MONTECONERO VOICE WORKSHOP
10 to 16 June 2012, led by Ghislaine Morgan

MUSIC AT MONTECONERO
17 to 23 June 2012, led by Patrick Craig

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 experienced at working with amateur singers and the atmosphere will be relaxed and informal.

MONTECONERO VOICE WORKSHOP
10 to 16 June 2012
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 for Lacock in April 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.

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.

MUSIC AT MONTECONERO
17 to 23 June 2012
Thomas Weelkes ~ When David heard and O Jonathon, woe is me
Thomas Tomkins ~ When David heard
Robert Ramsey ~ When David heard, How are the mighty fallen
and Wilt thou unkind now leave me weeping?
Eric Whitaker ~ When David heard
Nicolas Gombert ~ Lugebat Absalom
Josquin des Pres ~ Planxit autem

Patrick Craig writes: "2012 marks the 400th anniversary of the death of Prince Henry, glamorous heir to the throne of England and Scotland. His death from typhoid at the age of eighteen provoked an outpouring of grief which included musical expressions from the country's leading composers, most famously in the When David heard settings of Weelkes and Tomkins. David's grief at the lynching of his son Absalom in the second book of Samuel has inspired some of our most emotionally powerful choral music and we will explore music from before and after 1612 using these devastating texts, including works by Gombert, Josquin and Eric Whitacre".

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 £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 220 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 220 on arrival. You may pay the deposit by any of these methods:

    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, IBAN GB02 BOFS 1211 0300 7037 87, BIC BOFSGB21238

    in the Netherlands, a transfer of €220 to account 83.52.00.205 (A van der Beek, Lacock)

    elsewhere in the Euro area, transfer of €220 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.