Tuesday, October 11 – Friday, October 14, 2016
:: Led by Laurel Massé
We all have tunes that make us want to dance, tunes that break our hearts, and tunes that help to heal the breaks. We turn to music to help us gather, celebrate our triumphs, and grieve our losses, and that is the power of song.
Several millennia ago, a great king wrote songs that remain unequaled in their depth of expression. In this retreat, we will explore his masterwork: the Psalms. The emotions and longing in them are as human and universal as when they were new. Yet many of us have lost the sense of their earthy immediacy because we only hear sanitized versions, or in poor musical settings or language to which we can’t relate. It’s time to peel away the safety wrappers and make these psalms our own to whisper, shout, and sing. This retreat is for all who have loved, hated, and struggled with the psalms, and who long to sing a new song.
With a repertoire that embraces Basie and Bach, banjos and bagpipes, the Beatles, and the Bard of Avon, Laurel Massé is a singer without musical borders. A founding member of the vocal group Manhattan Transfer, she has won international respect as a solo artist and teacher. She has lectured and led master classes at prestigious institutions such as Dartmouth and The Royal Academy of Music (UK) and is a long-time instructor at Ashokan Music and Dance, and a popular adjudicator/clinician of high school choral programs. Ms. Massé resides in the Hudson River Valley in upstate New York, where she is an Episcopal worship leader, lector, and eucharistic minister.
Cost: $310; deposit: $80