Choral Workshop

Kent Tritle, director

August 14-21, 2022

Northampton Community College
3835 Green Pond Rd
Bethlehem, PA 18020
United States

Tuition:
$675

Come sing with us! 

The Choral Workshop will run week two of the Amherst Early Music Festival

Repertoire: two cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach:
Cantata BWV 4, Christ lag in Todes Banden
Cantata BWV 106, Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit
 

Spend a week with highly-acclaimed conductor Kent Tritle and experience the joy of choral singing. The Choral Workshop is designed to give the serious amateur choral singer an opportunity to learn and perform masterworks of the Renaissance and Baroque, within the context of the largest early music festival in the United States.

Choral Workshop faculty: Kent Tritle, Director, Mark Hanke, assistant, with section leaders Stephen Biegner, Anna Lenti, Emerson Sieverts, Peter Stewart, and Phillip Cheah, and accompanist Jennifer Streeter.

TO APPLY: Please send a recording of a vocalization of your choice demonstrating the bottom to top of your vocal range along with a 16 bar exerpt from recent repertoire that you have performed. This can be with or without accompaniment, a solo piece, or your part in a choral work. Send by email to Click here to show mail address along with a short resume of your choral experience, and current choral affiliations. Include last 2-3 years of repertoire, major works, and early music that you have performed. *If you auditioned for Choral Workshop in 2018 or 2019 you do not need to audition again for 2022. If you auditioned in 2017 you will need to audition again for 2022, unless you are a current member of the Oratorio Society of New York.


There are many YouTube videos and online information on how to make a voice recording using a mobile phone. Here are two links explaining how to use voice memo on an iphone to make a recording:
Need help? Give us a call! +1-781-488-3337

New to the Festival? Fear not! Our open and inviting atmosphere will make you feel at home right away.

Image
The 2019 Choral Workshop

Faculty

Kent
Tritle **
Voice
Stephen
Biegner **
Voice
Anna
Lenti **
Voice
Emerson
Sieverts **
Voice
Peter
Stewart **
Voice
Phillip
Cheah **
Voice

Festival FAQs

ON-CAMPUS AMENITIES at Northampton Community College
Lounge on 2nd Floor of Student Center with TVs
WIFI is free and available everywhere on campus
NCC Bookstore, College Center, hours TBD
ATM - College Center 2nd floor
Library
Laundry: washers and dryers are in the dorm complex (free). All of the machines are high efficiency machines, so please buy HE detergent when you are buying supplies to bring to campus (laundry detergent pods are a great choice!).
Parking is free, and there are designated handicapped spaces at the dorms, and the classroom, and concert buildings. Click here to download a map of the campus.

MEALS
Cafeteria Meal Hours
Breakfast 7:00 – 9:00 a.m. ($8 a la carte)
Lunch 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. ($14.50 a la carte)
Dinner 5:00 -7:00 p.m. ($17 a la carte)
A meal card for the week (Sunday dinner – Sunday breakfast) is $230, or you can purchase meals individually.
Payment methods accepted: Visa, Mastercard, cash, and ApplePay.
(Apple Cash, American Express, and Discover are not accepted.)
Snack Bar Options include tacos, grill, sub shop, and pizzas.
The snack bar hours are Monday – Friday, 7:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

Dietary restrictions can be accommodated in the cafeteria. Please let us know of any allergies, preferences, etc. when you fill out the Festival Participant Information form (coming soon!) so that we can be in touch with dining services ahead of time.

ROOMS
All rooms have individual thermostats, as well as windows that open.
Each room has its own small fridge and microwave
Beds are twin extra long
Basic linens (sheets, pillow, and towels) are included
Single sex bathrooms are in each wing, gender neutral bathrooms are available.

TRAVEL
Northampton Community College, Main Campus,
3835 Green Pond Road, Bethlehem, PA 18020.
Closest Airport: Lehigh Valley International Airport (ABE)
Approximately 8 miles from NCC via Lyfft or Uber.
Trans-Bridge Lines offers service from the Port Authority Bus Terminal in NYC, and Newark Airport to the Lehigh Valley Airport (ABE).

Festival COVID-19 Policy

All participants, faculty, and staff at the AEMF 2022 must be fully vaccinated: 2 doses of Pfizer or Moderna and at least one booster OR 1 dose of J&J and at least one booster. We will no longer require a PCR test, but will require submitting 2 rapid tests with negative results along with proof of vaccination.  The first test should be the day before arriving at the Festival, and the second one on the arrival day, or upon arriving at the Festival.

Each person should bring an additional 3 rapid tests per week for ongoing testing. Anyone who tests positive for Covid at the Festival will have to leave as there is no possibility of quarantining on campus. In the event that you have to leave because of Covid, your pro-rated tuition and housing charges will be refunded.
Masking: we will be masked at all times indoors unless playing a wind instrument or eating. (Receptions will be held outside, no masks needed.)
These protocols are the strictest we will have. If the Covid situation improves markedly we may relax some of these policies. Any changes will be announced prior to the Festival and updated on our website. (Updated June 24, 2022).

Scholarships & Work-Study

Work-Study

All participants are welcome to apply for tuition assistance through AEM's Work-Study program. Notice of awards will be sent in late May. Fill out the Work-Study application here to apply. Questions about Work-Study can be sent to Click here to show mail address.

AEM Scholarships

To apply for AEM scholarships, send a one-page letter to Marilyn Boenau, the Executive Director of AEM, explaining your interest in early music or dance and your goal in attending the Festival. Email to Click here to show mail address.

The Washington McClain Scholarship Fund honors the memory of Baroque oboist and Amherst Early Music faculty member Washington McClain. It will fund scholarships for students who have historically been underrepresented in the early music field, including African-American, Latinx, and others. Awards will cover tuition, room and board, and travel and may be used for any in-person AEM event, particularly the Amherst Early Music Festival. To apply send a letter of inquiry to Click here to show mail address, with information about your interest in early music or dance.

In addition to scholarships, AEM offers work study tuition to all of our workshops, and the Amherst Early Music Festival. Work study is an option for students of any age.

Other Organizations

American Recorder Society offers scholarships to recorder players for Weekend Workshops as well as Summer Festivals. Any ARS member who needs financial assistance to attend a weekend or week-long workshop may apply for this scholarship. Deadline: March 31.

Viola da Gamba Society of America offers Grants-in-Aid to its members to attend Workshops and Masterclasses.

The Historical Keyboard Society of North America has established the Funaro Fund Award to support its members to offset the cost of traveling to an early keyboard event.