Application form:  Please complete and send to Ghislaine by email.

To book a place on the course (once accepted by Ghislaine) please send a £250 deposit to reserve your place.  Contact Tim Woodfield at Verrocchio to book and to arrange accommodation for the course.  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Booking form (contains details and info re travel, accommodation and costs)

COURSE FEE IS £550

Course fee includes:

6 evening meals at the Art Centre (three courses with wine)
Transport to the final concert venue and one evening outing
Choral singing tuition and one singing lesson - (tuition is over 6 days)
A course booklet of music in advance by post
Digital recording of final concert

Accommodation Bed and Breakfast available at the Centre:

Standard single room:  £250
En suite single room:  £275
Shared twin room en suite:  £225

Alternative accommodation in the village of Casole d'Elsa see booking.com air bnb etc.  Please ensure it is walking distance from the Centro d'Arte Verrocchio.  i.e. within the village itself.  

Additional Costs not included:  
Lunches each day and one evening meal
Optional half day excursion (€25 - €35 usually)
Transfers from Pisa or Poggibonsi.  (depening how many sharing minibus £22 - £45 for Pisa and €7- €15 for Poggibonsi each way approximately.

The course will be held at the Verrocchio Art Centre, Via San Michele 16, Casole d’Elsa, 53031 SI, Tuscany, Italy.  Tel 0039 0577 948 312
COURSE DATES 2018:

11 May 2018 - Registration 4pm onwards followed by meal at 8pm

12 - 17 May 2018 - Singing tuition and programme

14 or 15 May optional morning excursion and evening meal in a neighbouring town

17 May 2018 - Final Concert and celebration meal

18 May 2018 - Departure after breakfast 9.30am

Curriculum Vitae Ghislaine Morgan

Ghislaine Morgan is in much demand as a soprano, choral director and coach, singing teacher, adjudicator and lecturer. She has performed throughout Europe, India, Japan, and the USA.

 "An exquisite soprano" .. the recital was "lifted into ecstasy". (Musical Times)

CHOIR:

    A maximum of 23 singers only, including choral conductors wishing to learn more about training choirs.
    Singers need to be good sight-readers or prepared to learn the music in advance.
    the scores will be made available.
    Conductors will be expected to participate fully as singers and learn about how to develop choral voices from the tuition on offer and the experience of singing themselves.

COURSE:

    This consists of warm ups, workshops in vocal technique, choral rehearsals, some individual tuition as required, and small ensemble singing.
    At the end of the course there is usually an informal concert in Casole, and then a formal one held in one of the the local churches.
    A recording of the concert will be available by email.

TOPICS:

    Tuning, diction, breathing, singing high and low, blending, resonance, singing rhythmically.
    Learning how to sing stylistically with long legato lines in a mass or running parts in light hearted madrigals.

AIMS:

    To make beautiful music, improve ones voice and vocal knowledge, have fun, make new friends and have a wonderful holiday in the Tuscan hills!

COR REPERTOIRE 2018 (AWAITING)

LANGUAGE of the Course:

    English

A message from Ghislaine Morgan:

Welcome to the Casole Uppper Voices Course. It is my pleasure to conduct this early summer course in the magical hills of Tuscany, in the secluded hill village of Casole d’Elsa, far away from the crowds of tourists.

If you are looking for a place to experience respite from too much activity, to be quiet, to contemplate stunning scenery, to go for a walk, to read a book, or just for a place where the pace of life is so slow that within a few moments of arriving your breathing is deeper and the tensions of modern living just drop away - Casole is definitely for you.

The course is held within the mellow stone buildings of the Verrocchio Arts Centre, a beautiful setting with a view over the Tuscan hills the like of which photographers and landscape artists have been drawn to for centuries. Music is made surrounded by flowers and greenery, sculptures and paintings, and these sights and sounds are complemented by delicious meals cooked with fresh local produce in the Verrocchio kitchen.

The central activity of the course is rehearsing for a performance at the end of the week, but there are also opportunities for wine tasting, visiting attractions further afield and shopping at local markets

Nigel Konstam has created a haven for creative artists, and on his behalf I invite you to join us for a musical holiday in the midst of Italian tranquillity.

1. Anon - Alle psalite - S1 S2 A
Alle psalite

For individual parts recording right click the following link and save file:

Induvidual parts

2. Hildegard - O viridissima - unison

Recording of O Viridissima Virga

Recording of O Viridissima Virga Ave
3. Calvisius - Domine, salva nos - SS
4. Calvisius - Domine non sum dignus - SS
5. Hildegard - Non sumus in mundo - SA

Recording Non sumus in mundo
6. Hildegard - Quasi aurora - SA  

Recording of Quasi Aurora
7. Cipolla - Ave Maria - SMzA
8. Cipolla - Ave verum corpus - SMzA
9. Caplet - Agnus dei (Messe a 3 voix) - SMzA

Recording of Agnus Dei

Recording II of Agnus Dei
10. Caplet - O salutaris hostia - S1 S2 A

Recording of Salutaris
11. Brace - Alleluia - Canon a 3 Page 1 and Page 2
12. Trad. Separdic arr. Grootes - La Rosa enflorece - SA & SMzA page 1 and Page 2

Recording of La Rosa enflorece
13. Trad. Separdic arr. Grootes - Durme - SMzA

Durme, durme, traditional Sephardic lullaby arranged by JC Grootes

14. Bartok - Had I never seen you - SA
15. Holst - O Swallow, swallow - S1 S2 A

Recording of O Swallow, swallow
16. Vaughan Williams - The sheep shearing (Folksongs of the 4 seasons) - SA Page 1   Page 2   Page 3

Recording of Sheep Sheering
17. Bridge - Peter Piper - S1 S2 A Page 1  Page 2  Page 3  Page 4  Page 5  Page 6

Recording Peter Piper
18. Trad. Spiritual - Joshua fit de battle of Jericho - SMzA  

19. Ne láttalak volna

• music:  Singers will need to print & bring it to Casole in a black folder (Ghislaine has sent emails with all the music)  
• music for small, informal, self-forming ensembles
• solo music for singing lesson if course music is not sufficient
• personal recording equipment for sessions and lesson
• concert dress:  all black - covered shoulders and floor length for women (trousers acceptable).

CHORAL SINGING FOR UPPER VOICES 11 - 19 JUNE 2016

11 June 2016 - Registration 4pm onwards followed by meal at 8pm

12 - 18 June 2016 - Singing tuition and program

18 June 2016 - Final Concert and celebration meal

19 June 2016 - Departure after breakfast 9.30am

Curriculum Vitae Ghislaine Morgan

If you would like to express interest in the 2016 course please do contact us - the details are here:  How to apply

Ghislaine Morgan is in much demand as a soprano, choral director and coach, singing teacher, adjudicator and lecturer. She has performed throughout Europe, India, Japan, and the USA.

 "An exquisite soprano" .. the recital was "lifted into ecstasy". (Musical Times)

Administrator:  Hannah Konstam Toomer This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

CHOIR:

    A maximum of 23 singers only, including choral conductors wishing to learn more about training choirs.
    Singers need to be good sight-readers or prepared to learn the music in advance.
    The scores will be made available.
    Conductors will be expected to participate fully as singers and learn about how to develop choral voices from the tuition on offer and the experience of singing themselves.

COURSE:

    This consists of warm ups, workshops in vocal technique, choral rehearsals, some individual tuition as required, and small ensemble singing.
    At the end of the course there is usually an informal concert in Casole, and then a formal one held in one of the the local churches.
    A recording of the concert will be available by email.

TOPICS:

• Physical &vocal preparation
• Shape of the instrument
• Posture
• Resonance
• Breathing
• Range&register changes
• Intonation & diction

AIMS:

    To make beautiful music, improve ones voice and vocal knowledge, have fun, make new friends and have a wonderful holiday in the Tuscan hills!

LANGUAGE of the Course:

    English

COST:

    See details

HOW TO APPLY:

    See details
    It is advisable not to book flights and accommodation until a place has been confirmed on the course.

WHAT TO BRING:

   See details LINK

A message from Ghislaine Morgan:

Welcome to the Casole Upper Voices Course. It is my pleasure to conduct this annual summer course in the magical hills of Tuscany, in the secluded hill village of Casole d’Elsa, far away from the crowds of tourists and the overbearing heat that are found elsewhere in Italy at this time.

If you are looking for a place to experience respite from too much activity, to be quiet, to contemplate stunning scenery, to go for a walk, to read a book, or just for a place where the pace of life is so slow that within a few moments of arriving your breathing is deeper and the tensions of modern living just drop away - Casole is definitely for you.

The course is held within the mellow stone buildings of the Verrocchio Arts Centre, a beautiful setting with a view over the Tuscan hills the like of which photographers and landscape artists have been drawn to for centuries. Music is made surrounded by flowers and greenery, sculptures and paintings, and these sights and sounds are complemented by delicious meals cooked with fresh local produce in the Verrocchio kitchen.

The central activity of the course is rehearsing a selection of pieces for a performance at the end of the week, but there are also opportunities for wine tasting, swimming, visiting attractions further afield and shopping at local markets

Nigel Konstam has created a haven for creative artists, and on his behalf I invite you to join us for a musical holiday in the midst of Italian tranquillity.