MONTECONERO VOICE WORKSHOP
  8 to 14 June 2013, led by Ghislaine Morgan

MUSIC AT MONTECONERO
15 to 21 June 2013, led by Carlos Aransay

In 2013 there are again two consecutive week-long courses at Monteconero: the first, with Ghislaine Morgan, focuses on vocal technique, while the second, with Carlos Aransay, 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 experienced at working with amateur singers and the atmosphere will be relaxed and informal.

MONTECONERO VOICE WORKSHOP
8 to 14 June 2013
The Voice Workshop has the aim of sending participants away with improved vocal technique, or more simply, a better voice. It is designed to appeal to the amateur singer who enjoys singing in a small ensemble or chamber choir and wants to do it a little more seriously. You may already have had singing lessons, or like many of us, always wanted to but found it all too easy to find reasons to put it off - lack of time or money, or doubts about being able to find the right teacher. A similar course that Ghislaine led at Monteconero in 2012 was a revelation: even after the first day the group was producing a completely different, vastly expanded sound.

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.

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.

Carlos Aransay is doyen of the many Spanish musicians now living in London: founder and director of the award-winning Coro Cervantes, leading light of the Iberian and Latin American Music Society, the inspiration behind Lacock’s ongoing pilgrimage to the great Spanish cathedrals and courses in Mexico and Cuba, first port of call for advice on matters Hispanic for organisations such as Deutsche Grammophon and Covent Garden and a regular orchestral conductor the length and breadth of Latin America from the pampas to the Rio Grande.

MUSIC AT MONTECONERO
15 to 21 June 2013

 Spain and Italy
Josquin des Prez (c1450-1521) ~ Mille regretz
Cristóbal de Morales (1500-1553) ~ Missa Mille regretz
Juan Ponce (1480-1521) ~ Francia, cuenta tu ganancia
Adrian Willaert (1490-1562) ~ Zoia zentil
 Charles V (attrib.,1500-1558) ~ Ecce si benedecetur
 Jacob Clemens non Papa (c1510-c1556) ~ Carole magnus eras

composers from Le Marche
Alessandro Costantini (b. Staffolo, near Ancona, 1581-1657) ~ Ego sum panis vivus
 Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (b. Iesi, 1710-1736) ~ O sacrum convivium
 Gioacchino Rossini (b. Pesaro, 1792-1868) ~ O salutaris hostia

The connexions between Spain and Italy in the Renaissance were just as much cultural as they were military and political. Both Morales and Victoria spent long periods in Rome. Morales published his magisterial six-part Mass on Josquin’s chanson in Rome towards the end of his ten year stint as singer in the papal choir. A generation earlier, Josquin had presented a copy of his chanson to Charles V, the most powerful ruler in Christendom: Carolus Maximus, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Castile, Aragon, Sicily, Sardinia, Naples and the New World. Clemens’s piece, secular in intent but sacred in form, celebrates the achievements of the emperor and looks forward to greater splendour under his son. The programme also includes three pieces by composers local to 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.

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 £335), plus a local hotel tax at a rate yet to be determined, but likely to be only a few percent. 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 Saturday evening (8 June or 15 June). Then from Sunday to Thursday 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 Thursday 20 June. The courses end after breakfast on the Friday.

All the music you will need will be printed in a booklet and sent to you in advance. This is included in the fee for the course.

It pays to book travel early. Ancona is the nearest airport; Ryanair fly there from Stansted. The hotel will send a minibus to meet the Saturday flight and we will arrange the sharing of taxis for other arrivals. 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 £195 or €245 on registration (this will be returned in full if you have to withdraw before 1 April; after that you may hold it over to another course) and €250 on arrival. You may pay the deposit by any of these methods:

    a sterling cheque for £195 payable to A van der Beek

    online transfer of £195 to account 00703787, sort code12-11-03, or for international transfers, IBAN GB02 BOFS 1211 0300 7037 87, BIC BOFSGB21238

    in the Netherlands, a transfer of €245 to account 83.52.00.205 (A van der Beek, Lacock)

    elsewhere in the Euro area, transfer of €245 to IBAN NL23 FTSB 0835 2002 05, BIC FTSBNL2R.

Email us for further enquiries about Music at Monteconero.

FOR A REGISTRATION FORM FOR BOTH COURSES, CLICK HERE.