Voice Camp Teachers

Nickomo is a community-choir leader, composer and arranger of acappella vocal music. He will be offering daily morning sessions of the ‘Harmonic Temple’ with Rasullah. Nickomo is a composer, choir-leader and musician. He has played for Dances of Universal Peace and Circle Dances for over 15 years, and will be supporting both at the camp. He will also be offering sessions of the ‘Harmonic Temple’ - acappella vocal harmony based on spiritual texts.

www.nickomoandrasullah.com

Trained as a Universal Peace Dance teacher in the mid-80's with Amida and with Nickomo, Rasullah created on a small scale the first Dances of Universal Peace camp in England. From these beginnings grew "Peace Through the Arts", which became quite a large and well known international camp.

On the Voice Camp Rasullah will share a morning practice called the Dance of Life that is a form of moving meditation. This assists balance and harmony on a personal level and for the "benefit of all beings" by calling on and working with the energy polarities of sky, earth and the four cardinal directions. She will also be assisting Nickomo with teaching daily Harmonic Temple sessions and will lead some evenings of Dances of Universal Peace. Rasullah is particularly known for introducing dances from the Native-American and Druid traditions.

As one of the celebrated Beachpersons, Tony Wrench has been a very popular performer and teacher over the years. This year he'll be leading the men in Barber Shop music

www.lammas.org.uk

Nick is a professional teacher, choir leader, musician and composer. He has been playing music since childhood. He started in Classical, Blues and Jazz, and later went deeply into Indian and African music, as well as the British Folk Music tradition. Sometime in the 70’s he discovered his voice, and found that through voice workshops he could share his musical inspiration in a much more direct way with people who had no musical background. Since then he has developed a patient and accessible teaching style that has made his voice workshops and community choirs very popular, and has opened the door to singing for hundreds of people who never thought they could do it.

He has been leading singing workshops for over 20 years in New Zealand and Britain, and during this time has composed a large number of pieces specifically for voice workshops and community choirs, ranging from short warm-up pieces to full length Gospel style songs. He has published 2 books of his songs for community choirs.

Michael Harper, known for his work in Gospel and Spirituals returns to us with a drop-in connecting the dots sesssion (that is reading the notes.)  The session will be open to all comers, readers and non-readers.  It will aimed at those who have at least a little experience reading music, but open to all who wish to give it a go as well.  Music from the Renaissance to present day.

KIRROX!
with Roxane Smith and Kirsty Martin
This dynamic duo will make their debut workshop extravaganza double act  this year!
Featuring hubble-bubble-double-trouble soul strirring, hip shaking, spine tingling, belly laughing, roof raising a cappella arrangements of the funkiest and most gorgeous songs on the planet - dont miss it!
As you can tell, we are a little bit over'-excited about it....
Come ready for some serious choral activism!

Susie Prater

As the daughter of Nick Prater I am very much influenced and inspired by his work, not just the enthusiastic way in which he teaches but also the material with which he works. I teach a wide variety of simple yet powerful four part harmony songs ranging from uplifting and energetic African and Gospels, to sensitive Spirituals and Peace songs. Through working with harmony in close groups I work to inspire people to free their voices and sing with confidence and receptivity – for the joy of it! I have spent the last year travelling through India, New Zealand and Cambodia, music accompanying me throughout these adventures – I have lead workshops and choirs in New Zealand, exchanging music and ideas with other teachers… This journey has been a great inspiration to me and has encouraged my enthusiasm as a teacher to expand, nurturing my love for music and harmony.

Through playing world music in various bands in the 1980’s I became interested in the musical structure of songs from oral traditions around the globe and the place and function of song in cultures where singing is or was part of daily life. This led me to start writing songs using these musical structures but with a particular emphasis on words that reflect my own experience and culture. Twenty years later I am still fascinated by the marriage of text and music and still inspired by the power of simplicity.

‘There is both a purity and complexity that just jingles my soul.  Ali Burns’ music captures something that goes beyond and deeper than I am not sure what!’ Workshop Participant

Bruce and Rebecca Knight hail from leafy Warwickshire in the Heart of England where they lead a number of popular singing groups, including the community choir Songlines, that Bruce founded in 2000.  This year at Voice Camp they'll be running a drop-in session of delicious global songs complete with simple dances.  Be prepared to move your body and sing your heart out! 

Jon has been singing, directing, coaching and performing in many Barbershop choirs (known as a chorus) and quartets over the last 20 years. He has run workshops in USA, Italy, Spain, Holland, Ireland and all over the UK focusing on close harmony singing, performance and chorus directing.
Jon will be running a Drop-in devoted to mixed close harmony singing in the barbershop style focusing on some delicious 'Tags' - something that has become extremely popular at voice camp over the last few years. A Tag is the barbershop term to the ending of a song where the arranger often throws in some rather glorious harmonies, swipes and embellishments.
Words can't really do them justice - you need to come along and experience them first-hand where Jon will be teaching them to you in his own enthusiastic and entertaining style.

Kate O'Connell  is a voice coach, choir leader and performer based  
in the North East of Scotland. She runs The Forres Big Choir and sings with acapella trio Sonas and The Findhorn Festival Band (Balkan and Gypsy music). At this camp she will be running an Explore your voice vocal development group for beginners and improvers , working with breathing, posture, blocks to the voice as well as creative expression.

Singing the Sacred

   Sarah Pennington and Gilo have been working together for six years.  They lead workshops around Dorset and elsewhere in the UK. With Pete Linnett they also co-lead Big Sing Dorset, a singing project which raises money for WaterAid.

   They enjoy teaching songs with an atmospheric and often sacred quality, as you will discover at their drop-in workshops at this year's camp.  They love working together....and it shows (if you can ignore their dubious colour co-ordination!)

Scintillating sounds

Chrys Blanchard has worked for over 25years in Theatre, Schools, and the wider community as composer, writer, director and workshop leader. Much of her work these days is in creating projects, and training teachers and key workers. Her work takes her all over the country.

She is a voice leader who loves to explore sound and it's effect on us; combined with her 'passion for percussion' and her work in Theatre, this produces exciting opportunities for vocal and body integration.

David came to the joys of harmony singing through Taize chants in the Nature Sanctuary at the Findhorn Foundation. He continues to be drawn to beautiful, meditative harmonies that continue singing themselves in the silence that follows.

Helen Yeomans has been invited for the first time as one of the main teachers at the Unicorn Voice Camp. She has spent the last four years cutting her songwriters’ teeth with her own 50-strong choir, Glorious Chorus, which has quickly gained a reputation throughout the South West for polished and passionate performances. She writes all the material for her choir, finding her home in gospel, soul & blues, whilst keeping her audiences on their feet with some lovely arrangements of favourite classics. One of the choir’s highlights this year was appearing at the Isle Of Wight Jazz Festival, and being invited back next year as a main act.

Helen teaches by ear as well as by score, and is known for her passion, confidence and attention to detail. A relative newcomer to music – only 6 years ago she was waiting on tables – and mother of four, Helen has all the energy and excitement of someone who has just found her life’s purpose! Her workshops will be a selection of her most favourite and accessible songs, all tried and tested on her own choir and received ecstatically by singers and audiences alike.

Pete Linnett will be running a couple of drop-in sessions, so-called because in these sessions you can really ‘drop in’ to the music, then you can ‘hang out’ in the pulse of it and the ring of the chord. He’ll probably be selecting from some gospel, some African and some of his own.

Seeing as he has to talk himself up here, this is something about him. He needs to convey the rhythm, the beauty, the power and the glory. And he reckons he can both lead and stand aside to let this average miracle happen however it needs to happen. He loves the journey together into the music. He continues to be impressed with how music together builds community and good feeling.

Pete just keeps facilitating music in the community and community in music. He’s done it in various ways with various groups – mainstream and slipstream, neuro-typical and neuro-atypical, in song and in ceilidh-type music, with his voice and even coming out of a set of bagpipes. He runs Lyme Regis Community Choir, a little outfit in Langport, and is one of the Big Sing Dorset team along with Sarah Pennington and Gilo.             Email: petelinnett@gmail.com

Wake Up Singing - a Drop-in Group

Charlie
Thomson

Pauline Down

Pauline Down is a voice teacher, singer and songwriter based in North Wales where she leads a thriving community choir. She has been leading voice and singing groups for the last 18 years both in the UK and abroad. Her enthusiasm and relaxed manner have a way of instantly putting people at their ease. She regards singing as a powerful tool for healing at both personal and community levels.
This year she will be sharing her own arrangements of some beautiful folk songs from the Celtic fringe of these isles.
Her workshops tend to be a lot of fun with a lot of heart and will no doubt include a generous smattering of exercises for developing rhythm and luscious harmony, group listening and group sound.

Roz Walker