August 21-31, 2008 – please see Accademia d'Amore for more details.
October 30-November 2, 2008 St James Cathedral, Seattle – Roman Cantatas: secular and sacred featuring Giacomo Carrissimi and Luigi Rossi.
Application deadline for singers: August 15, 2008
April 23-26, 2009 St James Cathedral, Seattle – Women composers, and music for the three ladies of Ferara; Francesca Caccini, Barbara Strozzi, Luzzasco Luzzaschi.
Application deadline for singers: February 15, 2009
Singers please provide an audition tape and summary of experience and a recent photo. Audio material should be a minimum of two pieces, preferably one in English and one in Italian. Inclusion of recitative and aria is helpful, preferably some material from the 17th century.
Instrumentalists please provide a summary of experience.
Applications by email are accepted.
There are a limited number of participants, so apply early!
Weekend workshop fee: $350
Schedule: These are four day workshops where singers are given one ensemble piece to learn which is musically coached and then staged, and one solo piece which receives musical coaching. Continuo players (lute, harp, harpsichord, viola da gamba) work on the ensemble pieces as a group, and have the opportunity for individual coaching on the solo pieces. All the repertoire is then performed on the final day to conclude the workshop.
Accomodation close to Saint James Cathedral:
The Baroness Hotel
The Inn at Virginia Mason
Workshop feedback:
“It was certainly worth the trip! I learned a great deal from each of you, faculty and participants alike, and appreciated the wonderful atmosphere of enthusiasm, mutual support and fun which undergirded the serious work of learning......Steve [Stubbs] Ö. thank you for the kindness and respect you showed to all of us, the deeply insightful comments you made, and the non verbal power and teaching influence of your playing.” Awet Andemicael, New York
“What a great workshop! I learned so much from so many different perspectives.” Mary Ann Hagan, Seattle
“I really value the workshops. I have been applying what I experience at the workshops to my work here in NYC, and I think its made a big difference in the overall effect, both for me as the singer, and the whole continuo/singer collaboration.” Arlene Travis, NY
“I just did a concert in NYC ("French Roast": Coffee Cantatas by JS Bach and Nicolas Bernier), and drew on several aspects of my experiences at Accademia last summer, to great success.” Arlene Travis, NY
The Weekend Workshops Faculty:
Stephen Stubbs
A Seattle native, Stephen Stubbs has lived in Germany since 1982 when he was appointed instructor and later professor at the Hochschule für Künste, Bremen. He is an active lutenist, conductor, and founder/director of the ensembles Tragicomedia and Teatro Lirico. Stubbs has directed many 17th- and 18th-century operas in Europe, Canada, and the USA. He has recorded as soloist and director for Teldec, EMI, Harmonia Mundi, ATMA, CPO and ECM. In 1997 he founded the Accademia d’Amore in Bremen. It has now been established as a yearly event in Seattle after its very successful first season in 2005. 2006 will see the opening of a graduate program there for singers and continuo players called the Seattle Academy of Baroque Opera.
Nancy Zylstra
Since 1979 Nancy Zylstra has been on the faculty of Oberlin Conservatory's Baroque Performance Institute. She also taught at the Kitchener-Waterloo Baroque and Classical Workshop, Vancouver Early Music Workshop and Cornish College's “Baroque Voice”. She has taught studio voice at the University of Washington, Pacific Lutheran University, and Cornish College. Her 20-year career as a soloist included performances with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Tafelmusik, and American Bach Soloists. Zylstra is a board member of Early Music America.
Anna Mansbridge
Anna Mansbridge, Artistic Director of Seattle Early Dance, is from the U.K., where she studied early dance for many years with teachers foremost in the profession. She holds a First Class Honors Degree in Dance and Education from Bedford College, U.K., and an M.F.A in Choreography and Performance from Mills College, CA, USA. Ms. Mansbridge has been teaching and performing early European Court dance (16th-18th centuries) since 1990.
Margriet Tindemans
Margriet Tindemans has delighted audiences all over the world with her performances on early stringed instruments: viola da gamba, medieval fiddle and rebec, renaissance and baroque viola. She performs and records as a soloist and with Medieval Strings, which she directs, and the King's Noyse. She was a founding member of the ensemble Sequentia and of the Huelgas Ensemble. She directs the Medieval Women's Choir performing medieval repertoire composed by and for women. Margriet records for Musica Omnia, harmonia mundi, Erato, Wildboar, BMG Accent, EMI, Smithsonian Collection and Koch International Classic.
Maxine Eilander
Maxine Eilander has appeared as a baroque harpist with many leading ensembles and festivals throughout Europe, Canada and the USA, including Tragicomedia, Teatro Lirico, Boston Early Music Festival, Tafelmusik, Les Talens Liriques. She has made many recordings, including Handel’s Harp concerto with Tafelmusik, Sonata al Pizzico (duos for harp and baroque guitar with Stephen Stubbs), and a new recording soon to be released with Teatro Lirico for ECM. Maxine teaches baroque harp at the Seattle Academy of Baroque Opera which opened its doors in 2006.