Teen Traveling Camp I

June 25-July 11, 2027

  • Leaders: Patty Cuyler, Bongani Magatyana & Magda Sharff

  • Rehearsal location: Stump Sprouts Lodge, Hawley, MA

  • Tuition: $2150
    Financial aid is available for this camp, based on need. You'll need to apply first and pay your deposit. Should we not be able to make the finances work for you, you may withdraw your registration with no penalty.

  • A $250 deposit is required when you register online. The balance of tuition will be due in two parts: February 15, 2027 and May 1, 2027.

Register online now

Our first teen traveling camp of the 2027 summer will be led by Village Harmony director Patty Cuyler; South African choral director Bongani Magatyana and VH alumna Magda Sharff.

Repertoire will include American shape-note repertoire and traditional songs from South Africa, Corsica, Georgia, Bulgaria and Bosnia. Instrumentalists among our singers will be able to join Magda and Patty to accompany our Balkan dance songs.

Village Harmony’s 17 day-long teen traveling camps are open to young singers ages 12 to 18. Auditions aren’t required to attend our Village Harmony (VH) camps. If you like singing full force and galumphing about the countryside performing for appreciative audiences, these summer camps are for you.  

Like all VH teen camps, we will begin with a week of rehearsal in residence at a retreat center. This summer’s rehearsals will be held at one of our favorites—Stump Sprouts Retreat in Hawley, western Massachusetts, followed by a 10-day tour around New England.


Meet the leaders

  • Patty Cuyler

    Patty Cuyler, born in California, educated at Princeton University, long-time resident of Vermont and currently living in Marshfield, VT, is an energetic, dynamic workshop leader and choral director. Patty is internationally-renowned for her expertise in teaching Corsican, Georgian and South African music. After acting as the co-director starting in 1995, Patty has been VH’s head director and CEO since late 2021.

    Over the years Patty spear-headed the expansion of the organization’s reach into the four corners of the globe. It was primarily Patty’s vision and labor that shaped VH’s successful response to the pandemic year and launched the online programs that allowed Village Harmony to sustain itself until we could resume our in-person programs.

  • 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.

    https://bonganimusic.com/

  • Magda Sharff

    Born and raised in Southern Vermont, Magda Sharff is a Village Harmony and Northern Harmony alumna and lifelong lover of community song and dance. She has traveled with Village Harmony to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Corsica, and Sweden. 

    Though she has always been passionate about singing, dancing, and playing the accordion, Magda's love for teaching music was ignited through leading workshops with a series of small Northern Harmony ensembles in 2020 and 2021.

    Occasionally accused of being a vocal chameleon, Magda loves to dip her toes into new genres, but tends to focus on close harmonies, heart-wrenching melodies, and all things crunchy. Bosnian village songs, Sevdalinke, and Corsican polyphony make her heart sing. 

Residential & rehearsal space

Stump Sprouts Lodge, Hawley, MA:
Hand-built and furnished almost entirely with wood harvested from our land, the Lodge has seven guest rooms, a large living room and a complete kitchen and dining room. Everywhere there are large windows taking in the magnificent view. Lofts, cozy nooks, art work, plants, and a fireplace.

Not exactly a hotel, motel or B&B, Stump Sprouts is in a unique category of its own. In keeping with the owners’ simple philosophy, overnight guests share bathrooms and bring their own sheets, blankets, pillows & towels (there will be a limited number of sets for rent if you cannot do this for some reason).

All rooms have a double bed in them and most have a single or bunk bed as well. Rooms are decorated with original art, barn board, old farm implements, etc.

Village Harmony’s rehearsal space will be in a beautifully refinished barn, with superb cross-ventilation and large windows looking out over a gorgeous mountainscape.