Workshops
Harmony Singing
"I 've known shape note singing for 55 years...but I never was part of such a large gang so expertly led."
-Pete Seeger (after attending an Old Songs Sacred Harp sing led by Peter Amidon)
About the Workshops
While the Amidons are known by music teachers as inspired leaders of traditional dance and song for children, many festival goers and singers know them best as inspiring leaders of group harmony singing. The Amidons' workshops are great for choral directors, who bring home with a fresh repertoire of great arrangements of a wide range of traditional American secular and sacred songs, including African American gospel and spirituals, old and new American shape note pieces, newly composed pieces and old hymns. These workshops are great both for choral directors and for folks who simply like to sing. The Amidons' energy and warmth encourage people to feel relaxed while empowering groups to create rich and soulful harmonies.
Bio
Peter and Mary Alice have both been deeply involved in harmony singing since they first met in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1975. They have been on two U.S. and three European tours with Larry Gordon's 'Word of Mouth Chorus/Northern Harmony' choruses, and they are featured singers on the classic Nonesuch recording of American shape note music 'Rivers of Delight'.
The Amidons have been a mainstay of harmony singing leading for the last decade at major traditional music and dance festivals in the Northeast, at week-long adult harmony singing workshops in Scotland and Vermont, and at the Country Dance and Song Society sponsored summer camps of traditional dance and song. The Amidons are particularly famous for their Sacred Harp and gospel singing workshops at the annual Old Songs Festival (Altamont, NY) and the Dance Flurry Festival (Saratoga Springs, NY). Peter has been organizing the greater Brattleboro monthly Sacred Harp sings for over 20 years.
Peter and Mary Alice were two of the composers commissioned to write original choral pieces for the Burlington based Social Band's Vermont Composers Project. Peter is a choir director of the Guilford, VT Community Church '9 o'Clock Choir for whom he first wrote many of his choral arrangements. College, high school, church and community choruses across the country have been singing Amidon choral arrangements. 'Beatitudes' a recently released CD of 25 Amidon choral arrangements (the companion book will be out in spring 2006) was just released to rave reviews from singers and singing leaders; it is the most recent of 9 albums of songs the Amidons have recorded over the last 20 years. The Amidons' two previous CD albums: 'I'll Never Forget' and 'Hymns and Ballads' include singing by the whole Amidon Family: Peter and Mary Alice and their sons Sam and Stefan.
For More Information Contact
Peter or Mary Alice Amidon
20 Willow Street
Brattleboro, VT 05301
802-257-1006
info@amidonmusic.com