Traditional singing workshops – Polish wedding songs and other ceremonials

Leading: Ewa Grochowska i Mateusz Kowalski with the accompaniment of the Tęgie Chłopy group
Friday, November 9, 2018, 19:00 – 22:00, INECC Luxembourg
Saturday, November 10, 2018, 10:00 – 17:00, INECC Luxembourg

Sign up and additional informations at: https://www.inecc.lu/base?base=4&record=1473834981477&com=0I0I0I0I

Ewa Grochowska (Female group)

The traditional singing workshops with elements of voice emission and hygiene aim to work on a specific singing technique, white voice, which is characteristic for rural music.
In these workshops you can work on voice emission, vocal expression, physical-respiratory coordination, timbrality and and a whole group of phenomena related to the formation and articulation of sound, intonation, energy and consonance in singing groups. We will devote a lot of attention to shaping correct and useful emission habits, important in singing, which become imbedded in everyday use of speech devices. Classes are not only the process of mastering a particular song repertoire, but above all, work on the vocal style and expanding knowledge about cultural competencies, necessary to understand the specificity of rural singing, its functionality and symbolic content.

The main objective of the course is, above all, 'warming up' the participants, preparing to enter the specificity of traditional singing and encouraging them to get to know and explore the valour of their voice. During the meeting we will be paying particular attention to the traditions of ceremonial singing, which is the hardest stylistically and hardest to perform repertoire. We will be looking at wedding songs from north Małopolska and southwest Mazowsze. There will also be plenty of lyrical and folk songs. We will be concentrating on the stylistic characteristics (dialect, timbre, rhythm, intonation, variations in melody, vocal ornamentation) and we will explore and develop the experience of communal singing.

Expectations for participants: Readiness for learning 'by ear' (without musical notation) and active participation in emission and physical exercises as well as independent work outside scheduled classes. Good humour, a little distance to yourself and a friendly attitude towards other participants of the activities are also welcome.

Number of places: 15 (female group)/Age of the participants: 15+
We invite people of various levels of advancement in work on traditional singing.

Ewa Grochowska – researcher of traditional genres and vocal styles in traditional music (above all, ceremonial) in Poland and Central and Eastern Europe.
She is the realizer outdoor recordings, she is involved in workshops and concerts dedicated to traditional Polish music and instrumental music from north Małopolska and Lubelskie.
She is the author of many educational and artistic projects dedicated to passing on, reconstructing and popularisation of traditional Polish music.
Student of the violinist Jan Gracy from Przystałowic Małych (from 2000 to 2013), lover of old rural wedding singing, where there is no space to sing ‘insincerely’.
Has been learning this technique from rural singers in Poland and Ukraine since 1999.
Member of various music groups and projects such as: Tęgie Chłopy, Z Lasu, Warszawa Wschodnia, Orkiestra Jarmarku Jagiellońskiego, MZK Toruń.
Scholarship holder of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage (2006, 2014, 2018). Doctor of humanities.

Mateusz Kowalski (Male group)

We will be using the formula of a singing meet-up – the leader will be giving the melody and after a while the rest of the group joins in. We will be concentrating on religious songs with various melodies from east Mazowsze, while the text will be originating from the Pelpliński Song-book. The duration and the structure of the songs – repetitive with multiple verses – provide us with the possibility of concentrating on the singing on its own while minimalising the analysis of the songs. As such, we will work on singing as a group and gaining experience in a form which will allow each participant to find the best place for thei voice with with their own strength and timbre.

Mateusz Kowalski – singer, violinist and acordionist, student of Jan Gacy. Leader of Kapela Mateusza Kowalskiego and the co-creator of the bands: Tęgie Chłopy, Warszawska Orkiestra Sentymentalna, Kompania Adama Struga, Monodia Polska, Kapela Macieja Filipczuka. Works with children and teenagers, among others as part of the 'Tratwa' Association in Olsztyn and the Dom Tańca Association in Warsaw. Took part in 'Spotkania z Muzyką' organised by the National Philharmonie in Warsaw. Also leads workshops about playing instruments (Tabory Domu Tańca, Ambasada Muzyki Tradycyjnej, Międzynarodowa Letnia Szkoła Muzyki Tradycyjnej, Wszystkie Mazurki Świata festival). Along with Tęgie Chłopy, he’s been learning about Kielecka music for five years from the master and good spirit of the group – Stanisław Witkowski.

This project is co-financed by the Association "Polish Community" with funds received from the Chancellery of the Senate of the Republic of Poland in the framework of assistance of the Senate to the Polish Diaspora and Poles living abroad.

in cooperation with :