May 20th is right around the corner!  Do you know who your ensemble members are?  We want to hear your musical gift!  I think I can safely say almost anything goes...kid's groups, viol consorts, buzzy bands, singing, and of course, recorder solos, duets, trios and larger ensembles!  Prepare now, and plan on a fun and low-stress performance opportunity with your friends!

PLEASE RSVP by May 1st to Zoe:  chair@portlandrecordersociety.org 

Please include the names of your group members and what pieces you will play (can be tentative). 

The appeal of this retreat is in the diverse range of musical experiences. The early music sessions spanned the usual range of medieval and renaissance music, but, unlike any other workshop, included the earliest known music of all, dating back to the ancient Egyptians and Greeks, several millennia BCE. There was also a session on contemporary music for recorders. In addition to the diversity of eras covered, instrumentation other than recorders was given a large share of the time. There were courses in playing renaissance bagpipes, crumhorns, and viols.

Each day, a highlight was the Tutti La Banda sessions each led by a different instructor. Again, these were highly diverse, involving the usual material but also jazz and classical music. Two memorable cases were excellent arrangements of Ravel's Bolero and Handel's Lascia ch'io pianga from the opera Rinaldo. Amazingly, during the Lascia session, eight  people were so moved as to volunteer to sing the operatic libretto (which was available but was not planned to be sung) as part of the performance! The Tutti sessions were enriched by people playing double bass, baritone saxophone and bass dulcian. In most sessions there were four great bass (in C) and one contrabass recorder (in F) playing. All these bass instruments lent amazing power and drive to the Bolero.

The faculty were an accomplished set of American performers and musicologists. Lisette Kielson (Illinois), current president of the American Recorder Society, taught popular sessions on renaissance music and music by J. S. Bach for the recorder. Vicki Boeckman (Seattle) taught various early and contemporary classes. Laura Kuhlman (Illinois, and President-Elect of the ARS) is a specialist in playing early reeds. The Newmans (Gayle and Phil) from Portland, are not only accomplished performers of early music, ragtime and folk music, but also instrument designers and makers. At the faculty concert the Newmans presented music on several unusual early instruments they themselves had made, a tartold (a bass reed instrument with a ceramic body shaped like a dragon), and a duçaine, (a reed instrument resembling a stretched-out shawm, based on an original recovered from the sunken galleon of Henry the 8^th, the Mary Rose). They also played some haunting ancient Greek tunes, based on primitive notation in tomb inscriptions, using copies they had made of ancient instruments, the aulos, the lyre and a type of small violin.

One evening session was a primer in renaissance country dancing, with the option of donning period costumes from a collection provided by a member of the PRS, and accompanied by a band of appropriate instruments, led by the Newmans.

The Menucha Center, admirably located on a wooded ridge overlooking the Columbia River, provided a range of accommodations from shared to private suites, and all meals were communal. Days were full, ending with impromptu sessions stretching to midnight.

The Portland Recorder Society has a group of enthusiastic musicians who, although specializing in recorder, are interested in exploring music using a truly eclectic range of instruments. As a case in point, one member alone (although admittedly an extreme case) had on hand several complete sets of recorders (baroque and renaissance), a set of crummhorns, a set of dulcians, a set of cornamuses, several saxophones, a bass viol, a guitar, and, last but not least, several rackets. The organizing committee, led by Jeanne Lynch, did a superb job, as did all the instructors. This was indeed a rich and enjoyable experience and, as it is an annual affair, is highly recommended for next year (2012 dates March 16-19).

ARS board members: Lisette Kielsen, Laura Kuhlman and Bonnie Kelly.  PRS board members: Jeanne Lynch, Susan Campbell, Robin Teitzel and Judy Seubert.

The American Recorder Society held their bi-annual board meeting here in Portland this weekend.  They were hosted by the Portland Recorder Society board members and friends and a grand time was had by all!  Kudos to an incredible amount of work done by Jeanne Lynch, Susan Campbell and Judy and Jim Seubert.  Many, many thanks to ALL the PRS members who made it such a fun (and productive) weekend!  ARS board members will be back in July 2012 for the ARS Festival at Reed College!  

It's time to think about summer week-long music workshop season!  Why go to workshops?  For me, it is inspiration to practice to get ready to go, and then the enjoyment of intense music making and friendship building once I'm there.  It usually fuels me for the entire year!  We are so lucky to have some of the finest early music workshops in the country right here on the West Coast!  Here are two I can recommend with total enthusiasm.  Check it out!

Port Townsend Early Music Workshop, July 10-16, 2011, held in Tacoma, WA and brought to you by the Seattle Recorder Society and our own Vicki Boeckman who is the Artistic Director.

http://www.seattle-recorder.org/SRSworkshop.html

San Francisco Early Music Society (SFEMS = "ssfemmes")

Five weeks of workshops in June and July for every skill level and interest!  Amazing international faculty and small class sizes.  Well worth the trip!

http://www.sfems.org/workshops11.shtml

www.portlandrecordersociety.org

We are so pleased to announce the launch of our new website!  Please go check it out and admire all the great photos, read the new information about the Columbia Gorge Retreat, and check on the dates of the upcoming playing sessions at the Kennedy School.  Please update your bookmarks as we will be sending the old site into the abyss.  Loads of special thanks to my brother, Alex Tokar, for his volunteered time and web design prowess (see his Seattle based company, www.webcollective.coop), and Bill Stickney (http://williamstickney.smugmug.com/) for all his beautiful photos!  We hope you like it!

Happy musical web surfing!

Zoe  

The Oregon Coast Recorder Society

and

Sitka Center for Art and Ecology

present

Thirteen Years of Music by the Sea

The thirteenth annual Winds and Waves Recorder Workshop

April 30-May 2, 2011, Saturday through Monday.

Faculty concert Friday evening, April 29.

Workshop registration is OPEN!   

The workshop is at beautiful Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, and the concert will be at St. Peter the Fisherman Lutheran Church in Lincoln City.

Tuition is $240 and includes one adult ticket to the faculty concert. General admission tickets to the concert ($15 adult, and $5 student) will also be available through Sitka Center. The Oregon Coast Recorder Society will handle banquet arrangements and will be in touch with registrants later about this. 

Registration opens Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2011. Go online
 at sitkacenter.org, call, fax, or write a letter, but remember-space is limited to 45 participants. Spaces are filled in the order received and registration fills up rapidly.

Faculty this year are Frances Blaker, Letitia Berlin, Cléa Galhano, and Rotem Gilbert.

Sitka Center for Art and Ecology

Post Office Box 65

Otis, Oregon 97368

(541) 994-5485 telephone

(541) 994-8024 fax

info@ sitkacenter.org

www.sitkacenter.org 

Oregon Coast Recorder Society

Corlu Collier, Director

PMB 309

2226 N Coast Hwy

Newport OR 97365

(541) 961-1228

corlu@ actionnet.net

www.coastrecorder.org