost: For Singers with groups is £12 for one day, £20 for the weekend. (Individuals £15 and £25). Or a total of £69 for the whole weekend (£79 for individuals) with two night's accommodation from Friday to Sunday, with all meals in a luxury hostel just up the fellside from Sedbergh with underfloor heating, small en suite rooms of 4-5 beds, brand new kitchen and vast lounge looking out over the fells.
Over the second May bank holiday May 25-28 2007 we are walking and singing through these magnificent hills which Wainwright described as being like sleeping elephants. We'll be staying near Cautley spout waterfall near Sedbergh and joining up with community choirs along the way, when we do concerts in the middle of our walks at villages tucked into folds in the hills. A vehicle will be available to pick up the exhausted - or the lazy! The accommodation is in shared rooms although B&B is available if booked very early (an extra charge for B&B). Meals provided though some help will be requested. £95
West Gallery weekend learning songs which were sung by the choir which sang in this valley and the old church at Martindale in the 18th and early 19th centuries and led by John Jackson the second - choir master and school teacher in this valley. A small group of descendents of those who sang in this choir will be with us - and performances will include local west gallery choirs. The weekend will include a singing walk via the shores of Ullswater and a workshop in the Old Bobbin Mill at Howtown where the apprentices who sang in the choir worked.
Venue: Martindale, near Pooley Bridge and Penrith. Cost: £45.
As well as being one of the most beautiful countries in the world, Slovenia is famed for the quality of its singing. We shall be meeting many of those who sing in choirs in Sedbergh's twin town of Zrece as well as visiting other places throughout the country for concerts, walks and song swaps.
We shall be learning a repertoire of songs before we leave - a learning CD and written music will be available and there will also be opportunities to meet the other singers on weekends and evenings prior to departure. Anyone is welcome to join us.
Accommodation is in a mountain guest house with fabulous food provided. There are cheap flights from Stansted to Ljubljana with Easyjet costing between £40 and £80 depending on when tickets are bought (these are not always cheapest if bought earlier in the year.) In previous years we have also arranged for shared transport to and parking at the airport. In Slovenia we shall have our own vehicle for transport.
Cost: £295 plus cheap flights and shared transport to airport.
We shall be staying in Jura house - a mansion overlooking the sea with its famous walled gardens and walks through the woods on the southern side of this remote island. The house sleeps 16 in 12 bedrooms, so there are plenty of single rooms if people want them - on a first come first served basis.
We shall be learning a number of songs in 2, 3 and 4 part harmony from around the world including Scottish folk songs. This year we will also learn songs in Gaelic with some help from a local native spearker of Gaelic.
On the last night there will be an opportunity to give an informal concert in the local village alongside a group of singers from the island. This is optional. There will also be opportunities for people to teach their own songs, work in small groups, or sing solo in the concert.
Musical instruments are welcome - but this is primarily an a cappella harmony singing week.
Although Jura is one of the largest of the Scottish Islands, it is also the least populated with less than 200 people living here. There is one single track road, one pub, one shop, one Whiskey distillery, but countless wild birds (including Golden Eagles) and the beautiful Paps of Jura - conical shaped mountains in the south of the island. George Orwell also lived and wrote on the island. Outings can be arranged.
A daily ferry takes 2 hours from the mainland (foot passengers £6 one way - bicycles £2) - I shall be taking my car and can pick you and your bags up from where the ferry from Islay lands on Jura (a five minute crossing.) It is then just 5 miles to the house - a bus via the house also connects with the ferry. If you wish to bring a bicycle this would be a good idea. There is one single track road on the island and very little traffic. Shared lifts can be arranged - last year most of our party broke their journey with an overnight stop at Inverary.
Cost: £295 in shared rooms or £350 for a single room if paid in full by May 1 (£400 thereafter.) A £50 deposit secures a place.
See an account of an earlier visit to Jura and pictures of the island.
With Corsican harmony singing group Tavagna in Sedbergh - concerts and workshops from this rich polyphonic singing tradition.
In 1876 the first train steamed triumphantly into Carlisle station having made the 70 mile journey from Settle for the first time. It took the 10,000 navvies and miners who build the line over 7 years to complete it - over 400 of them died from accident, disease and appalling weather conditions. Many of them are buried in a tiny chapel high in the hills - which we shall visit during the weekend.
David Burbidge will teach songs about the men who built of the line, and the women and children who lived and died with them in shanty towns in some of the most inhospitable country in the world. Songs will be in 2, 3 and four part harmony and will include folk songs written by Dentdale singer song writer Ken Pope, former steam train driver Dave Goulder, and the late Mike Donald, as well as arrangements by other singers.
We shall sing these songs in the stations, on the train, in the pubs, and on a short walk via the famous Batty Moss viaduct and the wild and soulful terrain crossed by this magnificent railway.
Cost: £95 - which includes workshops, train fare, food, and two night accommodation with food - if paid in full by November 1. (£100 after.) £25 deposit secures a place.
For further information about the Settle-Carlisle rail line please click
here - Settle-Carlisle
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Learn folk and West Gallery Carols in two, three and four parts in Sedbergh - folk instruments such as serpents, fiddles, saxophones, bassoon, cellos etc. are welcome to accompany the West Gallery singing. Although the folk carols can be learnt by ear, written music will be provided.
On Saturday night we shall gather for our annual harmony singaround in the romantic Sportsman's Inn situated at the head of Dentdale. Last year this included Nkosi Sikelel 'iAfrica, Sto mi e milo, and Sensenina, as well as folk carols such as Pentonville and Old Foster (to the words of While Shepherds Watched) The Boars Head, The Carnal and the Crane, and Gaudete. There will also be a ceilidh with dances from different countries and a meal.
The singing walk on Sunday will include songs which everyone can join in with, as well as songs by Odmev and other practiced choirs. Singing venues will include spectacular waterfalls, woods.. and round the open fires of a country inn.
Cost £10 per session, concert £5, £49 whole weekend, or £95 including
accommodation and food. (if paid by November 11)
Learn or revise folk carols round the log fires of Smithy Cottage on the banks of the river Clough - and then join our local harmony group on a star lit walk through the winter landscape singing on the doorsteps of the cottages cradled in the dale. (and occasionally round the fires of these kindly Dalesfolk.) And then back to Smithy Cottage for mulled wine, mince pies and chestnuts roasted on the open fire.
Venue: Smithy Cottage, Farfield, Sedbergh.
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Cost: £19.50 for the workshop. Please bring a small present to give to the cottagers where we sing - no collection is made. Also food for shared lunch and supper (café also available at Mill,) and outdoor clothes and footwear (ie Wellies/ walking boots.)
Refreshments - tea, coffee, mince pies, mulled wine and chestnuts.
The voices of the Archetypes - exploring the essence of the female voice (for women only,) Using movement and physical awareness and creative imagery to access the essence of the female voice - with the country's leading natural voice pioneer.
Saturday: The People's Hall, Howgill lane, Sedbergh 10am-4.30pm. Sunday: Howgill School Room, Howgill Lane, Howgill. 49
DIRECTIONS: As you enter Sedbergh from the motorway, turn left at the Dalesman pub up Howgill Lane. The People's Hall is the last building on the left surrounded by playing fields. There is a large free car park. Please wear loose comfortable clothes which are easy to move in.
A harmony singing weekend learning songs about how they built this mountain railway - and then singing them on the train, in the stations, and on a walk through the wild Pennine landscape with The Toilers' Gift concert in Dent. Residential, in Dentdale. £89
Come and join the lively singing in Sedbergh and Dentdale of these English and Slovene folk carols - including the old West Gallery carols which were sung in country churches between 1700 and 1850 - and today in many Yorkshire pubs. Workshops, concert, festive supper with a carolling ceilidh, singing walk, and annual pub harmony singaround. Residential - or just come for part of the weekend. With Dent Youth hostel accommodation and food £89 or individual sessions (apart from concert): £10.
PROGRAMME:
FRIDAY, CONCERT with the Zrece choir from Sedbergh's twin town in Slovenia and the Gladly Solemn Sound West Gallery choir - 7.30pm Dent Meditation Centre. 5
SATURDAY, WORKSHOPS: The People's Hall, Sedbergh: 10am-1pm English and Slovene Folk Carols with David Burbidge and Mojca Koban-Dobnik, musical director of the Zrece choir, with her 30 singers. With voice warm-ups and easy to learn carols.
2-5.30pm West Gallery and Slovene carols with Paul Guppy, Director of the Gladly Solemn Sound choir, and Mojca Koban-Dobnik. Written music will be provided - a CD of the parts is available in advance for those who don't read music.
6-9.30pm CAROLS CEILIDH - English and Slovene carols and dances to join in with and festive meal in the Dent Memorial Hall, Dent. Followed by singing in the Sportsman's Inn.
SUNDAY, December 10 in the Dent Youth Hostel: 10am-12.30pm Folk Carol workshop. 1.30pm SINGING WALK. 4.30pm Afternoon tea with farewell carols.
Learn/revise folk carols round the open fires of a riverbank cottage, and then sing them in harmony on a starlit walk through the winter landscape. Workshop from 10am-5pm. Carolling from 6pm-10pm on the doorsteps of cottages cradled in the dale, and round the fires of these kindly Dalesfolk. Bring food for shared supper/lunch.19.50 Meet at Smithy Cottage, Farfield near Sedbergh.
Weekend with the fabulous choir from Vermont, USA directed by Larry
Gordan.
Workshop and concert in Dent.
To find out about our walking and singing tour of Lakeland please
click here - Lakeland
Walking Tour with Concerts. Close the Lakeland Walking Tour window
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A diary of the week we spent on our singing holiday on Jura
can be viewed by clicking here - Jura Harmony
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Frankie will be well known to many singers
as one of the founders of creative voice work in this country and
an internationally acclaimed singer and workshop leader. Her many
performances and CDs have been hailed as tremendous achievements
by reviewers, and with over 30 years experience singing and leading
workshops she has become one of the most treasured teachers within
the world of voice work, folk and community singing.
In the workshop Frankie covered all
aspects of singing and performing including breathing, bodywork and
release,
vocal authenticity and presence.
Dent Youth Hostel residential weekend
learning songs about the men who built this magnificent railway through
the Penine hills.
For further information about the Settle-Carlisle rail line please click
here - Settle-Carlisle
background. Close the Settle-Carlisle window
when you have finished to return to this page.
For information about
the Dent Youth Hostal have a look at the Dentdale
website at www.dentdale.com. Close
the Dentdale window when you have finished to
return to this page.
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 A
star lit walk through the Lakeland landscape singing carols in harmony on the doorsteps of remote cottages, in the woods, by the river, on the fell. Carolling where few carollers ever before have dared to go.
Residential singing workshop, learning songs
about the building of this historic railway line through the wild Pennine
hills of Northern England. Followed by singing the songs on the train,
in the stations, on a short walk via the Ribblehead viaduct and railway
museum, and round the fire at the Railway Inn.
Learning lively old folk and West Gallery
Carols and then singing them on a walk by the serene waters of upper
Dentdale. With Paul Guppy and David Burbidge. In Sedbergh and Dent,
Cumbria.
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