About Us
Boston Harmony and Montpelier World Music Chorus
Join the Choir!
“Larry and Patty, both passionate about music and authenticity, manage to create among 'strangers' a strong sense of community. How do they do this? Simply by being real, by being genuine and by calling out the best in people through awesome music and relaxed fun. Their infectious joy spreads quickly, and everyone is caught up in a wonderful experience of creative and jubilant music-making.”
“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.”
We are looking for new singers of all voice parts and all ages, 12 and older, to join us for the 2008-09 singing season. Boston Harmony and the Montpelier World Music Chorus, both choirs led by the dynamic team of Patty Cuyler and Larry Gordon and both starting on their fourth year, are community choirs open to teens and adults of all singing experience.
Come stretch your musical boundaries and learn to sing an exciting, fulfilling and most likely challenging repertoire, to include dance-songs from South Africa, folk polyphony from Corsica, the Balkans & Caucasus Georgia, shape-note songs, traditional American folk arrangements, and gospel quartet, blues & bluegrass songs. Much of the teaching in these choirs is done by ear—when we read from scores we also teach by rote—so music-reading and prior singing experience, while great assets, are by no means necessary to participate. We don’t require auditions. If you want to sing with us, then WE want YOU.
Both Patty and Larry have infectious, inclusive leading styles that are demanding without being perfectionist. They are the co-directors of the larger organization Village Harmony, which sponsors singing camps and workshops throughout the world in which participants study traditional polyphonic singing styles first-hand Quite a few of the choirs’ singers have participated in one or more of these camps.
The Montpelier World Music Chorus
Join the Choir!
The 2008-9 season of the Montpelier World Music Chorus, directed by Larry Gordon and Patty Cuyler, co-directors of Village Harmony, begins next Wednesday, September 10th, from 7-9 pm at Christ Church on State Street in Montpelier.
Come sing with us this, our 4th year! No auditions! Teens and adults, whether you read music fluently or you only sing in the shower, everyone is welcome!
We choose from an exciting and wide-ranging repertoire, honest music from among the world's most powerful harmony-singing traditions: dance-songs from South Africa, folk music from western and eastern Europe (England, Germany, Italy, Corsica, Bulgaria, Georgia, Ukraine, ex-Yugoslavia), American shape-note songs and Appalachian folk songs, spirituals and gospel quartet songs, blues and bluegrass songs.
Much of the teaching in the choir is done by ear, and even when we read from scores we teach by rote to the group, so ability to read music and prior singing experience are really not necessary.
Larry and Patty are leaders so knowledgeable and comfortable with sharing that learning is, if not exactly effortless, certainly painless and exhilarating--even with the challenges of unfamiliar languages and diverse musical styles.
The new season begins next Wednesday, September 10th. [Some of you may note that this is a week earlier than was previously announced.]
The WMC will rehearse every Wednesday night, 7-9 pm, at Christ Church--the stone church opposite the post office on State Street--upstairs in the auditorium.
This fall Patty and Larry will be away in Europe on a performing tour from mid-September through late November. They will be teaching September 10, 17 and 24 and will resume teaching on December 3.
In the meantime, Katie Trautz, talented young director of the Summit School of Music and Village Harmony alumna, will teach the chorus during the weeks from October 1-November 19.
The fall semester tuition (14 sessions, September 10-December 17) will be $90.
CREATIVE BARTER FOR TUITION WILL BE HAPPILY ACCEPTED; so please don't decide you can't come just because you can't pay the tuition.
Anyone is welcome to test-drive the choir, you can just show up at the first rehearsal. It gets better and better every year.
For more info or to let us know you are coming: telephone us at (802) 426-3210, or email us at vharmony@sover.net
Boston Harmony
Boston Harmony normally rehearses one weekend a month at the Masonic Hall in Concord, MA; sometimes for two days – Saturday 2-8 PM and Sunday 10:30-3:00 – and sometimes just Saturday from 10:30-5:00. We can arrange overnight hosting for people from out of town (we often have participants joining in from New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Maine, and Larry and Patty commute from northern Vermont).
The remaining rehersals for the 2008-2009 calendar year are as follows
- January 24-25 – Concord Masonic Lodge
- February 21 – Satuday10:30-5:00, All Saints' Church, 10 Billerica Rd. Chelmsford 01824
- March 14-15 – Concord Masonic Lodge
- April 18 – Satuday10:30-5:00, Concord Masonic Lodge
The season will culminate with a series of performances in April and May.
- April 26 - NEFFA
- May 10 - Mothers Day in Montpelier, a joint concert with the Montpelier World Music Choir
- May 16 – Amherst concert
- May 17 - Boston area concert
Two day rehearsals are Saturday 2 - 8, and Sunday 10:30 -3. Saturday only rehearsals are 10:30 - 5:00
Our other rehearsal weekends are:
- September 6-7
- December 13-14
- January 24-25
- February 21
- March 14
- April 11
The season will culminate with a series of performances in April and May.
- April 25-26 - NEFFA May 10 - Mothers Day in Montpelier, a joint concert with the Montpelier World Music Choir
- May (15)-16-17 - Boston area concerts
Tuition: $225 for the year, which can be paid in installments.
If you think you might be interested in singing with Boston Harmony, save the dates and send us an email: vharmony@sover.net to let us know you plan to come to the first rehearsal weekend. You can also call Liza Carter at (978) 371-7317, or call Larry or Patty at the Village Harmony office at (802) 426-3210, for more information.
Directions to the October 18 site, All Saints' Church,
10 Billerica Rd. Chelmsford, VT 01824 (directions to the usual rehearsal space run further down this webpage.)
- Coming North on I-495, get off at Exit 33, turn right (Route 4, South). After passing the Chelmsford Town Common and a white Church on your right, turn left and then go straight across to Billerica Rd (Route 129). The Church will be the 2nd building on your left.
- Coming South on I-495, get off at Exit 34, and turn right onto Chelmsford St (Route 110). Turn left on Wilson St. (Feeney Florist) then right on Billerica Rd (Route 129). The Church will be on your right after a few houses.
- Coming South on Route 3, get off at Exit 32 and head South on Route 4. You will cross I-495. Follow instructions #1.
- Coming North on Route 3, get off at Exit 29, Route 129, and turn right (West, towards Chelmsford). Follow Route 129 all the way into Chelmsford Center (2.5 miles). The Church will be on your right just before 129 ends.
- Public Transportation: According to the Lowell Regional Transit Authority website (http://www.lrta.com ) bus route #16 runs on Saturday. This can get you from the Lowell MBTA Station (Kennedy Center/Gallagher Terminal) to Marshall's Plaza (Stop N Shop). From there it is a short walk to the Church. However, it only runs until about 5PM. The last train from Lowell to Boston leaves at 9PM.
Directions to Rehearsal sites
Directions to Christ Church in Montpelier
Directions to Masonic Temple in Concord
From Route 2 Westbound
Continue until Route 2 takes a 90 degree turn to the left at the bottom of a hill next to a Mobil station.
Go STRAIGHT at this intersection aprox 4 1/2 miles.
At the first and only stop sign (just past the Concord Museum), the road ends at an angle. Turn/bear left and continue into Concord Center - aprox. 1/2 mile.
Monument Square is a small green common with an obolisk in the middle. The Colonial Inn is directly ahead of you. Continue around Monument Square passing the turn off for Lowell Road.
The next building is the Christian Science Church and the Maonic Temple is next to the church.
Parking: On Saturdays you can park behind the Christian Science Church. On Sundays, Christian Scientists use the space and have asked that their parking lot not be used by non-members (even though it will look fairly empty). Either park on the street on in the municipal lots.
If you get lost, try Liza Carter at: 978-371-7317