The School of Uncovering the Voice ~ Christiaan Boele ~ 2012

Born in the Netherlands, Christiaan Boele currently lives in Mendig, Germany and conducts various master classes and courses around the world. Students from more than ten countries travel to Christiaan to study voice with him. In addition, he leads a touring ensemble of twelve singers and continues to perform as a soloist. His singing work is based on the work of Valborg Werbeck-Svärdström, who founded the approach to singing that is called the School of Uncovering the Voice.

On June 14-16, he will be offering an Open Singing Course at the Summerfield Waldorf School in Santa Rosa, CA. This course is for singers of all levels, for anyone seeking creative renewal, and even for those who never thought that they could sing. It will include "Uncovering the Voice" exercises and choir with Christiaan, Spacial Dynamics® with Roland Baril, eurythmy with Renate Lundberg, Bleffert instruments with Jo Anne Allen, and more.

For more information, see werbecksinging.com or contact Sheryl Adler (healing.round@gmail.com / 530-210-3208).

Manfred Bleffert ~ Summer 2012 ~ Harlemville, NY
Free Columbia Summer Art Courses

Manfred Bleffert returns to Harlemville to offer three courses exploring the theme of “Color and Music through the Circle of the Year.”  Manfred has dedicated his life to developing new music.  His work includes a unique approach to graphic notation, composition and instrument building.  His research is both broad and profound.  His compositions are improvisational and unique.  He is both a musician and a visual artist, and he is a dynamic and inspiring teacher.

June 16-22—Instrument Building:  We will relate to the breathing process of the earth, and of the cosmos, as a musical basis for the development of new instruments.  We will make iron and copper gongs and glockenspiels.  The process of building these instruments together in a group provides an opportunity for us to explore the relationship between our individual experience and the processes at work in the world around us.

June 25-29—New Music Improvisation:  What does music want to become now and in the future?  And what is North America’s role in the development of new music?  With Manfred’s guidance, we will explore these questions together through ever-varied improvisation and listening exercises.  Using both our own instruments and Manfred’s uniquely designed new instruments (chimes, gongs, glockenspiels, among others), we will bring to consciousness the elements of musical breathing and listening that allow new musical experiences to come to birth.  All experience levels welcome!

July 2-6—Color and Tone in Relation to Rudolf Steiner’s Soul Calendar:  Using painting and music, we will explore the cycle of the year in creative process.  We will work with the relationships of color and tone in the Calendar of the Soul, by Rudolf Steiner.  We will see what is revealed in gesture and movement when we enter the world of tone, color, sound and form as we follow the course of the year.

For registration and other information, contact Laura Summer (518-672-7302 or laurasummer@taconic.net).

Waldorf Music Teachers' Conference:  “Our Precious Voice”
Healing, Rejuvenating and Protecting the Forces of Singing, with Christiaan Boele
San Diego ~ July 2-6
Foxhollow Farm, KY ~ July 16-20

Christiaan Boele brings his vast knowledge and expertise in the Werbeck method of singing and voice work to these summer conferences in 2012.  He has trained with those who studied with famed vocalist, Valborg Werbeck-Svärdström herself (who worked with Rudolf Steiner), and has for many years, continued this approach to healthy singing and voice work that according to Steiner, can offer a major contribution to the future evolution of humanity.

Many other topics of interest will be covered in the conferences, such as instrumental music in the Waldorf curriculum, specific grade-related repertoire and activities (songs, movement, games, etc.), and Spatial Dynamics®.  There will be an evening of music presentations that participants have worked on together or individually.

For more information, see www.waldorfmusic.org or contact Andrea Lyman (themusicpainter@gmail.com or 208-265-2200).

International Singing Conference:  “The World of Singing”
The Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland ~ August 3-7

The Section for the Arts of Speech and Music at the Goetheanum in Dornach, together with the Association for the Development of the School of Uncovering the Voice (Bochum), is organizing an International Singing Conference, “The World of Singing,” to take place August 3–7.  The idea is that, forty years after the death of the great singer and singing teacher Valborg Werbeck-Svärdström, the latest developments of the work in singing, inspired by anthroposophy, will become visible through common activity and experience as well as through international exchange.

Every day it will be possible to listen to concerts by solo singers, international choirs, and ensembles.  Practical insight into the art of singing, improvised singing, singing education, and singing therapy will be offered through lectures and workshops.  In the conference choir in the afternoons, Valborg Werbeck-Svärdström’s composition An Attempt towards a Light-Tone Therapy will be rehearsed.  In the final concert, this composition, in which the path of the human soul in the spiritual world is depicted in music, will be performed by the participating singers, with eurythmy and colored light.

For more information, see http://www.goetheanum.org/4543.html, which contains a link to the schedule.