Concerts in New Jersey, Benefit Concerts,
Chant Camp, and other special events

Chant Camp with Susan Hellauer of Anonymous Four
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 11 am
Immanuel Lutheran Church,122 East 88th Street

Susan Hellauer's brilliant concept has taken the US by storm, with chant camps happening with regularity across the nation. New York's first chant camp took place in 2010, in connection with ARTEK's brilliant anniversary performance of the Monteverdi Vespers. Now, ARTEK again presents chant camp as part of its Rosenmüller mini-festival in early February.

Chant Camp is a half day session of chant singing, structured around a number of carefully-chosen plainchant topics. Each topic presentation begins with a brief, informative, illustrated lecture, followed by plenty of group singing, to illustrate and permanently “set” the lesson. The workshop ends with a communal chant singing, combining elements of the day’s work, along with extensions and improvisations based on the day’s material.

Chant Camp is for both professional and experienced amateur singers who want to know more about the nuts and bolts of western plainchant, from medieval sources as well as from modern transcriptions of the Solesmes books. And it’s the singing that makes it stick. Plainchant has been called musical meditation, but we think about it more as yoga for the voice: active, physical and transforming. There’s absolutely nothing like unison singing, with unity of melodic intent, to grow a sense of blend and cohesion. It’s no wonder that chant is at the heart of so many different spiritual traditions. Without a doubt, the remarkable blend thatAnonymous 4achieves, despite the very different vocal tone colors of its members, is largely owing to its concentration on plainchant.

All Chant Camps are designed, planned and taught by Susan Hellauer, who did, in fact, first learn to read music from the Liber Usualis in her Catholic schoolgirl days. As a founding and current member, she has designed and researched all of Anonymous 4’s programs and recordings of medieval chant and polyphony. Susan also holds advanced degrees in music history and musicology from Columbia University and Queens College of the City University of New York, where she is currently an adjunct associate professor, teaching courses in music history and directing the early music vocal and instrumental ensemble.

Each Chant Camp participant will take home a binder with printed handouts, with room for note-taking, and a detailed outline of each topic.

Schedule:
10:30 - 11:00 am Registration, coffee, and bagels
11:00 - 12:15 pm Session I
12:15 - 12:20 pm break
12:20 - 1:30 pm Session II

Following the end of chant camp, participants can find a quick lunch in the neighborhood, and then attend Dessoff Choirs' SingAlong performance of the Bach B Minor Mass in the sanctuary of Immanuel Lutheran, at 2 pm.

Tickets: $35
Special discount: Tickets are $25 if you purchase the series ($75) of both ARTEK concerts February 10 & 11

Click here to order