Madagascar Camp

July 16 - August 2, 2025

  • Rehearsal Venue: Mahajanga, Madagascar

  • Leaders: Lala Simpson, Harisoa Rahantaniaina, Patty Cuyler

  • Tuition: $2600 with shared accommodations; $3100 for single room. $2300 youth tuition

Transportation to and from Madagascar as well as a round-trip flight from Tana to Mahajanga near the start of the trip will be the responsibility of each participant.

Welcome to a musical and cultural immersion in the world’s second largest Island country, home to lemurs, chameleons, baobabs and more—where the motto is moramora (no need to hurry), the people are friendly, where the fauna, the flora, the food and music are so extraordinarily diverse that there is always something to discover.

Situated off the southeast coast of Africa, about 420 km away from the coast of Mozambique, Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world. Traditionally, the economy has been based on the cultivation of paddy rice, coffee, vanilla and cloves. Despite a wealth of natural resources and a tourism industry driven by its unique environment, it remains one of the world's poorest and is heavily dependent on foreign aid. Having developed in isolation, the island nation is famed for its unique wildlife and is considered one of the world's top ten biodiversity hotspots. The island nation is inhabited by various ethnic groups of Southeast Asian, African and Arab descent.

A welcome from camp director Lala Simpson

Village Harmony's second study-performance camp in Madagascar, led by Malagasy musicians Lala Simpson and her sister Harisoa Rahantaniaina, and Village Harmony director Patty Cuyler. 

We will meet in Madagascar's capital city, Antananarivo (aka "Tana"), and then fly together to spend our first week in idyllic Mahajanga, a beach town on the far northwest shore of Madagascar. Our return to Tana will be followed by a music-sharing and sightseeing tour in, around and east of the capital, including the Peyrieras Exotic Park and Andasibe National Park.

Our first week together in Madagascar will take place near the beaches of Mahajanga, the famous city of flowers and whose name means City of healing. Mahajanga is situated on the northwest coast of Madagascar, along the Mozambique Canal, and is home to the Sakalava people (meaning “people of the long valley”). Its waterfront of beautiful beaches is a virtual boulevard backed with palms and street-food stalls that leads to a massive baobab tree. At night, the locals hang out to socialize, sing and dance the night away. 

During this initial week we will spend our days learning our concert repertoire—primarily Malagasy music but with a selection of American and other songs added. During our stay in Mahajanga we will also visit Cirque Rouge, Lake Rasoabe, and Antsanitia beach. After a week at the beach we will fly back to Antananarivo (the “city of 1000”, capital city of Madagascar) for a few days, and will then travel down to visit Pereyras and Andasibe National Parks, and more. As we travel we will meet up with more local artists to learn traditional dances and songs, go to concerts, give concerts, go to churches, and meet with choirs.

It will be winter when we travel to Madagascar, the season for Famadihana (turning of the bones of the dead) and Didim-poitra (circumcision) which are both celebrated with singing, dancing and feast. And visiting craft markets in Tana, and other famous landmarks in the capital, are musts we will also make time for.

  • Lala Simpson

    Lala Simpson is a vocalist, composer, and community song leader from Antananarivo Madagascar. Lala fell in love with her country’ s traditional music and dance from a very young age and started performing in with a local traditional folk Vakodrazana group at the age of 7. She is a very skilled teacher with a great sense of humour, passionate about the music and traditions of her homeland and has been given the honour of being one of Madagascar’s honorary cultural ambassador in NZ by the Malagasy ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

    Currently, she lives in NZ with her 3 young adult children and her husband and leads two community choirs, performs French music with her band, collaborates with other artists and community groups to organise ethnic community concerts, performs music from Madagascar, and travels around NZ leading community singing workshops.

  • Harisoa Rahantaniaina

    Harisoa is a vocalist, composer, and choir director from Antananarivo. With a bubbly personality with a lot of talent, she is a real joy to have as a teacher. A performer since the age of 12, she can often be seen performing and collaborating with other artists at family, community, corporate and national events, festivals— including Madagascar’s well renowned jazz festival, MadaJazzCar.

    Currently, Harisoa is the musical director of AFIFA, a church choir of 100 singers aged 5-50 years old, a job she took on in 2009. They sing traditional and traditionally inspired Malagasy worship songs/hymns often involving dancing. She also offers voice training for choirs around Tana.

  • Patty Cuyler

    Patty Cuyler, born in California, educated at Princeton University, long-time resident of Vermont and currently living in Marshfield, VT, is an energetic, dynamic workshop leader and choral director. Patty is internationally-renowned for her expertise in teaching Corsican, Georgian and South African music. She is VH’s head director after acting as the co-director since 1995.

    Over the years Patty spear-headed the expansion of the organization’s reach into the four corners of the globe. It was primarily Patty’s vision and labor that shaped VH’s successful response to the pandemic year and launched the online programs that allowed Village Harmony to sustain itself until we could resume our in-person programs.