This year's Thinking Spaces series has frequently emphasized vocal improvisation. We will build on this in the coming months by offering free vocal exploration gatherings Sundays 12-2pm at Silence Guelph (46 Essex st.) starting March 30. Our initial workshops will be led by Dr. Chris Tonelli and in May and June we'll bring in a series of distinguished guests, including Phil Minton and Maggie Nicols (see below for more information on their work). Interested individuals can attend as many of these sessions as they would like. We will build strategies for group performance, but be keeping them flexible enough to easily accommodate new members as the series continues. All vocal sounds will be accepted in this space and all are welcome whether or not you consider yourself a singer. These gatherings will run until June 26, when our work together will culminate in our participation in the Summit on Voice, Agency, and Improvisation (more information on that event will appear in coming weeks). Come sing with us!

Vocal Workshop Schedule

...with Christine Duncan: Sunday, May 18, 12-2pm
...with Susanna Hood & Chris Tonelli: Sunday, June 1, 12-2pm
...with Paul Dutton: Sunday, June 15, 12-2:30pm
...with W. Mark Sutherland: Sunday, June 22, 12-2pm
...with Phil Minton & Maggie Nicols: Tuesday, June 24, 7:30-10pm

All workshops are free and take place at Silence Guelph (46 Essex).

Facebook page for the gatherings (please like us!)

For more info on Maggie Nicols, click here.

For more info on Phil Minton, click here.

More on what we'll be doing: Christine Duncan/Element choir style conducted improvisation, exploration of unconventional vocal techniques, group humming exercises, development of our own structures and pieces, use of both vocal and non-vocal oral sound production techniques, free vocal improvisation, discussion of histories of vocal performance and different approaches solo and group singing, and ways of thinking about the connection between the ways we use our voices and the other parts of our daily lives and experiences.