Village Harmony Teen World Music Ensemble, a joyous band of powerful teen singers, presents ten concerts throughout Vermont, August 6-15. The concert program features:
- South African songs and dances
- Traditional songs from Bosnia, Bulgaria, Corsica and Caucasus Georgia
- American shape-note song and songs of social struggle
- Renaissance moteets
The group is led by Larry Gordon, Avery Book and Sinead O’Mahoney. The dedicated singers come from throughout New England to participate in this traveling camp, and they have rehearsed intensively together for eight days in retreat preparing this concert program. In non-covid times Village Harmony sponsors three traveling camp sessions like this each summer. This summer the group will be camping in Vermont State Parks during their ten-day tour.
Each Village Harmony ensemble develops its own unique sound with a different team of leaders. All share common traits: a powerful, natural, unrestrained, vocal sound; a remarkable variety of vocal styles and timbres appropriate to the ethnic and traditional music; and a visible, vibrant community among the singers and audience as they share in a joyful celebration of music. Village Harmony, a non-profit, umbrella organization based in Vermont, promotes the study and performance of ethnic singing traditions from around the world. For more than thirty years they have organized teen ensembles each summer in New England and ensembles for mixed-age and adult singers in numerous foreign countries.
Larry Gordon, founder and co-director of Village Harmony, brings broad experience in New England and ethnic vocal ensemble traditions, in baroque music and in folk dance. Through extensive travel, he has developed an international network of relationships with people who conserve, perform, and teach these traditions. Avery Book has been involved with Village Harmony since 1999. He has traveled and studied in Sardinia, Georgia, Bosnia, Bulgaria, and the British Isles. Sinead O-Mahoney has performed with Village Harmony and Northern Harmony for twelve years. Now in her fourth summer of leading Village Harmony camps she has particular expertise in South African and Bosnian music.
Event free with park admission.