Hastings College will host a community singers workshop led by Peter and Mary Alice Amidon of Brattleboro, Vermont, on Saturday, April 8, 2017, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Fuhr Hall of Music on campus (723 E. 9th Street). The workshop is free and open to the public, and lunch will be provided for the first 225 participants.
“The workshop is open to anyone who loves to sing, whether that’s in the shower or a choir, whether you believe you are good or not,” said Tom Michalek, a music teacher for Hastings Public Schools and assistant director of the South Central Nebraska Children’s Chorale, which is in residence at Hastings College. “This workshop will focus on the benefits group singing provides to the body, mind and spirit, rather than focussing on singing technique.”
Geared towards college aged students and adults, the workshop is about how singing builds community and harmony in our world. “It’s going to be fun, educational and will lift your spirits,” Michalek said.
The session will include traditional American songs, African American gospel, spirituals, and songs written by folks steeped in the oral tradition.
In addition to the workshop at Hastings College, the Amidons will give a lecture Friday at the college on the music composition process, and will be conducting workshops at Watson Elementary School in Hastings earlier in the week.
Peter and Mary Alice Amidon are versatile and widely respected performing and teaching artists who have dedicated themselves to traditional song, dance and storytelling. The Amidons are equally at home doing a concert of stories and songs for adults or children, or leading harmony singing workshops with adults. They have performed concerts and led residencies in hundreds of schools, libraries and churches.
This workshop on campus is sponsored by the Hastings College Music Department and the Hastings College Artist Lecture Series. Other sponsors of events include Hastings First United Methodist Church, the Hastings Public Schools Foundation, the Nebraska Choral Directors Association, the Great Plains Orff Chapter, the Plains States Kodaly Organization and the Watson School PTO.
Hastings College is a private, four-year institution located in Hastings, Nebraska, that focuses on student academic and extracurricular achievement. With 64 majors and 15 pre-professional programs, Hastings College has been named among “Great Schools, Great Prices” by U.S. News & World Report and a “Best in the Midwest” by The Princeton Review. For more, go to hastings.edu.
