Malcolm Dalglish’s Ooolation Song Kitchen  
For Singers 18 and up

Register now! Jun 20 - 29, 2012

Learn more about Malcolm Dalglish

Here is an invitation for those who’d like to sing their way through a vacation in Hawaii. Malcolm Dalglish’s approach to teaching vocal music is as innovative and refreshing as his compositions. His masterful utilization of oral tradition and theater creates a joyful learning process that inspires vibrant performances from singers. Malcolm and co director Joshua Stephen Kartes invite singers from around the world to share in these methods developed over 10 years of residencies and Ooolation Outdoor Singing camps. Participants will come away with ideas for a kinetic approach to vocal music, as well as a working knowledge of some of Dalglish’s most beloved repertoire. You’ll leave with an annotated song book of the works we’ve learned to share with others. This session is for singers who share a love for a wide range of vocal colors, musical roots, and performance ideas. All should be comfortable with written music and enjoy moving while singing.

The Music

Malcolm’s music is born from and inspired by roots vocal traditions over time and around the world. Be it the improvised ways they are composed, the dancing theatrical ways they are taught, or the physical ways in which they are remembered, you’ll see how these distinctly American compositions that look challenging on paper really have a comfortable home in the oral tradition. Each song is a playground for the voice and a vehicle for the spirit.  Here’s a sample list of songs and the places we’ll go.

Audio Excerpts (sidebar)

1) Reel a Bouche, 2) Pleasure, 3) Hm Bidi De Je - songs in which the invented syllables of mouth music, lilting or scat singing carry the music and inspire its movement.
4) Swifts - about the joys of family life and these winged acrobats that sweep the summer skies above our towns.
5) Sail Away - Vocalizes the hypnotic rhythm of an old time fiddle tune in a song of liberation
6) Pegasus - A song in which despair rises in dreams of flight through the dark melody of a modal 14th century Italian Laude into a dreamy and ethereal vocal carousel.
7) Now and Here, 8) Lasting World, 9) Pie March, 10) Pie R Pie - Celebration songs and vocal marches that have led hundreds to midwinter bonfires and the enjoyment of pie.
11) Walking in The Cradle of Our Land -  An old Irish bagpipe march has us walking among the natural forms that remind us of the gentle fall and graceful spiraling down of gravity.
12) Into the Sky An Ancient Chinese poem by Li Po explores the mystery of birds, clouds and our vanishing in time.
13) Bottom of the 9^th- Closing song of Free Range, A Baseball Dream, in which the about-to-be-slaughtered chickens turn into baseball players, win the game, and "fly away home."
14) The Selchie and the Fisherman, 15) Bayou Sara, 16) Quil O Quay - epic stories of seal people, roustabouts, moonshiners, survival and the apocalypse.
17) Bushy Tail, 18) Kitty Alone, 19) By Oh Baby - Old world lullabies and critter songs that open like a classic childrens picture book.

Settings of Wendell Berry poems
1) Epitaph - Scottish bagpipe lament with words on how we carry the memory of a deceased elder.
2) Woods / Field of Wings - An  enchanted woodland opens to mouth music depicting the cacophony of a Nebraska farm field full of Sand Hill Cranes and Snow Geese.
3) The Broken Ground – A tone poem exploring the sensuous mystery of earth and seed.
4) Peace of Wild Things - finding peace in the world and “the day blind stars waiting with their light”
5) The Wild Geese – vast and intimate images of flight and autumn carry visions of a lasting world.
6) Great Trees -  an anthem to the many splendors of trees.
7) To the Holy Spirit -  a short prayer for guidance and grace through life’s vast array of opposing forces.

Songs range from unison to 6 part mixed voice arrangements. Feel free to make requests. For a complete list of over seventy songs, please go to the Ooolitic Music website and click on “sheet music.”
For photos of the camp,  please go to the Ooolitic Music website and click on “Camp Ooolation.”

A Day in the Life of Ooolation at Hamakua

First light: Stretches, yoga, outdoor scampers or sleep!
Breakfast: always something hot, fresh local Hawaiian fruits, great coffee, tea and juices.
Warm Ups: imaginative body, voice and ear wake ups
The Day’s Music will be introduced in a morning session interspersed with breaks and a morning tea. Each song session pulls the notes from the page into moves that connect the song to its roots and the singers to each other. We’ll work off of instructional scores with annotated performance notes. There will be lots of repertoire but a memorized polished concert is not in the cards. To your great relief, the agile magnet mind of our average teenage Ooolation camper is not required.
After a Scrumptious Buffet lunch (with take away snacks) we’ll have an afternoon of free time to explore the beautiful surroundings, or just kick back, nap and relax. We’ll have opportunities for group excursions to waterfalls, swimming holes, forest and sea shore walks, volcanoes and spectacles unique to the island.
Long Shadow Review: As the sun comes closer to the horizon and the colors intensify, we find a wonderfully energized time to revisit the day’s music just before dinner.
Song Party Evenings will become a big song, story, and game swap. Joshua the master karaoke man will accompany any song new, old or made up on the spot. For anyone who ever wanted to know how to play the spoons, bones, basic body percussion, central African hindewho, metal slit drum, or hammer dulcimer, Malcolm’s your man. There are sure to be many other talents ready for sharing in this talented group.

The Promise
This retreat promises to offer equal parts adventure, serenity, inspiration, and for teachers and choir directors, professional development.

We encourage you to seek creative funding support from teacher development resources and grants that may be available from your institutions and community arts councils.
oooliticmusic.com

Register now! Jun 20 - 29, 2012

Learn more about Malcolm Dalglish