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Workshops

Stile Antico is passionate about sharing its repertoire and unique, collaborative working style with the widest possible audience. The group is regularly invited to lead courses at Dartington International Summer School and has devised workshops for choirs of widely varying standards, styles and sizes. It is often possible for the group to lead a workshop in conjunction with a performance engagement, providing particular insight to participants and observers and offering added value to promoters.

A workshop with Stile Antico offers an outstanding opportunity to develop listening skills, rhythmic confidence and musical independence in a supportive and stimulating environment. By singing without a conductor under the guidance of members of the group, participants are encouraged to work as chamber musicians, to respond imaginatively to text, and to make their own interpretative decisions.

We always enjoy the vocal ensembles at Dartington when Stile are running them. They are very well organised, we learn a great deal, they are great fun, and we seem to work through a lot of music in a short time in a really friendly and encouraging atmosphere.

Marilyn and Richard, Dartington International Summer School participants

Stile Antico’s workshops are carefully tailored to the requirements of those taking part. The repertoire is chosen in conjunction with the host; previous workshops have included music from the group’s concert programmes (particularly effective in association with a performance), madrigals or works from specific publications. Existing choirs may wish to focus on works from their own programmes, which need not be limited to Renaissance music: Stile Antico’s working style is applicable to the music of all periods, and its members are highly experienced choral singers with experience of an extremely wide range of repertoire.

Whilst no two Stile Antico workshops are the same, the group has developed a number of flexible templates suitable for groups of different sizes and levels of experience.

For more information, please download the group’s Workshops Brochure and contact info@ikonarts.com to discuss your requirements.

In addition to its work at Dartington, in recent years Stile Antico has worked with the choir of the Charles Wood Summer School (Armagh), the Ranelagh Singers (Dublin) and Roeselaars Kamerkoor (Belgium), Lewisham Choral Society, Southampton Philharmonic Choir, the Border Marches and Midlands Early Music Forums, and has led workshops at the Chipping Campden, Grassington, Harrogate, Lammermuir, Lake District Summer Music and York Early Music Festivals, and for Music in the Round.

Stile Antico workshop in Armagh
A novel way to improve ensemble skills at a Stile Antico workshop in Armagh

Schools and Universities

Stile Antico has extensive experience of delivering workshops in universities and schools. The group seeks to complement the work of music departments, giving students the chance to encounter an often-unfamiliar repertoire, to discover its context, and to try singing it for themselves. Singing together in small groups, guided by members of Stile Antico, participants gain a unique insight into the musical style, while developing their listening skills and working together as a team. Renaissance music also offers excellent cross-curricular opportunities to explore the fascinating and turbulent history of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Stile Antico plans each workshop in conjunction with the teaching staff, tailoring its work to the abilities of the participants and the goals of the session. Possible formats include side-by-side singing workshops, masterclasses with existing ensembles or even lecture-recitals; the group’s members have extensive teaching experience at all levels.

To discuss what Stile Antico could bring to your school or university, please contact info@ikonarts.com.

My students were thrilled to work with Stile Antico, and every member of the group showed enormous vitality and enjoyment in working with our singers, whether experienced or less so. Numerous of the students in both my large choir as well as the auditioned Chamber choir have spoken about their experiences with Stile Antico as being among the highlights of their college careers. Both the masterclasses and concerts presented at UNH were wonderfully empowering events for our program, and we will all be excited to have Stile back again as soon as possible!

Dr William Kempster, Professor of Music, University of New Hampshire

Stile Antico has worked in schools and universities since 2006, when it received a grant from the National Lottery, through Arts Council England, to support workshops in Oxfordshire secondary schools. The group has taken part in the Wigmore Hall’s outreach programme and worked with university students in the UK (Cardiff, Southampton) and the US (Duke, Yale, Oberlin and the University of New Hampshire). In 2013-4 Stile Antico was ensemble-in-residence at the University of Buckingham, and in 2014 the group led a series of workshops leading to a performance in an Inner London secondary school, supported by the Stile Antico Foundation.