Larry Gordon
July 3, 1947 - November 9, 2021
Founder of Village Harmony, brother, uncle, mentor and dear friend to so many.
Larry was a singer, dancer, builder, organizer, visionary, lover of hikes, good shoes, cats, food, wine, good design and a generous soul.
History
Larry Gordon led choirs since he founded a madrigal group in 1962 while still in high school in Portland, Oregon. Since 1971 he lived in central Vermont where he became a kind of Johnny Appleseed of community music making; he was active as a conductor, a teacher, a publisher, and a community organizer.
Larry first encountered shape-note singing in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1970. Two years later, he began gathering together local friends for informal sings around the kitchen table at Bread and Puppet Theater, then based in Plainfield, Vermont. A growing passion for Sacred Harp music and a lifelong love of medieval and renaissance music led him to found Word of Mouth Chorus in 1973. Word of Mouth attracted a dedicated band of talented young singers, and quickly became a polished ensemble that performed extensively in churches, community centers and historical societies throughout northern New England and the American South, and attended traditional Sacred Harp singings in Georgia and Alabama.
Word of Mouth joined Bread and Puppet Theater for two three-month collaborative tours. In 1978 the first of these tours covered 10,000 miles throughout the United States with a show based on Josquin’s mass, Ave Maris Stella. In 1980, the second tour traveled through England, France and Italy with an Easter show that featured shape-note singing. In 1978, Word of Mouth produced a recording of shape-note singing for Nonesuch, Rivers of Delight, which became one of the first widely available recordings of shape-note singing and introduced many people to the genre for the first time.
With Neely Bruce (at Wesleyan) and singers from Norumbega Harmony in Boston, Larry and Word of Mouth helped found the annual New England Sacred Harp Convention in 1976, the first convention of its kind outside of the American South. Word of Mouth became less active in the early 1980’s as some of the key participants moved away or grew preoccupied with children and family, and eventually disbanded in 1984.
In 1978 Larry founded Onion River Chorus, a non-auditioned community chorus based in Montpelier, Vermont. In the early years of the chorus, Larry sang, came up with programming ideas, recruited musicians, and handled the organizational tasks while Brian Webb conducted. Adventurous from the outset, the group chose for its debut performance Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 (albeit not with original instruments). In its early years, Onion River Chorus devoted whole programs to major 20th century composers, including Stravinsky (Les Noces, Cantata), Bartok (Cantata Profana, From Olden Times, Songs for Children’s Voices) and Dallapiccola (Canti di Prigionia and Songs of Michelangelo Buonoarotti). Since 1986, Larry has been the principal conductor of Onion River Chorus and has continued to lead the group in ambitious and inventive performances, championing rarely performed early baroque works by Charpentier, Schütz, Biber, and Cavalli, as well as numerous contemporary works, including many by Vermont composers.
From 1985-88 Larry directed a high school choir in Hardwick, Vermont and in 1988 he took his choir on a two week performing tour to Georgia where they attended traditional Sacred Harp singings. Inspired to continue working with teenagers, he founded Village Harmony in 1989, and in 1990 started Village Harmony Summer Camp. That first session of camp involved 14 Vermont teens and began the format of a week of rehearsal retreat followed by a performance tour through small town New England with homestays. From those beginnings Village Harmony programs organically expanded and turned into full time work for Larry, combining his organizational, administrative and musical skills. His patient and relaxed, yet demanding, teaching style and his collaborative approach shaped the welcoming atmosphere of the Village Harmony community since the beginning.
His vision, passion for music and dance, cheese and hikes will live on for many more generations to come.
How can I keep from singing - sung by VH 2016 alumni camp.
Video by S. Park and photos from the 'Love for Larry' facebook group and S. Park.
Listen to:
WGDR’s Community Radio Celebration of Larry Gordon
As tributes by friends, family, colleagues, and fellow musicians amplified, local radio station WGDR/WGDH provided a platform for them to sing out across Vermont, live on the air. This show aired on Sunday, November 14, from 7-9pm, honoring Larry’s life. Hosted by Joseph Gainza, with board operation by Carl Etnier, the show featured friends of Larry’s telling stories and the music of Village & Northern Harmony.
