Country Dance and Song Society

Advanced and intermediate players of historical winds, strings (including viols, violin, harp and other plucked instruments) and keyboard (harpsichord or piano); singers; and dancers will also find a wealth of activity, including high-level technique classes and challenging ensembles.

What makes the program so successful are the long-standing traditions that are the hallmark of Pinewoods Early Music Week: an experienced, supportive faculty dedicated to the highest standards of teaching and promotion of student achievement and self-confidence; a wide variety of classes exploring the gems of the literature related to our theme; and a host of special events. -- Gene Murrow, Program Director

Staff: [Back to Top]

We are very pleased to welcome several new faculty members to Pinewoods. Deborah Booth is considered one of the country's most talented recorder and flute teachers, ensemble coaches and conductors. She has had stunning success with the Recorder Orchestra of New York and will conduct our recorder orchestra this summer. Wayne Hankin is a phenomenon on myriad instruments. Following a distinguished career in numerous professional early music ensembles, he ran away to join the circus and is joining us during a short break from touring. Robin Hayden is not only CDSS's membership secretary, she is also a beautiful dancer and thoughtful dance teacher. She is in demand around the country for workshops and balls. Israeli-born international recorder virtuoso Daphna Mor is a sensational player and experienced teacher and coach with wide interests. Christa Patton divides her time between Italy, where she continues her advanced studies on the fiendishly difficult triple harp, and America, where she performs and tours with a number of acclaimed early music ensembles.

The returning faculty are well known to Pinewoods veterans. We especially welcome those back after a hiatus: Frances Fitch, Margaret Panofsky and Larry Zukof.

Peter Barnes (keyboard) has been playing piano, flute, whistle, guitar and assorted other instruments for dancers and listeners for many years, and has been invited to most major contra, square, English and Irish dance events throughout the U.S., performing for dances and concerts, leading ensemble workshops and generally acting in a crazy and often undignified manner. He is one of Boston's busiest musicians and has played for festivals and tours from Budapest to Hawaii. He currently divides his time among bands Bare Necessities, The Latter-Day Lizards, singer Cathie Ryan and Sez You!, the NPR radio show. He has also published three music books and appears on over 50 recordings.

Sheila Beardslee (recorder, English country dance) has taught recorder, historical flutes, viol and period dance at Pinewoods, Amherst, LIRF and for early music societies from Maine to Florida and a good many places in between. Director of Recorders/Early Music Metrowest and Concordia Consort, and a member of the Phillips Consort of Viols, she teaches privately and at the Boston Archdiocesan Choir School, where recorder has taken the school by storm! She has led eight performance/study tours to Italy and has recorded for the Viola da Gamba Society-New England, Amherst Early Music and Northeastern.

Deborah Booth (recorders) is a recorder and flute player based in New York City and has studied with Marion Verbruggen, Sandra Miller and other noted teachers in Amsterdam and New York. Her performances include the Orchestra of St. Luke's, Gotham City Baroque Orchestra, Bach Vespers Period Ensemble, Ensemble for Early Music, the Handel-Haydn Society, the Louisville Orchestra, the North Carolina Symphony, and BREVE. Deborah presently teaches at Greenwich Academy, conducts the Recorder Orchestra of New York, directs the Princeton Recorder Academy and teaches and plays each summer at the Amherst Early Music Institute.

Frances Fitch (harpsichord) heads the Early Music Department at the Longy School of Music, teaching figured bass accompaniment, bibliographic research, chamber music and private lessons. She is also Director of Music at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Greater Lynn in Swampscott, Massachusetts. Francie has performed and recorded throughout Europe and North America as a soloist and with many early music ensembles. In addition to a dozen recordings on various labels, including a solo disk: English Virginal Music on Wild Boar, she has recently released a 2-CD set devoted to the vocal and instrumental music of Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre.

Wayne Hankin (winds) performs on early wind instruments with Cirque du Soleil in their newest touring show, Varekai. He has performed in every major city in the country; worked with theater companies including Center Stage, Alley Theater, NY Shakespeare Festival, American Repertory and on Broadway; appeared on several national television shows; and taught and lectured in numerous venues, from the Juilliard School to the Judeske Conservatory in Denmark. He has won several music awards, including the Noah Greenberg Award, ASCAP Standards Awards, Meet the Composer Grants and the ASCAP Plus Awards four years in a row for composition. His collection of instruments now numbers over 400.

Robin Hayden (English country dance) has been dancing since arriving at Swarthmore College in 1979. She has lived and danced in South Amherst, MA since 1987 and began leading English dances there in 1993. Under her guidance, the weekly dance has become the center of a flourishing community of dancers and musicians. She has been a member of the office staff at CDSS for seventeen years. Known for her clear teaching and ability to analyze and articulate what makes good dancing, she has taught at weekends, workshops and festivals across the U.S. and in the U.K. Robin is also an accomplished poet and has been featured in readings at Smith College and elsewhere.

Shira Kammen (violin, vielle) received her degree in music from UC Berkeley and studied vielle with Margriet Tindemans. A member for many years of Ensembles Alcatraz, Project Ars Nova and Medieval Strings, she has also worked with Sequentia, Hesperion XX, the Boston Camerata and the King's Noyse, and is the founder of Class V Music, an ensemble dedicated to performance on river rafting trips. She has performed and taught in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Israel, Morocco and Japan and on the Colorado and Rogue rivers. Shira happily collaborated with singer/storyteller John Fleagle for 15 years and performs now with several new groups: a medieval ensemble, Fortune's Wheel; a new music group, Ephemeros; an eclectic ethnic band, Panacea; and Trouz Bras, a band devoted to the dance music of Celtic Brittany.

Joan Kimball (bagpipes) is co-director of Piffaro, which presents concerts in Philadelphia, tours throughout the U.S. and Europe and has numerous CDs out on the Deutsche Grammophon/Archiv and Dorian labels. In addition to her playing of early wind instruments -- recorders, shawms, bagpipes -- she also makes reeds for historical woodwinds and collaborates with instrument builder Joel Robinson on making Renaissance bagpipes. Joan teaches recorder at The Philadelphia School, where she has a dozen or more students age 6 to 16, some of whom are venturing into Renaissance bagpipes, krummhorns and shawms. She also teaches at early music workshops throughout the U.S.

Larry Lipkis (viol) performs and records with the Baltimore Consort and directs early music activities at Moravian College in Bethlehem, PA, where he serves as Professor of Music and Composer-in-Residence. He has written several works based on the characters of the Commedia dell'arte: his bass trombone concerto, Harlequin, was premiered in 1997 by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and his bassoon concerto, Pierrot, was premiered in 2002 by the Houston Symphony. Larry is also a music director of the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival.

Sarah Mead (viol) holds degrees from Yale and Stanford Universities. She has been on the faculty of the Department of Music at Brandeis University for over 20 years, where she holds an appointment as Artist-in-Residence; in this role she directs the Brandeis Early Music Ensemble and also serves as a guest choral conductor. A frequent freelancer in the Boston area, she has performed with Emmanuel Music, the Handel and Haydn Society, the Boston Viol Consortium and Brewster Village Consort. She is the author of Plain and Easy: A Practical Guide to Renaissance Theory and the chapter on 16th-century theory in A Performer's Guide to Renaissance Music, published by G. Schirmer. A frequent teacher at local and national early music workshops, she is also a past Program Director for Early Music Week. She has directed early music ensembles at Tufts and Northeastern Universities and was a guest lecturer at Trinity College of Music in London.

Daphna Mor (recorder) has performed throughout Europe, Israel and the U.S., including solo recitals in Wiesbaden, Germany; the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Trinity Church; and with the New York Collegium and Washington Bach Ensemble. She won first prize in the Settimane Musicali de Lugano solo competition, and was two-time winner of the Solo Competition at the Boston Conservatory, from which she graduated in 2000 with highest honors as Valedictorian. She was awarded the prestigious status of "Privileged Musician" for her services to Israel. Her teaching experience includes positions with the Metropolitan Museum and the NY Collegium educational programs and as coach at numerous ARS workshops. Daphna is a founding member of the New Amsterdam Recorder Trio.

Gene Murrow (Program Director, English country dance, recorder) is currently the General Manager of the Early Music Foundation in New York. He has been teaching English dance for over 20 years in the United States and Europe; this summer he will represent the U.S. at the Lichfield and Stansfield Festivals in England. He has coached recorder ensembles at Pinewoods, Amherst Early Music and many other workshops around the country for over 30 years. Gene is a member of the CDSS Governing Board and was President of the American Recorder Society from 1994-2000.

Margaret Panofsky (viols) is a well-known teacher and has been a director and faculty member for numerous early-music workshops throughout the United States. She is the founder of the trio, The Teares of the Muses, and is a member (continuo and solo viol) of the esteemed Choir of Corpus Christi Church. She has made guest appearances with many ensembles, including the New York Consort of Viols, le Triomphe de l'Amour, Ensemble Soleil and Parthenia. She directs the New York University Collegium Viol Consort, a proficient N.Y.U. undergraduate and graduate student performing ensemble. Her comprehensive book, Bass Viol Technique, has been used worldwide since its publication in 1991. She has recorded on the Titanic and Desmar labels.

Christa Patton (harp), originally trained as an oboist, has since turned to other wind as well as stringed instruments. She has performed medieval and Renaissance music throughout the U.S., Europe and Japan with Early Music New York, Piffaro, Clarion Music Society and Ex Umbris. As a baroque harpist, Christa has performed with Artek, Wolf Trap Opera Company and the New York City Opera. A Fulbright scholar, Christa is presently studying baroque harp in Milan with harpist Mara Galassi. She has recorded for the Lyrichord, Helicon and Dorian labels.

Cynthia Shaw, (theater, voice) musical director for the New York Christmas Revels since 1995, has appeared on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion at NYC's Town Hall and on NPR. As an accompanist she performs with singers in NYC and is a regular pianist for Country Dance*New York's contra and English dance sessions, being featured in this year's Playford Ball. As a professional soprano, she is an original member of The Douglas Frank Chorale whose premiere recording, The A Cappella Singer, was named "Best Classical Album of 2001" by the Contemporary A Capella Society and was recently a soloist for the American Festival of Microtonal Music concert singing works of Andreas Werckmeister. She sings at Lincoln Center with the New York Philharmonic and The American Symphony Orchestra and is the Upper School Chorus teacher at the Brooklyn Friends School. Personal Webpage

Tricia van Oers (recorder) graduated with high honors in 1998 from the Conservatory of her native city, Rotterdam, with a Teachers and Performers Degree. She did graduate work at Indiana University's Early Music Institute, where she received a Performer Diploma with high achievement in Early Music Performance. Tricia has performed with Early Music New York, Long Island Baroque Ensemble, Concert Royal (NYC), the Saratoga Chamber Singers, the Vernon Chorale, the Cantata Singers (Boston) and in solo and ensemble recitals in Europe. As a founding member of the Rotterdam-based ensemble Scarabee she recorded at the Great Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles (France). She teaches at workshops and summer classes across the U.S. and is a founding member of the New Amsterdam Recorder Trio and the baroque ensemble Sympatica.

Robert Wiemken, (Renaissance winds) a French hornist for many years before turning to early music and period instrument performance, is now a multi-instrumentalist, focusing on the double reed instruments of the Medieval through the Baroque periods, most notably the Renaissance and early Baroque dulcian, or curtal and the Baroque bassoon. He is currently co-director of Piffaro and also directs the early music ensembles at Temple University's Esther Boyer College of Music in Philadelphia. He has performed with numerous ensembles, including New York's Ensemble for Early Music, the Grande Band, the Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, the Philadelphia Classical Symphony, Brandywine Baroque Orchestra, the Folger Consort, the Kings Noyse and others. He has recorded on the Newport Classics, Deutsche Grammophon Archiv Produktion, Dorian Records, Vanguard Classics, Windham Hill and Pasacaille labels. He is also a noted reed maker, specializing in the double reeds of the Medieval through Baroque periods.

Larry Zukof (recorder) has taught at Pinewoods, Amherst Early Music, Skidmore and ARS workshops in Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts. He has a MM from New England Conservatory in recorder and voice. He is a past member of the Boston Camerata and has appeared with the Boston Classical Orchestra and the Pro Arte Singers. Larry is currently the Director of Neighborhood Music School in New Haven, CT.

Early Music Week at Pinewoods Daily Schedule
7:00 - 7:30	Exercises
7:45 - 8:15	Breakfast
8:30 - 8:50	Morning warm-ups for all
9:00 - 10:30	First morning class
11:00 - 12:00	Dance classes
12:00 - 12:30	Break, swimming, etc
12:30	Lunch served family style
2:00 - 3:15	First afternoon class
3:30 - 4:45	Second afternoon class
5:00 - 5:30	Teatime
5:30 - 6:30	Free time, with faculty rehearsals and informal camper readings
6:30	Dinner
7:45	Mini-lectures
8:15	Community Dance Party
9:45 - 10:45	Special Events

Class Descriptions: [Back to Top]

The first session of the day is devoted to graded technique classes in recorder, viol, harp and voice. Alternatively, you may choose one of the mixed ensembles devoted to medieval music, music of the Renaissance or Baroque trio sonatas with continuo.

Mid-morning is devoted to English country dancing; everyone joins in at the appropriate level. The beginner class teaches all the basics and assumes nothing. It also prepares dancers for each evening's dance party. Dancers with some experience will enjoy the intermediate class, which develops style and repertoire. Advanced dancers will explore some of the more complex and unusual dances and, if they wish, serve as dance "angels " to assist in the beginners class.

Afternoon classes include perennial favorites and some new offerings. You may choose a beginning class in harp or viol (instruments are available for loan or rental). The English country dance band, again under the direction of Peter Barnes, offers an opportunity to learn the techniques of playing for dancing and basic improvisation. The loud band provides safe haven and unfettered expression for shawms, sackbuts and cornetti. A variety of recorder and viol ensembles explore the consort literature for these families. Mixed consorts at intermediate and advanced levels accommodate singers and instrumentalists. The buzzie band for krummhorns and their ilk always hums.

New this year is a Renaissance flute ensemble directed by Deborah Booth, intermediate bagpipes (at last!) with Joan Kimball and a class in preparing dances for performance with Robin Hayden. Robin's class will build a suite of English country dances and polish them to performance level.

The afternoon string orchestra, recorder orchestra and chorus rehearse every afternoon, and then join in glorious consort at week's end as the acclaimed Pinewoods Philharmonia to present a grand work for voices and instruments.

Nightly dance parties (including an evening featuring camper callers and dance band), plus madrigal sings, informal consort playing, lecture/presentations, skits, the hilarious yet purposeful fund-raising auction, a final banquet with gala entertainments and the usual surprise events will complement the program and enhance the wonderful sense of community that is Early Music Week at Pinewoods.

FIRST MORNING CLASS: 9:00-10:30
In the morning there are technique and repertory building classes for instrumental and vocal consorts at all levels. There are classes in

There are also four High Intermediate to Advanced ensemble classes:
* Medieval Ensemble with Shira Kammen: for recorders, vielle, rebec, harp, voices. Note: limited enrollment
Explore the modes and the music of the 13th to the 15th centuries, including some basic modal improvisation (no experience necessary), a look at different genres of monophonic song, and learning some of the polyphony of the later middle ages.
* Renaissance Ensemble with Larry Zukof: for recorder, voices, gamba and lute. Note: limited enrollment
Venetian music of the late 16th century: Gabrielli, Festa, etc.
* Baroque Ensembles (2) with Daphna Mor and Francie Fitch: Note: enrollment limited to 2 melody instruments, gamba and harpsichord.
Trio sonatas with continuo (gamba and harpsichord).

MORNING DANCE: 11:00-12:00

FIRST AFTERNOON CLASS: 2:00-3:15

Class	Level	Instrument	Teacher
English Country Dance Band: techniques to accompany dancers	LI-A	all instruments	Barnes
Special Occasions: Music for comings and goings (weddings and funerals), birthdays, coronations, and fine wines...	LI/I	recorders	Beardslee
Flute Consort: Renaissance and Baroque flutes Open to flute players having some experience with or interest in early instruments -- Renaissance or Baroque flutes welcome. If you are a flute player (modern or otherwise) who would like to try some of these instruments, there may be some extra instruments available for use. The pitch of the class will be 440.	LI-A	flutes	Booth
Baroque Ensemble: trio sonatas Ensemble is limited to 2 melody instruments, gamba, and harpsichord. Filled in order of registration.	HI/A	(as in morning)	Fitch
Krummhorn Ensemble: Buzzies galore	LI-A	krummhorns	Hankin
Dance Music Around the World: From the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Explore different flavors and forms of dance music, including English Country Dance, Renaissance Court Dance, Basse Danse, and traditional styles such as the tunes of Cape Breton, Ireland, Britanny, and Bulgaria.	LI-A	all instruments	Kammen
Intermediate Bagpipes - loaner instrument available For all bagpipe players who have mastered the "blow and squeeze", who can play tunes while walking and who are up for more challenges: further work on gracing, playing more complicated melodies, playing 3-part bagpipe arrangements, and simple reed and pipe maintenance.	LI/I/HI	bagpipes (limit 6)	Kimball
Rounds at Round Pond: Back by popular demand. Learn to write rounds, using texts of your choosing based on the "ceremonies and celebrations" theme.	All	all	Lipkis
Triumphs of Oriana: Madrigals and consort pieces The famous madrigals by Morley, et al. Unaccompanied madrigals and consort pieces (prepared in separate locations) will be included along with the "Triumphs."	HI/A	voices, instruments	Mead and Panofsky
Recorder Consort Daphna draws on her deep knowledge of world music as well as her studies in early music.	I/HI	recorders	Mor
Recorder Consort Modern fanfares for recorder consort, and interesting intradas from masques and other historical sources.	HI/A	recorders	Murrow
Beginning Harp loaner instrument available	B/LI	harps	Patton
Baroque ensemble: sonatas for 4 + continuo Ensemble is limited to 4 melody instruments, gamba, and harpsichord. Filled in order of registration.	HI/A	(as in morning)	van Oers
Puzzles: Puzzles, canons, and Renaissance unica Composers from the late 14th through the 16th centuries loved to create works either as a challenge to the performer or just as musical games, or simply to prove it theoretically possible. Some of these works are as entertaining as they are fascinating. We'll also take a look at some one-of-a-kind pieces that break new compositional ground for the time. Included will be Machaut's Ma fin est mon commencement, a circular canon by Bartolomeo Ramos, several single, double and triple canons by Josquin Desprez, Pierre de la Rue, Heinrich Isaac, and puzzles by Lloyd et al. A look at the original notation for these pieces will provide an additional challenge for those interested, but will not be a requirement.	HI/A	recorders, viols	Wiemken
Ceremonial 15th- & 16th-Century Music: fanfares, motets, masses...	I/HI	recorders	Zukof
Time Out - choose to audit and observe, or take a practice break

SECOND AFTERNOON CLASS: 3:30-4:45

Class	Level	Instrument	Teacher
English Country Dance for Performance: a choreographed suite In the course of the week, we will master a choreographed suite of dances and polish it for performance. This is a challenging undertaking, and requires that participants learn quickly and dance with energy, agility, precision, and grace. Along the way, we will address such questions as what makes a dance suitable for display and how ensemble dancing differs from social dancing.	HI/A	dancers	Hayden
Straight from the Source: Reading from original notation. For novices and those with some experience.	I-A	instruments	Mead
Beginning Viol - loaner instrument available	B	viols	Panofsky
Loud Band: music for cornettos, sackbuts, and shawms	HI/A	reeds, brass	Wiemken
These next three classes will join together at the end of the week for a gala performance
* Chorus	all	voices	Shaw
* Recorder Orchestra	LI-A	recorders	Booth
* String Orchestra	LI-A	strings	Lipkis
Time Out - choose to audit, observe, or take a practice break

Program Description Tentative Schedule Class Descriptions Staff Top

413-268-7426 FAX: 413-268-7471

Country Dance and Song Society 132 Main St/PO Box 338 Haydenville, MA 01039-0338 Office Hours M-F 9:30am - 5:00pm EST

http://www.cdss.org/