You don't need to sightread music fluently or have a lot of prior singing experience to join although both of those attributes are welcome.
You do need to be able to match pitch, comfortably hold your own part when singing in harmony, and have a can-do attitude when confronted with unfamiliar languages and singing styles.
Scores will be supplied for some repertoire, as appropriate; but many songs are taught by ear. Everything is taught by example, with emphasis placed on authenticity and on replicating the spirit of each musical genre.
2024-2025 REHEARSAL DATES
This season's CWMC rehearsals take place one Sunday per month at Fulton Hall, University of Chicago, from 1-4pm on the following dates.
• September 15
(workshop with Ensemble Zedashe; free to paid CWMC registrants, $30 for non-members)
• October 13
• November 17
• December 15
• January 26
• February 9
• March 9
ª April 13
• April 27 (rehearsal, potluck and 5pm concert)
Fulton Recital Hall is located on the 4th floor or Goodspeed Hall (1010 E. 59th Street).
Directions: To access Fulton, enter the quad just East of the corner of 59th & Ellis. Turn left once inside the quad, and the entrance to Goodspeed is straight ahead (in the Southwest corner of the quad). Take the very slow elevator to the 4th floor, and turn left.
Tuition to participate is waived for University of Chicago students.
For others, tuition is $225 for the coming season, with a self-chosen optional discounted tuition of $175.
Anyone who needs a lower tuition is free to simply let us know what you'd like to offer to pay; we will accept your offer.
In addition to our monthly meetings, choir members will be given unlimited access to digital files for the choir posted on Village Harmony's Thinkific learning platform. A full gamut of teaching materials will reinforce the live teaching for much of our repertoire, with individual voice parts recordings, performance samples, pronunciation tracks, word sheets, translations, scores and a generous variety of digital background resources to dive into.
From participants of our pandemic-era online classes:
Thank you for an absolutely wonderful week last week. Not only was it immensely musically engaging and rewarding, but you all did such wonderful work to make us all feel connected to each other and really encourage collaboration, experimentation, and self-growth. This is no easy feat to do in online teaching (as I'm finding out myself these past few months!), and I just wanted to pass along my sincere thanks.
I am still basking in the glow of Village Harmony time together and I want to thank you for your part in making this the highlight of my summer. I am sure you all felt some uncertainty facing this new platform as, indeed, did we, but this was certainly a delicious lemonade that quenched my thirst!
As complicated as it was with zoom, you managed to create a sacred space available to us.