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Prices

If pre-booked: with early bird discount
£215 Adults (26+)
£135 Young Adults (19 - 25)
£95 Teenagers (15 - 18)
£75 Kids (5 - 14)

If paid on gate:
£245 Adults
£135 Young Adults
£95 Teenagers
£75 Kids

Programme

Download: HERE

Singing

This is where you come if you want to sing your heart out! All day long from 'Wake up Singing' to a lullaby around your circle fireside you can croon, harmonize, bop, Halleluia, read the dots, make it up on the spot, do it alone, in twos or in a congregation at the local church.

There will be all and any of this: Harmonic Temple ~ barbershop ~ jazz arrangements ~ singing the sacred ~ vocal harmony ~ spiritual texts ~ percussion instruments from guinea conakry ~balafon ~ bolon ~ gongomah ~ simple powerful four part harmony songs ~ energetic African and Gospels ~ sensitive spirituals ~ peace songs ~ close harmony singing ~ pop ~ soul ~ beautiful folk songs ~ celtic fringe ~ wake up singing ~ taize ~ scintillating sounds ~ performance ~ lots more.

Performance

Opportunities to listen, and to perform to each other are an integral part of the camp. As well as exhibiting the choral pieces we have learned together on the Final Night Sharing, there is a Concert in the Village halfway through the camp, a Performance Night where contributions of all kinds are invited from the camping circles, and a couple of evenings of Cabaret in the Café for all manner of items, including a section for the children to exhibit their talents to an appreciative and supportive audience.

Final Night

Having worked diligently on your parts all week, what could be better than an evening celebration of your efforts with the whole camp? Each choir presents their offering to the audience, and we all get to sit in our chairs and drink it all in. Gregorian chanting, Barbershop, women who glow, 40 teenagers note-perfect, old favourites and weird Macedonian folk songs...truly there's nothing like it! It's amazing!

Cabaret

Cafe evenings, enjoying the atmosphere of tea and cake, one is impressed by the sheer diversity of talent of these wonderful people, all comers with their guitars, didges, harps and violins. All are welcome, none are rejected - and the applause is so very warm and encouraging. Do drop in when you fancy a more casual entertainment.

NVPN

Natural Voice Practitioners Network is an organisation for Practitioners who share a common philosophy and approach to voice work. They believe that singing is everyone's birthright and are committed to teaching styles that are accepting and inclusive of all, regardless of musical experience and ability.

Most of the Unicorn Natural-Voice Camp teachers are members who actively support this important network for development and celebration of the natural voice.

WaterAid

WaterAid is an international non-profit organisation dedicated to helping people escape the poverty and disease caused by living without safe water and sanitation. It is based in London and was established by the UK water industry as a charitable trust in 1981, whose income exceeded £26.9 million by 2006.

The charity currently works in partnership with local organisations in 17 countries in Africa and Asia to help poor communities establish sustainable water supplies and latrines, close to home. It also works to influence governments’ water and sanitation policies to serve the interests of vulnerable people and to ensure water and sanitation are prioritised in poverty reduction plans.

As a matter of policy, WaterAid supports public ownership and control of water supplies, but does not take a particular view regarding public, community or private participation in service provision.

It has association with the Glastonbury Festival. In 2006 the festival's founder Michael Eavis and his daughter Emily visited WaterAid's work in Mozambique - and in 2007 130 WaterAid volunteers helped at the festival.

In the last four years Unicorn Camps has raised over £25000 through a wide range of fun-fundraising events throughout the camps.

Community

Community is an essential aspect of the Unicorn Camps experience. Friendships made during one week of camping and cooking together can last a lifetime, and teenagers particularly have noticed that the depth of heart-connection with camp friends just can't be found at school. During the camp lots happens - joys and sorrows are exposed, emotions are disclosed and processed.

This really does require support - and indeed emotional support is forthcoming. Many a good samaritan is revealed.

We also try to relate meaningfully to the community of local villagers, whose forbearance is exemplary and whom we wish not to offend.

We have our camp close to a quiet village in north Dorset, England, situated at the foot of a Neolithic ceremonial burial site and Iron Age hill fort in the Blackmore Vale near the River Stour which passes half a mile west of the village. The village has a population of 1,065 of which 40% are retired.

Local author and dowser Peter Knight believes that the village is at the centre of several ley lines, some of which pass through nearby Hambledon Hill. Old records speak of a megalith that used to lie where the village cross is now, marking an ancient crossroads. In 1561 William Kethe was appointed vicar he remained in the village until his death in 1594. Kethe is best known as the author of the hymn, The Old Hundredth, which went on to become one of the most famous in the English language, better known from its first line "All People That on Earth Do Dwell".

The village was the last home, until his death in 1989, of the puppeteer and children's entertainer Harry Corbett, creator of the TV glove puppet characters Sooty & Sweep. It is also the present home of composer Sir John Tavener.

Each year Unicorn offers a fine concert in the village church, which becomes full to overflowing for the occasion!

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natural voice camp 4 - 12 august '12

Teachers

HARMONIC TEMPLE

Nickomo and Rasullah Clarke

Harmonic Temple with Nickomo & Rasullah Clarke is a consistent favourite throughout the first decade of the Unicorn Natural Voice Camp has been the daily morning sessions of Harmonic Temple.

This involves singing short 4-part harmony songs and chants based on mantras and sacred phrases from different spiritual traditions. New songs are sung each day and the session is open to all.

ONGOINGS

teachers offering a course of workshops

Una May Olomolaye

Una May is a talented vocalist, composer and vocal director, who has worked extensively throughout the UK on stage, TV and radio. Having come from the Black church experience, Una May's main musical influence is Gospel, although she is also recognised as being one of a new generation of jazz vocalists.

She has worked alongside some of Britain's top jazz musicians and performs internationally with the female a capella group Black Voices

Dee Jarlett & Ali Orbaum

Dee and Ali are back again as a team to teach some of their own arrangements from the hugely popular Gasworks Choir repertoire. This duo have been teaching together for 17 years and are almost telepathic with their dynamic teaching. Pop, passion and polyphony!

Visit their websites:

www.gasworkschoir.co.uk and www.singyoursocksoff.co.uk

Rowena Whitehead

The Change Gang is back ! After the inaugural gathering of the gang a couple of years ago at voice camp, Rowena is offering another chance to release your Inner Radical Spirit as we explore songs rich in with harmony and rhythm, that have empowered people in their struggles for social justice and which have inspired and celebrated social change around the world (and that will leave you feeling ANYTHING is possible!)

We'll explore the stories behind the songs and honour the people who originally sang them. All welcome, however deeply your Inner Radical is buried. And if you have ever been photographed being radical, please bring along a photo!

Rowena is a Cambridge-based singer, teacher and choir leader with a passion for vocal harmony who always feels a bit more radical after a good sing!

Ali Burns

Songwriter Ali Burns has largely built her workshop reputation by teaching her own material and many community choirs in Britain and the USA have her songs in their repertoire. At Voice camp this year she’ll be teaching some little known songs drawn from the past twenty years of writing as well as some new material.

Raaja Fischer

Raaja organizes the German Unicorn Voice Camp and runs singing and Peace Dancing events in Northern Germany. He likes to arrange pop hits with a positive political vision and also writes songs for community choirs. In his workshop Raaja presents a balance between very dynamic choir singing, always including some fun choreography, and quiter songs with a more spiritual focus.

Very likely he will share an capella arrangement of a Michael Jackson song and some upbeat Gospel. visit his Website

The B Naturals:

Jon Conway & Nick Petts & Guy Wilson

The B Naturals have rapidly become one of the favourite A Cappella quartets in the South, gathering huge acclaim at every performance.

Their workshops are always full of fun, great harmonies, humour and wonderful energy. Jon, Nick and Guy will be teaching their own sumptuous arrangements of popular songs from the 60's and 70's which are sure to get your dancing feet moving and leave you on a high.

Chrys Blanchard

Kate O Connell

Find your voice ‘Get out of the way and let the song sing through you. If, as I often say, your body is the instrument, then who is playing you?’

Kate will offer 3 drop in sessions for anyone who wants to explore AND ENJOY how they use their voice, with a view to making it richer, stronger and EVEN more authentic.

Looking at posture, breathing, diaphragm support, range, quality and SOUL. And Intention- how does our song affect our own wellbeing and what can it do for the world around us?

Kate O Connell & Annabelle MacFadyen

Creative Vocal Improvisation

Kate and Annabelle teamed up last year at Unicorn for the first time to offer this highly successful and inspirational workshop.

They are back to build on their experience and have even more fun. This is for all those of us who love to make up our own part!

It involves deep listening, sinking into the zone and letting beautiful rhythms, harmonies and lyrics pour through us.

We will use lots of flexible structures drawn from drama and voice work, to help the group experiment with developing their creative potential. This group can help you develop confidence in playing with harmony and lyrics to take back to your camp fire circle jams. More
Kate has a training in theatre and movement at Dartington College of Arts and has worked for about 35 years as a community artist in the fields of youth theatre, celebration, voice workshops and musical performance.

Kate is based in North East Scotland where she is co-leader of The Forres Big Choir and artistic director of acappella singers Too Many Kooks

She is a regular teacher at Unicorn Voice Camp , runs a regular Easter event on the Hebridean island of Eigg and with colleague Bill Henderson will this year offer a training in Singing in Community at The Findhorn College. Kate has a long standing affiliation to The Findhorn Foundation International Spiritual Community/eco village as well as an even longer love affair with Laurieston Hall Community in South west Scotland.

With a lifetime dedicated to the study of the voice, Kate’s interests are in creating beautiful rhythms and harmonies, seeing the effect this has on groups. An exploration of the healing and social aspects of singing is intrinsic to her work. Website

Annabelle’s work spans the realms of drama, music, voice, dance, movement, cabaret and carnival. For over 25 years she has worked as a collaborative artist, performer, director and creative facilitator in theatres, schools, arts centres and with community groups.

Improvisation is at the heart of all her work, offering as it does a way of connecting with our innate creativity, encouraging spontaneity and the opportunity for exploration and discovery within the context of a group.

She is a long standing Voice Camp participant with particular interest in the creative potential of the voice as a way of expressing feeling and emotion, of connecting with others and with an embodied sense of self.

She is enthusiastic about all kinds of music and song, plays the accordion and sings with a number of different groups in Frome.

Past and present work and projects include: Frome Street Bandits, Trio Svengali, Cabaret Sans Frontières, Home in Frome, 5x5x5=creativity, Kneehigh Theatre, Gog Theatre, First Cut theatre, Take Art- Start, Merlin Theatre drama clubs, Creative Dance Opportunities, Duets for objects.

DROPINS

teachers offering a one-off session

Helen Yeomans

Helen Yeomans is the director and award-winning composer for acclaimed acappella choir Glorious Chorus and also runs community choirs in the South West. An experienced workshop leader both here and abroad, Helen will be bringing more of her heartfelt and uplifting songs to Unicorn Voice Camp this year.

Pauline Down

Pauline is a voice teacher, singer and composer based in North Wales where she leads two thriving community choirs. She has 25 years experience of running voice and singing groups in the UK and beyond. 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.

Her workshop at camp this year will focus on enabling you to sing out confidently with ease, strength and joy. Time will be spent developing your breathing and vocal technique, forming a deeper connection with your voice through voice/body awareness and freeing your voice with voice/movement exercises.

There will be opportunity to both use your voice more playfully through structured improvisation and to practise holding a part/singing a song with positive feedback and support.

John Bowker

Susie Prater

Susie is a spirited and sensitive workshop leader with a uniquely warm and easy teaching style, bringing both ‘singers’ and ‘non-singers’ together for the sheer joy of singing in harmony!

She teaches beautiful and vibrant songs with a deeply nourishing quality – everything from African to Gospel, including her own compositions and other gathered songs of freedom and peace. The songs she shares have the ability to unlock your voice and open your heart.

Hannah Rose Tristram

Hannah Rose will lead a drop-in on songs from the Balkans (or elsewhere).

Hannah Rose is an enthusiastic and well-travelled Natural Voice Practitioner, Kripalu Yoga Teacher and musician. She creates non-judgemental, respectful atmospheres in which people feel safe to develop, explore, surprise themselves and have fun. Hannah has been touring internationally with world music choirs Northern Harmony and Village Harmony since the age of 10, collecting some stunning songs along the way.

Her training includes Actor Musicianship at Rose Bruford, a BA in Dance and Music, Frankie Armstrong's training week and apprenticeship, Grade 8 flute, Non Violent Communication and a variety of other colourful experiences. Hannah's workshops usually include thorough body-voice warm-ups, improvisation, and a variety of juicy music.

Hannah Rose cares deeply about community, authenticity and clarity, and believes that dancing and singing are human rights and joys that belong to all.

Roz Walker & Kate Howard

Roz and Kate lead a number of choirs in South Devon and are also a great team when working together, and Kate also teaches singing and music at the South Devon Steiner school, and is a former member of Northern Harmony.

They both have a passion for American folk song,and particularly Shape note singing, which they will be offering this year, along with its chunky hymn books based on shaped notation(all will be revealed at the workshops!) It was devised as an early sight reading tool for the settlers of the 17th and 18th century for hymn singers and these four part harmony songs are rousing and exciting to sing (whether you are a believer or not), as they did way back when. Roz's website.

Bruce Knight

Bruce Knight runs singing workshops, circle dance, and a community choir up in Warwickshire. He embraces many styles, but is probably at his happiest teaching upbeat numbers accompanied by simple movements or dance.

Jules Gibb

Gilo & Sarah

Gilo and Sarah have been running voice workshops as a team for ten years. Their easy rapport, relaxed style and seamless teaching mean that singing with them is simply a pleasure.

They like to do "hit-and-run" workshops, appearing in a village hall near you and turning a bunch of toe-dipping newcomers into a community of singers who come away amazed at having raised the rafters! Sarah and Gilo teach a broad range of songs, and often focus on music with an atmospheric and sacred quality.

Their workshops at Unicorn have encompassed styles such as American shape-note, Taizé, Iona, gospel, medieval pilgrimage song, and contemporary feminist hymn.

Alison Whittal

Alison is offering songs of Peace and Freedom, Spirit and Heart. A mix of uplifting original composition, Gospel and African. Songs to stir your soul and soothe your spirit. She has a warm and enthusiastic way of working.

She says ‘The heart, unveiled through song can release and unite, transform and heal. The mind can stop for a while when we sing in harmony together – relaxation and bliss can arise. The singing acts as a powerful gateway to the mystery.’ Alison is very experienced teacher and has led Ploughcappella in North Devon for over 10 years. She also leads the Plymouth Community choir and other groups in the region and beyond including the newly formed ‘Sacred Song in Exeter’.

Choir members have said ‘unbounded joy’ ‘an oasis’ ‘a truly inspirational teacher’

Visit her website

Pete Linnett

Community choir leader, workshop leader, composer/arranger and occasional piper, Pete runs two (and a half) community choirs in the South West. He loves the vibe that builds between people as they sing together. He particularly enjoys the spirit of Gospel and South African song.

With a wide background in various folk-musics, he currently enjoys splashing around in the converging and diverging rivers of Country, Blues and Gospel. Expect something with a swing, not a million miles from Gospel, and something else...

Visit his website

Tarisha

Women's songs.

She was a member of Prana, the ground-breaking chanting and drumming group, in the late 80’s. It was her first meeting with Spirit, both through song and the people. The first songs Tarisha wrote were chants and still many of her songs have that repetitive, meditative feel about them.

In 2000 she joined Seize the Day, the front line political folk band, and since 2004 has played with Presence, a 5 piece band playing for meditation events and parties. Tarisha lives and work at Osho Leela, the community run personal growth and meditation centre in Dorset where she brings music, song, and creativity.

Claire Anstee

Claire has become known for her warm and inclusive approach which offers a welcome to singers and non-singers alike. Her funky style allows everyone to participate at their own comfort level – she’ll stretch you or let you have an easier ride, it’s up to you! It might be jazz, it might be African, it might be folk but whatever it is Claire will bring her unique energy and enthusiasm ensuring that a good time is had by all.

Recent participants have talked about the fun and joy to be found in Claire’s workshops- come and find out for yourself!

WAKE UP SINGING

Hannah Rose Tristram & Maggie O’Connor

Maggie believes everyone can sing and has been running warm, friendly, inspiring singing groups for 20 years , (they sound quite good too!) She has worked a lot in health settings.

More
Maggie’s Wake Up singing sessions will be friendly and informal, gentle warming up exercises leading to more fun, energising songs to set you up for the day ahead. (but nothing too complicated).

Dress code: pyjamas and bedheads (or whatever) and mugs of tea... Move, stretch, explore, release, develop, improvise, invigorate!

Hannah Rose [take out 'and Maggie'] will facilitate a present-moment wake-up practice to set you up safely for a hearty day’s singing. This will include voice-movement improvisation (inspired partly by Action Theatre), elements of yoga, and applying what you learn to singing songs.

Maggie believes everyone can sing and has been running warm, friendly, inspiring singing groups for 20 years (they sound quite good too!). She has worked a lot in health settings. Maggie’s Wake Up singing sessions will be friendly and informal, gentle warming up exercises leading to more fun, energising songs to set you up for the day ahead (but nothing too complicated).

Hannah and Maggie may occasionally join forces to give you a really good start to the day!

OTHER OFFERINGS

Rasullah Clarke

Dances of Universal Peace

Lovely dances accompanied by chants from various spiritual traditions, some meditative, some celebratory.

No experience needed to enjoy this wonderful opportunity of delight!

James Burgess

Zikr

Deeply meditative dance form - a traditional practice of Sufis - led to attain a profound spiritual experience.

Jane Flood

Story Time

In the years since Jane began storytelling she has aquired a word hoard of over 400 traditional tales from around the world.

She is well known for her wicked sense of humour and deep sensitivity and her telling has been called "enchanting, compelling and bewitching" - she is well known throughout the UK and abroad. Jane's web site is beautiful and inspiring - give it a peek!

 solution: www.505.lt        associated sites: nickomo and rasullah / james burgess sabian / 7words / campscene directory for family camping holidays