ARS Workshop Partner Members
The following organizations are Partner Members of ARS, and offer events of interest to recorder players. Letitia Berlin and Frances Blakers, co-Executive Directors
info@amherstearlymusic.orgAmherst Early Music is the largest presenter of Early Music workshops in North America. Learning opportunities abound for amateur and pre-professional students to study with leading musicians in the field of Early Music. The Amherst Early Music Festival takes place every year in the month of July in two one-week segments.
Kathleen Fay, Executive Director
Nina Stern, Director of Community Engagement
nina@bemf.orgThe Boston Early Music Festival presents an annual concert series, biennial week-long Festival, and national and international tours. A new initiative will feature workshops for young instrumentalists, starting with recorders! Featured recorder artists have included Erik Bosgraaf, Cléa Galhano, Paul Leenhouts, Kathryn Montoya, Stefan Temmingh, Han Tol, the Flanders Recorder Consort, and Boreas Quartett Bremen. The next Festival, themed A Celebration of Women, takes place June 8-15, 2025. Details can be found at
BEMF.org.
Peter Meckel
info@hiddenvalleymusic.orgHidden Valley Music Seminars was born out of a deep concern for the development of extraordinarily talented young artists. Programs in the fields of music, theatre, opera and dance have occupied most of the time and energies of the staff and faculty since its inception in 1963. It is located in Carmel Valley: a rustic, ten-acre site nestled in the foothills of the Santa Lucia Mountain Range. Road Scholar Early Music classes are offered for recorders and viols.
EarlyMusicWeekMideast@gmail.comAn opportunity for early music enthusiasts to work with an outstanding faculty and students of all levels. The week includes technique classes at all levels (except novice); large and small ensembles; your choice of classes on various early music topics; English Country Dance. Begin a new instrument and/or improve current skills. All facilities are air-conditioned, with comfortable accommodations located on a small college campus.
Jody Miller, Director
recorder96@gmail.com
Mountain Collegium, a weeklong workshop of early and folk music and dance, is held every summer at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, NC. The workshop is structured around daily classes with evenings given over to country dancing, a faculty concert, and the “Big Blow and Bow,” as it is now known, when all participants and faculty gather to read and perform larger works.
Contact Name: Susan Schwartz
director@bloomearlymusic.orghttps://www.bloomearlymusic.org/ This weekend retreat near the Pennsylvania Poconos brings together early musicians who sing or play recorder or viol (and other instruments, too!) each year. With a warm and inviting atmosphere, this workshop offers a good bit of time for impromptu playing sessions to complement the top-notch instruction.
Jo Baim, Administrative Director
workshop@seattle-recorder.orgThe Seattle Recorder Society’s Port Townsend Early Music Workshop at the University of Puget Sound offers an opportunity for players of recorder, viol, and historical winds to study and play music of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Baroque, and the 20th-21st centuries. The Port Townsend Early Music Workshop is held every other year, in odd-numbered years.
Derek Tam, Executive Director
workshops@sfems.orghttps://sfems.org/contact/This year, SFEMS workshops will be consolidated into three months of online classes from mid-May through early August. The Baroque, Medieval/Renaissance, Classical, and Recorder Workshops will all offer classes in play-along formats, as well as some lecture topics in musicology from our world-renowned faculty. Discounts/scholarships available. For our Music Discovery Workshop and Youth Collegium, Yuko Tanaka, director,
check website for updates.
SFEMS also sponsors the Berkeley Festival and Exhibition every other year, with world-class performances and a large exhibit hall with many vendors offering instruments, music and more.
Daniel Johnson, Workshop Director
info@toot.orgThe Texas Toot is a Texas-based non-profit devoted to early music education and performance, presenting two workshops each year. The Fall Texas Toot is a short weekend workshop with instruction in recorders, viols, early reeds, harp, lute, voice, and more. The Summer Texas Toot offers a one-week program of classes at all levels, focusing on Renaissance and Baroque music, but with offerings for Medieval and 21st century enthusiasts as well. Expert instructors in recorder, viol, early reeds, lute, harp, and voice will tend to young professionals, seasoned amateurs, and eager beginners with equal care. The Toot also sponsors or supports other events, including the Renaissance Polyphony Weekend.
Pamela J. Wiese, Director
oprecorder@gmail.comWhitewater is a weekend of playing Early Instruments in south central Wisconsin. Classes for recorders of all levels, voice and viola de gamba. Krumhorns, bagpipes and sackbuts are welcome too.