Come sing with Village Harmony
“As an artist and educator, I was delighted to be in the presence of leaders so knowledgeable and comfortable with sharing, that learning was effortless--even with the challenge of unfamiliar languages and diverse musical styles. This aspect of Village Harmony bears great weight in our global community, as music is surely one of the best ways to connect people of different cultures.”
Village Harmony runs traditional music study-performance programs just for teenagers, alumni trips for older teens & young adults, residential weeks primarily for adults and international camps for mixed age groups. Each 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 their clear command of radically-varied singing styles and infectiously joyous stage presence, Village Harmony ensembles always knock people’s socks off.
Village Harmony 2026 Winter Offerings
14-day Cape Town Winter Camp
January 12-25, 2026
Led by Bongani Magatyana, Suzannah Park & Liam Kantor.
Rehearsal week at Volmoed Retreat Centre in Hermanus, Western Cape, followed by a week in residence in the Gardens district of Cape Town as we perform and explore the region.
8-day Guadalajara Winter Camp
February 7-15, 2026
Led by Wilmia Verrier Quiñones, Julio Morales & Patty Cuyler.
In residence at Hotel Puerta San Pedro in Tlaquepaque. Our first program in Mexico. Join us as we study traditional and composed Mexican works with two amazing directors, collaborate with exciting local ensembles, and enjoy the local culture, arts, cuisine and weather.
Village Harmony Winter Weekend
February 20-22, 2026
With Patty Cuyler, Suzannah Park, Nicholas Williams, Lonnie Norwood & Sinead O’Mahoney.
Our annual get-together at Hulbert Center in Fairlee, VT. Great music-making, great company, great food, great accommodations. A not-to-be-missed midwinter gathering.
“It’s time to sing everyone!”
~ This was Larry Gordon’s signature call to rehearsals. We sorely miss Larry, VH’s founder, who died on November 9, 2021. Our memories of his joie de vivre live on—as does the sound of his strong bass voice in the many hundreds of concert recordings he made with Village Harmony and Northern Harmony ensembles.
VILLAGE HARMONY acts as an umbrella sponsoring a number of other activities, including:
-
Boston Harmony - Led by Sinead O’Mahoney & Lysander Jaffe
Chicago World Music Chorus - Led by Patty Cuyler, Mollie Stone & Lonnie Norwood
Wild Asheville Community Chorus - Led by Suzannah Park
-
We not only bring expert international tradition bearers to teach at our programs but also aid and sponsor foreign folk music ensembles to come to the USA to perform on tour—the most recent of which was Ensemble Zedashe from the Republic of Georgia.
-
Since the pandemic years Village Harmony has been recognized for its success in connecting international teachers with community and university choirs interested in learning songs from authentic sources. We arrange not only for zoom teaching sessions but also offer access to an online platform with parts, pronunciation and performance recordings, plus background resources, to best aid singers to produce an authentic performance result.
-
This is something we are working on: an interactive library that will allow searches of the our music archive by teacher, camp session, genre or year. We aim to honor VH founder Larry Gordon’s personal legacy of sharing music through this ongoing project. We have also amassed a vast archive of digital teaching resources that we hope to make public in the future. If you’d like to help support these projects through a donation, click on the link below.
-
Northern Harmony is the name of the highest level, semi-professional touring group—always a shifting collaboration of singers—under Village Harmony’s umbrella. Under founder Larry Gordon’s wing these groups toured and performed widely from 1993 to his death in 2021 throughout America and Europe to great critical acclaim. We hope to resurrect the tradition before long.
Our Mission
Village Harmony is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) educational organization dedicated to the study, performance and celebration of diverse styles of traditional choral music. Working with an international team of culture-bearing musicians we provide a wide range of educational and performance opportunities for amateur musicians around the world. Our aim is to promote cultural awareness and community through direct and ethical cultural exchange.