New England Residential Adult Camp
Monday, July 12-Sunday, July 18, 2027 (7 days)
Leaders: Bongani Magatyana, Natalie Nowytski & Sarina Partridge
Location: Woolman Hill Retreat - Deerfield, MA
Tuition:
- $1150 for shared room accommodations
- $800 commuter option
It has been hard to tell friends and family about the week, because no matter what I say it is never enough! ... I don’t want to get maudlin here, but if this first week is anything to go by, I have seen some small ways in which it has been life changing, with more respect for myself and those around me, and a renewed sense of life as rich & good.
What I treasure most is the gift of having met so many excellent people, having formed such strong bonds in such a short time.
I am convinced it is the fact that we were making music together, singing with our very breath & being, that helped form those bridges.
– Adult camp participant
Come join us for seven days of eclectic musical stimulation at Woolman Hill Retreat, an idyllic western Massachusetts setting.
This year’s New England adult week will be led by South African composer-choir conductor Bongani Magatyana, award-winning Cleveland-based Balkan singer Natalie Nowytski, and Twin Cities singer-song leader Sarina Partridge.
The framework of the week-long residency will be communal, with everyone taking turns to help prepare meals and clean under the supervision of a head cook. The menu will be primarily vegetarian, responsive to the tastes, needs and culinary talents of our camp participants.
Natalie will lead some unforgettable warm-ups; as she herself writes, “… I help people learn unique techniques and reclaim confidence, while through somatic voice coaching and therapeutic sound, my clients discover what “home” sounds like in their body.”
Extra-curricular activities will include an afternoon off for hiking, a Georgian-style supra (feast) and a cabaret night.
The program will conclude with a low-key concert (or two) to show off what we’ve accomplished during the week.
-
Bongani Magatyana
Bongani Magatyana is a music director, composer and theatrical producer living in Khayelitsha Township in Cape Town, South Africa. His father was a self-taught choir conductor in the Old Apostolic Church who taught him how to read and write tonic-solfa music notation at a young age. Today Bongani conducts large OAC choirs himself. He also composes and directs for an educational theatrical company, leads a male choir and a successful children’s choir, and continues to compose music in a variety of genres, bringing vibrant performances to communities across Cape Town.
Bongani’s folk-inspired choral compositions are popular pieces for South Africa’s major choral competitions and are sung by choirs throughout South Africa and internationally.
Bongani has taught with Village Harmony every year since 2012 at our study-performance camps and workshops in South Africa, the US and the EU.
-
Natalie Nowytski
Natalie Nowytski has been leading Village Harmony camps and workshops for teens and adults since 2011 and has been a guest teacher for Boston Harmony. A Minnesota-based international performer, award-winning composer, and music educator, Natalie’s repertoire spans more than 50 languages — including her native Ukrainian — and dozens of stylistic nuances. She calls Eastern European traditional vocal styling her superpower, sharing these techniques through her workshops and on stage for music, theater, and dance. She has studied and performed with folk luminaries across the US, Bulgaria, France, Czech Republic, and Serbia. Natalie began her directing career at age 14 and has since directed and consulted for notable ensembles throughout the US, also teaching a wide range of students from elementary age to PhD candidates in university and beyond. Natalie is known for her enthusiasm for helping students unlock their capabilities with her disarming nature and command of the human voice. Her Village Harmony sessions often include music from Bulgaria and Ukraine, peppered with pieces from elsewhere in the Balkan peninsula and the Carpathian mountains.
-
Sarina Partridge
Sarina Partridge is a musician, song-leader and educator in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She feels most alive when learning, creating and sharing songs, and enjoys singing with a wide variety of music projects - Eastern European and Yiddish song, old-time music, community song-leading... and everything in between. Sarina has traveled around the world to study with master folk singers, and has toured with the traveling ensemble Northern Harmony abroad and in the USA. She has a passion for connecting people with their own creativity and with community, and uses singing to help folks develop a sense of wonder for this wild world around us. Let’s sing!
Sarina performs and teaches with several music projects/ensembles (Heartwood, Nanilo) and as a solo artist and educator; teaches at music camps (Village Harmony, Songroots, Folklore Village) and leads regular community sings and workshops in and around Minneapolis.
Woolman Hill Retreat Center
Deerfield, MA
Woolman Hill is a Quaker retreat center situated on 110 acres of beautiful meadows and woods in the Connecticut Valley of western Massachusetts.
The center offers a peaceful atmosphere for retreats, meetings, and celebrations. We welcome many types of events, including non-profit, social service, educational, and faith-based gatherings, family reunions, weddings, and personal retreats.
The retreat’s facilities include the newly renovated (and air conditioned) farmhouse where our rehearsals, dining room and kitchen, and many of our bedrooms will be located. Other buildings available to us include are the historic Meeting House, a housekeeping cottage and three small cabins.
Woolman Hill is graced with 110 acres of open meadows and woodlands. The main campus is surrounded by large open meadows; beyond them, trails lead into the forest in all directions. The dark night sky is perfect for stargazing. Woolman Hill is at the end of a country road, with very little traffic. Trail maps will be available.