2008 Camps and Workshops
Teen Residential Camp
Friday, July 25 – Sunday, August 3
In residence at the Roundhouse, Colrain, MA
Suzannah Park, Eva Primack, Craig Schaffer
Tuition: $675
This camp is geared for teenagers new to Village Harmony or those who can’t commit three weeks to a traveling camp.
An especially energetic and exciting trio of folk singer/directors for this camp session! Suzannah Park from North Carolina, who grew up performing with Village Harmony as well as with her professional folk-singing family, brings her infectious humor and remarkable command of traditional Appalachian harmonies and ornamentation to the group. Eva Primack, a powerhouse New York City singer who grew up singing Balkan music, will lead Macedonian, Albanian and Turkish songs. and put together a rollicking dance band with campers who bring their instruments along. And Craig Schaffer from western France, who was introduced to Village Harmony in Caucasus Georgia a few years ago and is leading one of our camps for the first time, is a dynamic performer, choir leader and composer, and will be teaching a set of Georgian songs as well as some of his own pieces.
We will rehearse at the Roundhouse, with its beautiful domed ceiling singing space and whimsical sleeping nooks—always a treat for all. The session will culminate with Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon concert performances.
The Roundhouse, Colrain MA
http://www.roundhouseculture.com/
This marvelous 14-sided facility is filled with ingenious and fanciful detail work. The main room is round, with an
encircling balcony and a three-story domed ceiling. There are ample nooks and corners for reading, relaxing and
socializing. Most beds are in small sleeping cubbies resembling ships’ berths, radiating off a circular hallway.
There are also a number of private sleeping rooms, both in the house and in the adjacent small cottage, plus tent
space on the land.
Faculty
SUZANNAH PARK began participating in Village Harmony Camp
when she was twelve, but has been singing virtually from the moment she could
speak. She comes from a family of three generations of professional traditional
musicians and singers, and has performed and taught for the past 13 years.
Her intuitive teaching style, born of a lifetime of familiarity with American
folk music, makes her an extremely valuable teacher. She recently moved back
to North Carolina, the place of her birth, where she is making music, gardening
and clogging. This is Suzannah's seventh year teaching at Village Harmony.
For more information please visit: www.suzannahpark.com.
EVA PRIMACK has
been singing Eastern European folk music since she was seven years
old. She has studied, traveled, performed and taught internationally. A
graduate of UCLA's Ethnomusicology department,
Eva is now based in New York City, where she performs regularly with Slavic
Soul Party! as well as many other Balkan community-based
musicians. Eva's most recent fascinations are Southern Albanian
and Corsican songs. Eva will be teaching Balkan folk songs from
a variety of traditions, ranging from Bulgarian to Albanian
with some Macedonian Rom and possibly a sprinkling of Turkish. This
will be Eva’s second year teaching at Village Harmony camp.
CRAIG SCHAFFER comes from a family of musicians in Northern
California. After touring in France in 1994 with his folk band, he decided
to move to Europe. In Paris, he discovered traditional Georgian songs and
joined the Marani ensemble. His passion for Georgian music led him,
in 1996, to form trio Mze Shina, with which he has toured and taught
this traditional music in Europe and Canada to people of all ages. Mze
Shina has produced two CDs distributed internationally. He co-directs
two choirs specialized in Georgian songs with his wife and singing partner
Denise and teaches workshops regularly. Craig also writes songs including à cappella
pieces and plays Appalachian dulcimer. He performs his compositions with
his other vocal trio, So WAX. This will be Craig’s
first year teaching with Village Harmony.
Visit Mze Shina's myspace page.
So WAX has a myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/waxworksbeyond