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MONTECONERO VOICE WORKSHOP In 2012 there are two consecutive week-long courses at Monteconero: the first, with Ghislaine Morgan, focuses on vocal technique,
while the second is the traditional Monteconero week based on repertoire. As a venue, Monteconero could hardly be bettered: a mediaeval abbey on a mountain top overlooking the Adriatic, now converted into a comfortable hotel with
an excellent swimming pool and a reputation for the gastronomic specialities of the Marche. We rehearse in the Romanesque church that still stands at its centre. Both leaders are MONTECONERO VOICE WORKSHOP Each day will begin with a warm-up session, which in itself will be a lesson on how to approach this important facet of vocal care. The warm-up will be followed by group workshop sessions on aspects
of vocal technique of particular interest to the ensemble singer, covering such topics as posture, breathing, voice production, extension of range, breaks in register, intonation, balance and blend. Some sessions will be in
masterclass format, with an individual or small group receiving tuition and the rest of the course participating as auditors. Some time will be spent in singing with the whole ensemble or smaller groups, but perfect sight-reading
is not a requirement: the music will be sent to participants in advance. The repertoire will naturally focus on the Renaissance, the great era of unaccompanied vocal music, but will include music of later periods. |
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As a former member of leading early music groups such as The Tallis Scholars and The Sixteen, Ghislaine Morgan has a deep insight into the sort of vocal challenges that singers in small ensembles have to surmount. She has developed an approach that demystifies vocal technique and makes it both fun and simple to learn. Her highly effective methods have made her one of London's most sought-after teachers, especially among singers whose main sphere of activity is early music. |
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Patrick Craig has spent the last fifteen years singing countertenor in the Tallis Scholars, The Cardinall's Musick and St Paul's Cathedral Choir. Alongside this he has also conducted his own group, Aurora Nova, Britain's leading professional all-female choir, who regularly sing in St Paul's. He has also acted as guest conductor of the Cardinall's Musick at the Brighton, Brinkburn and Aldeburgh Festivals, and the Cecilia Consort in Newbury in major works by Poulenc, Rutter and Carissimi. Over the past ten years he has also conducted, taught and lectured at Tallis Scholars Summer Schools in Oakham, Seattle and Sydney. |
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MUSIC AT MONTECONERO This course is for experienced and confident choral singers of all ages. You should be a good reader and be comfortable singing a line by yourself, be able to manage a short solo passage (though of course you can always decline the offer), have a blending voice with full dynamic range, be used to normal choral discipline and be able to respond quickly to direction – the aim being to combine professional pace of work with amateur enthusiasm in a holiday setting. The group will be of chamber scale with an average of five or fewer voices to a part in the larger-scale works. |
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We all stay at the Hotel Monteconero, which gives exceptional value for the degree of comfort on offer. The rate for half board per person per day
excluding drinks in a double room is €70 (for the whole course €420, about £365); for full board the rate is €82.
There is a daily supplement of €19 for
single occupancy. A room will be booked for you on registration; you pay the charges direct to the hotel. Those staying for both courses will not be charged by the hotel for the intervening Saturday. The plan is to
meet for dinner on the opening Sunday evening (10 June or 17 June). Then from Monday to Friday there will be rehearsal sessions each morning and another at the end of the afternoon. We have dinner together in the hotel. In Music at
Monteconero we will give a final concert in the church at the hotel in the evening of Friday 22 June. The courses end after breakfast on the Saturday. Most of the music will be printed in a booklet and sent to you in
advance. This is included in the fee for the course. You may be asked to buy some music from other publishers. It pays to book travel early. Ancona is the nearest airport; Ryanair fly there from Stansted. We will
organise a hotel minibus or the sharing of taxis from the popular flights. Monteconero is also served by the A14 motorway; the nearest train station is Ancona.
The fee for the course is paid in two parts: a deposit of £190 or a sterling cheque for £190 payable to A van der Beek online transfer of £180 to account 00703787, sort code12-11-03, or for international transfers, in the Netherlands, a transfer of €220 elsewhere in the Euro area, transfer of €220 FOR A REGISTRATION FORM FOR BOTH COURSES, |