KlezCalendar

Smyrneïka and Rebetika Vocal Workshop
Asia Minor Urban Greek Music of the 20s, 30s, and 40s
"The Blues of Greece"

Sunday, Sep 15, 2013, 2-4pm
Jalopy Theatre and School of Music
315 Columbia Street
Brooklyn, New York

This workshop will teach students to sing the magnificent vocal repertoire of early 20th Century Asia Minor Greek artists with authenticity and ease. By learning how to carefully listen to excellent recordings and how to then access one's memory of these songs, and by learning simple tricks to make singing them effortless, students will easily learn to sing an involved repertoire with comfort, clarity, and control. Students will begin to master the art of singing intricate ornamentation, complex rhythms, and microtonal scales, in a process that is fluid and fun. Students will also learn tricks for seamlessly switching between vocal placements without detection, and for producing optimal tone. We will also learn how to phrase songs so as to provide for maximum depth of expression, artistry, and musicality.

The songs, which follow the complex system of microtonal scales known as makam in Turkish or dhromi (roads) in Greek, have simply gorgeous melodies, and are lush with embellishment. The 1920s -1930s texts leave no stone unturned, and deal with scorching love, unbearable pain, cocaine, hashish, and heroine, lesbianism, monkey serum fountain of youth injections, harem girls, Hawaiian guitar music, and anything else one may fancy.
Though the repertoire is challenging and instruction is detailed and specific, the workshop will be taught in a supportive, comfortable and relaxed setting, and is always fun. The workshop is open to everyone and no prior experience with the reperotire or language is necessary.

Admission: $30

718-395-3214 www.jalopy.biz/

Well known as a performer, researcher, and teacher of a variety of Greek, Judaic, Balkan, and other singing traditions, Carol Freeman has performed since 1970 as vocalist for The Smyrneiki Kompania Asia Minor Greek Music Ensemble, Sevda Balkan Music Ensemble, Song of the Shtetl Jewish Music Ensemble, and Zhenska Pesna (Balkan women’s trio), and as a solo interpreter of traditional song, and has appeared at arts centers, music festivals, museums, universities, folklore seminars, synagogues, and community facilities, and on radio and television, throughout North America. She learned much of her repertoire by conducting extensive research with Old World singers both in Europe and the US.

An expert vocal instructor, Carol Freeman has taught classes, workshops, and individual lessons, both as a private instructor and at public and specialized arts schools, music seminars, universities, and museums for four decades, and has also done extensive vocal coaching with noted choirs, theater companies, and folkloric performance ensembles.

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