"La Spagna" workshops

For children up to 10 years
We'll be talking about Spain. All Dutch children have heard of Spain! Particularly in December, because that is where Sint Niklaas comes from (Saint Nicholas, the Dutch version of Santa Claus). But did you know that the Spanish have been making music for centuries? Just like we do here.
We will listen to a real Spanish story and play along with the story on our recorders. This will be an unforgettable journey to the country of the good Saint Nicholas.

For advanced children from 10 to 16 years
Spain, the land of bull-fighters, stalwart and strong. This is also the land of fiery flamenco music, accompanied by guitars and castagnettes. We will be throwing a sheaf of Spanish music - in which you can almost smell the oranges - at the students, and playing it!! Success guaranteed!

For maturer students from 16 years
Get to know a lost tradition. How's that? In our time, we tend to associate improvisation with jazz and popular music. Yet it was quite normal to improvise during the renaissance period (about 1400 to 1500). Of course, none of that is on paper, since it only occurrred when the music was live. In recent years, there has been a lot of experimentation with forms of improvisation from that time. In the meantime, we think we can recreate some of the old music.
We will proceed carefully along this path. First we will play a number of typical improvisations, which have already been developed, and then gradually continue in smaller groups to work on our own 'improvisation'. At the end of the day, we will present to each other what we have been able to create. An elementary knowledge of chords and intervals would be useful for this workshop, but is not essential.

For everyone
We know the old story: it's always off-key and it clogs up easily. This workshop, lasting about 1½ hours, will help you to get the best out of your own recorder. The central topic is how to deal with the problems that can occur, and we will spend time on all aspects of maintenance and small improvements you can make to your instrument. Bring an old recorder with you, because we do want to be a little bit careful (if you don't have one, that's not a big problem, because we have a whole series of 'old' recorders; just let us know when you sign up!).

In the eveneing we will be presenting a show around the melody "La Spagna" together with the Praetorius Ensemble. The red thread in this programme is a mass by Heinrich Isaac under the title - naturally - of "La Spagna". As well as this there will be pieces from various periods, but always related to Spain or "La Spagna". During this workshop, various members of the Praetorius Ensemble will be present to play along if required, or to reveal some of their secrets. However, we won't be telling everything, because we don't want to spoil the excitement.

After each workshop we will spend some time together to round off the afternoon, during which we will have the opportunity to show each other what we have learned. After that, there will be a large pan of paella, so that everyone can enjoy some typical Spanish food.
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