2008 Camps and Workshops
Corsica
June 14-July 5, 2008
I Fioretti (Convent of St Francis), Canari village, Cap Corse, Corsica
Led by Patty Cuyler, Frank Kane, Jean-Etienne Langianni
Tuition: $1500
In Corsica, for all its reputation as a Meditteranean beach mecca, one still has the opportunity to see the traditional culture and hear older singers perform in the old style. Our third performance workshop in Corsica, this will once again be largely a study tour, with emphasis placed on working with local singers and learning about the culture of the province. Participants can fly or take a ferry from France or Italy to the island. We will all meet in Bastia on the eastern side of Cap Corse and then be transported—literally, but certainly also figuratively—to the old village of Canari on the west, with its picturesque clock tower, old confrerie and ancient paths winding up the mountainside. There we will stay in the town gite, I Fioretti, an 18th-c. convent recently converted into a luxurious hostel, with en suite rooms, several apartments with kitchen facilities, and a beautiful old attached church where much of our rehearsing will take place.
We are privileged to be able to study Corsican folk polyphony and chants during our rehearsal week with Jean-Etienne Langianni—member of Tavagna and the Paris-based early music group Organum—who will be joining us again from his home village of Borgo near Bastia. We will also be learning songs from Caucasus Georgia and a set of songs from American and other world genres for our concert program. We’ll likely give at least a half-dozen concerts—there are any number of beautiful little churches in Corsican villages at our disposal—but we will place more importance on making ourselves available to meet with other ensembles, visit villages with traditional singers and attend festivals where we might just listen or where we might sing without calling it a concert.
This camp is intended for experienced older high school and college students and adults who are ready to tackle the challenges of the Corsican folk song style with its often elaborate ornamentation and precise intonation.
Testimonials
A letter from new friends in Canari:
July, 2006
Dear Friends of Village Harmony,
We are a French/American family with deep roots in the hameau of Vignale in the village of Canari. The following is a note written by John to our three adult children (due in the village for their holiday later in the summer) celebrating the visit of Village Harmony, in June of this year, to our little corner of the world.
I’m writing this year’s Canari Letter while still in Canari. I’m doing this because I can’t wait to tell you a super story. You may remember that 2 years ago an American singing ‘camp’ came to stay for 3 weeks or so in Canari while giving concerts throughout the Cap. I use the word ‘camp’ because this is a self-selected assembly of able singers, aged from 16 to 70, who meet in Nice for the first time four days or so before they give their first concert. Their repertoire includes Corsican polyphonic chants, American shape note spirituals, Georgian (Eastern Europe) folk songs and South African music.
The camp is back in Canari this year —different cast of folks, same leadership. Last night, was this year’s first concert. On Friday there was a funeral in the church so the group couldn’t practice there. Out into the streets they ventured to find an appropriate place. I first heard them roaming through the ruelle on their way to our chapel here in Vignale. It turns out the chapel didn’t work (roof must be leaking again —and I’m sure it is moldy). Susie heard them talking in the alley and went down to offer them our tour (tower) as a place to rehearse. One by one, 27 Americans and their Corsican teacher passed through our bedroom into the tower. In 15 minutes or so the tower was filled with Corsican music. Susie and I sat on the terrassina and listened. It was very exhilarating to hear a choral challenge coming from our tower stairway and then hear the 3 part response of 20 plus voices. But perhaps the most moving aspect was when we heard a rustling sound in the ruelle and looked over the jardiniere to see the ruelle filling with village folks listening intently. The group rehearsed for about 3 hours and then went on their way after a tour of the rest of the house (oh, and the toilets).
Last night we went to their first concert and we were just blown away. Of the 27 singers 24 sang lead on one song or another and frankly it put ‘American Idol’ to shame. The church was packed and the singers received several standing ovations. The Americans optimism was compelling. There were times when on a particular number the lead would start too high or too low and they would need to begin again. Without unnecessary apologies, each time they would find their notes and complete truly moving interpretations. Their Corsican renditions were very warmly received. At the end several of the choristers came over to us to thank us for the use of the tower and to invite us to drinks/dinner whenever we could make it. They will be singing tonight in Rogliano and Tuesday night in Barretelli —we’re having lunch with Rene in Bastia Tuesday but we’ll try to get to Barretelli for the 9pm concert. It all adds to my satisfaction that we raised the tower (*note: a 16th century Genoise signal tower attached to our house) from its rubble.
What a wonderful gift to our village! The energy and optimisim of the group coupled with their game willingness to tackle difficult harmonies and arrangements so central to the Corsican identity —and to do it so competently —was a contribution beyond measure. The entire village looks forward to the next visit of Village Harmony and we wish everyone who shared their time and talents with us this summer the best in their future endeavors. Thank you for using your gifts to create a warm and rich ode to Canari.
All the best,
Susie E.
Faculty
PATTY CUYLER of Marshfield, Vermont, is an energetic,
dynamic workshop leader and director with special expertise in teaching
Corsican, Georgian and South African singing and dance music. Her passion
for honest, direct music coaxes fierce, forthright singing out of even
the most timid singers. An instrumentalist from an early age, Patty is
a brass player and self-taught accordion player. Since 1995 she has co-directed Village
Harmony and Northern Harmony with Larry; in 2002 she founded
the women’s Corsican trio Eccuci, and began the Montpelier
World Music Chorus and Boston Harmony in 2004. Patty
has edited a number of song books of South African, Georgian and Bulgarian
folk music and has a large library of her own transcriptions. Patty
will be teaching South African dance-songs and Georgian and Corsican a
cappella singing at the Winter Workshop.
FRANK KANE first heard Georgian songs in 1982 and traveled to Georgia for
the first time in 1984. This was the beginning of a long-standing
passion which led him to found the Kartuli Ensemble in the United
States and later the Marani and Irinola ensembles in
France. His teaching approach uses exercises with vibration, the
raw material of our voices and our selves, to shed light on the principles
that underlie this singing. Working with the essence of the voice as revealed
in Georgian song brings insights that can enhance any form of singing and
the speaking voice and offers a rich path of self-discovery. This
will be Frank’s fourth year working with Village Harmony.
JEAN-ETIENNE LANGIANNI is a well-known and widely-appreciated
singer, composer and teacher on his native island of Corsica. He is an amazingly
diverse musician who feels at home in contemporary French-language popular
music, music from all periods of European classical polyphony, and of course
the polyphonic folk song of Corsica.
He has been working in Corsica for many years as a singing/guitar teacher with young people and now leads workshops of Corsican folk and sacred music, both in Corsica and throughout Western Europe. He tours in Europe and beyond with Tavagna (Corsican folk music group) and Organum (ancient music ensemble led by Marcel Peres).
He is a talented composer whose works reveal a deep understanding of the structure of Corsican folk and sacred music, his main sources of inspiration. This is Jean-Etienne’s third time working with Village Harmony/Northern Harmony in Corsica.