Village Harmony runs camps just for teenagers, alumni trips for older teens & young adults, residential weeks primarily for adults and international camps for mixed age groups. Each camp session is headed by a trio of music leaders fluent in a wide range of traditions and highly experienced as teachers. Our no-holds barred attitude toward what is possible has resulted in ensembles whose sound remains dynamic, unpredictable, and absolutely exciting year after year. With their clear command of radically-varied singing styles and infectiously joyous stage presence, Village Harmony ensembles always knock people’s socks off.

Village Harmony camp & workshop locations vary each year. This summer our camps will be held in New England, Oregon, the UK, the Republic of Macedonia, Madagascar and Caucasus Georgia. In other years we have run camps in the Midwest, Canada, Corsica, South Africa, France, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Ukraine, Russia and Ghana.

During the rehearsal week, singers get to know one another, absorb the basics of new vocal styles and prepare a concert program. Rehearsals are focused and intense, usually six or more hours each day, with voice coaching and instrumental work between the group sessions. Written music is distributed for a lot of the repertoire, but many songs are taught solely by ear, and virtually everything is taught by example. Emphasis is placed on authenticity in the spirit of each musical genre, not just on its replication. 

Above all we strive for total conviction, and singing with joy. Intense as this description may seem, Village Harmony groups tend to be extremely relaxed, non-competitive and democratic in nature.  

The supportive and inclusive atmosphere at our camps is such that no one is afraid to give their all in performance and sing from the deepest place in their hearts.The framework of each residency is communal, with everyone pitching in to help cook and clean. The menu is primarily vegetarian, responsive to the tastes and culinary talents of the singers. We make time for dancing, hiking and searching out swimming holes. During the rehearsal week we often find time for a cabaret, when stand-up comics & little-imagined talents come to the fore.

The shorter residential camps finish up with just one or two performances. The longer teen and international camps launch into concert tours, traveling and performing at a different venue each night; and the communities that sponsor us and make up our audiences also provide us with meals and overnight housing. Concerts are held in small-town community halls, in village churches, at folk festivals; we make a point of collaborating with local folk musicians, especially overseas. Foreign audiences in particular are thrilled and gratified to see us learning and performing their traditional music with so much care, respect and enthusiasm.

Regardless of whether one attends a shorter residential camp or one of the traveling ones, the intense immersion in new repertoires and the many challenges of preparing for the concert performances is exhilarating for all involved.