private lessons | group classes and workshops | community choirs |voxy music improv series | continuing education at capilano u | master classes
vancouver, february and march
help!
Centrepiece Community Choir FULL (thursday evenings, february and march)
A small (12-15 voice) non-auditioned choir that meets Thursday evenings in February and March. Material covers popular jazz standards and selected pop tunes by artists like the Beatles, Joni Mitchell and James Taylor.
For A Song Community Choir SPACE AVAILABLE (saturday mornings, february and march)
A 30-40 voice non-auditioned choir that meets Saturday mornings in February and March. Material covers popular jazz standards and selected pop tunes by artists like the Beatles, Joni Mitchell and James Taylor.
north vancouver, february and march
Two classes in Spring 2012
Free your inner improviser! Learn the basics of scat singing on jazz standards, and add extra spice to your singing of lyrics and melodies. Juno-nominated jazz singer Kate Hammett-Vaughan’s fun and engaging approach will help you harness the power of space, shape and rhythm in improvising. Music is provided.
monday evenings, 6:30 – 7:45pm, february 6 to march 8
$189
registration: http://www.capilanou.ca/ce/registration-information.html
Explore classic jazz standards from the ‘20s to the ‘50s. With recorded examples and sheet music, we’ll sing our way through the development of jazz music and its vocal expression, from Dixieland through Big Band, Swing, Bebop and Modal jazz.
monday evenings, 6:30 – 7:45pm, february 6 to march 8
$189
registration: TBA please contact help!
dates
Saturday April 7, 10-noon, VCC Broadway Auditorium
Saturday April 14, 10-noon, VCC Broadway Auditorium
Saturday April 21, 10-noon, VCC Broadway Auditorium
Saturday April 28, 10-noon, VCC Broadway Auditorium
Saturday May 5, 10-noon, VCC Broadway Auditorium
Friday May 11, 7-9pm, evening rehearsal for performance. Location TBC
Friday May 18, 7-9 performance, VCC Broadway Auditorium
VOXYmusic, the Vancouver-based improvising choir workshop series, was founded in 2007 by singer/performers Kate Hammett-Vaughan and Carol Sawyer. VOXYmusic’s mission is to celebrate the human voice, and to inspire singers of various musical and cultural traditions to explore a meeting place that is based in improvisation. Now entering its fifth season, VOXY (as it’s generally known) is a no-budget/ self-funded community choir. With the generous help of Vancouver Community College, grunt gallery, Playwrights Theatre Centre, and The Western Front, VOXYmusic has facilitated four highly successful series of workshops that investigate vocal improvisation. Led by professionals from the music, dance, theatre, spoken word and visual art realms, these workshops have created a space for singers with a wide variety of musical backgrounds and levels of experience to experiment, take risks, and extend their vocabulary as improvising performers. All of the workshop facilitators donate their time. The workshop series culminate in a performance of small and large-group pieces that are created by workshop participants.
Book a General Interest Class or a Performance Master Class for a group or for yourself. Classes are two to three hours in length. Here are just a few of the topics that the classes can include.
(Vancouver, Centrepiece: Thursday evenings, For A Song: Saturday mornings, October and November)
four friday evenings, september and october, from 7-9pm
$150 for the series (limited to 10 participants)
Student feedback:
“I’m so glad I found this class. I had let singing slip away from me. Now I feel whole again!”
“This was great! I have inspiring new things to think about and, best of all, I have singing back in my life.”
Have you been ignoring your inner singer? Too busy? Distracted? Are other things ‘more important’ than your creativity? Now’s the time to reconnect!
This intimate series of supportive workshops will help you re-establish your relationship with YOUR music. Whether you want to improve your technique, move beyond performance anxiety, deepen your interpretation, or become a better improviser or performer, this class will inspire and motivate you.
With lots of singing and lively and supportive discussion, we’ll move into a new depth of freedom, performance and interpretation. Space is limited, so sign up soon!
two friday evenings, december, from 7-9 pm
$75 for two workshops (limited to 10 participants)
Student feedback:
“I really don’t know what I was afraid of, or why I thought improvising had to be hard. It’s really easy and I’m having more fun when I sing!”
“Logical, fun, and inspiring. Kate showed me that I already have all the tools I need, and how to use them.”
Afraid to improvise? Already improvising but need a new direction or some inspiration? This class will introduce you to the concept of song-based improvisation, allowing you to create new interest in your songs, and to sing melodic and spontaneous solos that make sense and connect you to your musicality in the moment.
date and location TBA, 10am–6pm (includes lunch break)
$300
Limited to six vocalists, this is an intensive performance workshop for beginning and intermediate level singers with an interest in jazz repertoire and vocal improvisation. At the end of the day, participants will perform with a professional jazz pianist and receive feedback that will improve their live performances. All participants will receive a video of their rehearsal and performance, plus a book of handouts that support the workshop materials.
For more information, contact help!
10 am What Every Professional Singer Needs To Know
Introduction to class repertoire. Learn how to quickly ‘analyze’ a song. Song form, bass lines and melody act as essential guides.
11 am What about charts?
Basics of chart writing. Each singer will create their own chart from one of the selected rep songs. (Music and reference recordings provided.) Learn how to include everything you need (and nothing that you don’t).
noon Lunch Break
Relax, refresh, ask questions, work on your chart.
1 pm Lyrics & Phrasing: All about the Story
The class will take an in-depth look at the lyrics for the class repertoire. Discover the key to your personal phrasing, and how to get inside the song fast!
2 pm Lyrics & Phrasing: All about the Improv
The two essential secrets of jazz singing lie in knowing the melody and the rhythm. Learn these secrets and how to use them.
3 pm Putting it Together
An opportunity for each vocalist to play through their chart with the professional accompanist, and to prepare for their master class performance. This will be digitally recorded and video-taped.
4–5:30 pm Performance / Master Class
Each singer performs their song, receives feedback from the instructor and the accompanist, and sings again. This will be digitally recorded and video-taped.
5:30–6 pm Question Period & Feedback
Ask questions, get more feedback! You’ll take away a digital recording and video of your rehearsal and performance.