2009
Mid-Year Workshops for Teens and Adults
Village Harmony at the Common Ground Center
July 3-10
Led by Mary Cay Brass, Kathy Bullock, Matlakala Bopape
This summer Village Harmony introduces a new camp format in a new location, a seven day-long residential singing workshop open to both adults and teenagers set on the beautiful campus of Starkboro’s Common Ground Center. Led by three of Village Harmony’s most popular and dynamic leaders, this will be a blow-out session of Balkan, high-energy gospel and South African singing and dance. Mary Cay, a veteran of Village Harmony’s early days, will teach urban, village and sacred songs of the Balkans with a focus on Bosnia. Kathy, a highenergy singer-teacher from Berea, KY, will lead the group with soul-filled gospel and fabulous piano playing. Matlakala, who has taught with VH all over the globe, will bring an exciting set of South African songs & dances.
The Common Ground Center, nestled in the valley between the Hogback and Green Mountains a 1/2-hour’s drive south of Burlington, Vermont, is a 700-acre property full of hiking trails, spacious meadows and scenic wetlands. The meandering Lewis Creek, a two-acre swimming pond, new tennis courts and the myriad other indoor and outdoor spaces ensure that everyone will have plenty to do in between singing sessions.
Rehearsals will be in the Haybarn, a stunningly-renovated historic barn in the main building complex. Daily dance sessions and an end-of-camp recital will be held in the big dining hall, where delicious, wholesome meals will be also be prepared and served by Common Ground staff. Twenty rustic cabins in the maple grove provide shared accommodations.
Camp begins with supper on Friday, July 3rd and will end following lunch on Friday, July 10th. The week will culminate with an evening concert, open to Village Harmony friends and family, on Thursday night.
Up to 70 participants.
At Common Ground Center, Startksboro, Vermont
$725 adults/$675 teens
Leaders
MATLAKALA BOPAPE, of Polokwane, South Africa, is the director of Polokwane Choral Society—a community-based group whose aim is nurturing musical talent in African society. As a director, Matlakala is committed to drawing out musical excellence from her singers, as well as exposing them to musical cultures of the world. Her limitless patience, careful attention to vocal technique, and rich repertoire of folk and contemporary South African choral music make her a formidable teacher. This will be Matlakala’s ninth year teaching with Village Harmony, after a fortuitous initial meeting with Larry and Patty at Festival 500 in St. John, Newfoundland in 1999.
MARY CAY BRASS of Putney, VT Mary Cay Brass is a veteran of the early days of VH. She directs several community choirs in Vermont and Massachusetts and is the co-musical director of Hallowell Hospice Choir. Mary Cay is also a highly-sought after contra-dance keyboardist and accordion player. She spent two and a half years in the former Yugoslavia on a Fulbright Scholarship in ethnomusicology. She has published two book/CD collections of music from that region. Recently, she has led two very successful Village Harmony camps in Bosnia.
KATHY BULLOCK’s father was a Baptist minister, and she grew up singing and playing piano and organ in his church and performing with her four sisters. She is a professor of music at Berea College where, in addition to teaching music theory and ear training, she teaches courses in African- American music and directs the Black Music Ensemble, a boys’ choir that performs music from the African-American tradition and by African-American composers. This will be Kathy’s fourth year leading a Village Harmony session.
Common Ground Center
Starksboro, Vermont
Common Ground Center is a non-profit retreat center located 30 minutes south of Burlington. The camp’s 700 acre property was the site of an old horse and potato farm. Facilities include the office/farmhouse, three large renovated barns providing dining, recreation and program space, and 20 non-electrified residential cabins plus tenting platforms/ campsites housing up to 120 people. Miles of well-maintained hiking trails, 2-acre swimming pond, game rooms, tennis and indoor basketball courts, stream with swimming holes.