2027 Microtonal Recording Retreat - April 17-25 in Virginia
SCHEDULE:
- Sat-Mon: mingling, jamming, trying out the submitted pieces, coming up with new pieces
- Tues-Sat: filming/recording sessions
- Sun morning: cleanup and goodbyes
Featured guest: Mark Johnson is a lifelong ensemble musician with a keen ear for special tuning. He has sung in a cappella ensembles of every size and many styles. He played various woodwinds throughout school, and studied oboe and conducting at the Eastman School of Music in the 1980s. Mark met Toby Twining at a Bobby McFerrin workshop in 1988, and collaborated with him as music director, singer, producer, and mix engineer for Chrysalid Requiem (2002) and Eurydice (2011). He also worked for many years with The Western Wind Vocal Ensemble, as producer for their recordings and ensemble coach at their workshops. Some of his favorite musics are The Hi-Lo’s, Pat Metheny and Mahler symphonies.
Mark will be leading daily choir sessions. He is also available for one-on-one vocal coaching.
While there may be a few solo performances, the focus is on playing music together, because it's the one thing we can't do online. The focus is also on recording, so that we have something to share with the world after the fact. Attendees should have significant previous experience performing microtonal music. Attendees will be able to connect with each other beforehand in a google group, to share ideas.
CALL FOR SCORES ETC. The deadline for submission is March 15th. The material can range from improvised to composed, from classical to modern, and from instrumental to singer-songwriter. For composed pieces, we suggest sheet music plus midi demos. For improvised material, we suggest lead sheets, example recordings, etc. Needn't be new material. Needn't be your own material. Can even be simple sketches which other attendees help flesh out, a pre-retreat group collab which comes to life when we get together in person! The choice of which material to use is entirely up to the attendees. To encourage uninhibited music-making, all attendees will have veto rights over any video they appear in. Anything not vetoed will be published CC-BY as a youtube playlist and as a free bandcamp album. Select scores will be published after the retreat in a free songbook on the UnTwelve website.
Before March 15th: $400-500 to attend for all 9 days, covers food and lodging. $300 if sleeping off-site (food only). Partial stay: $60-75/day if sleeping over (food and lodging), $45/day if not (food only).
After March 15th: full stay: $500-600 with lodging, $400 without. Partial stay: $75-90/day with lodging, $60/day without.
Midmountain Riverside Arts Retreat is just outside of Natural Bridge Station, Virginia (2 hours west of Richmond). It features 2 outbuildings and 400 feet of private frontage on the James River. For more photos, see their airBnB site.
Travel: The nearest airport is 45 minutes away in Roanoke VA. The nearest Amtrak and Greyhound stations are in Roanoke and Lynchburg (also 45 minutes away). Shuttle service will be provided. People with a long travel day are welcome to arrive Friday night the 16th, as are people who can do the shuttling. No extra per-day charge for April 16th.
Lodging: sleeping options range from the farmhouse ($500 or $75/day before March 15th) to the outbuildings ($400 or $60/day before March 15th, mattress provided) to camping on the riverfront ($400 or $60/day before May 1st, tent and sleeping pad provided). All options include linens. Camping in your own vehicle is encouraged. There are only 4 bedrooms in the farmhouse, so getting a single-occupancy room to yourself is unlikely. There will be a few double-occupancy rooms with a queen-sized bed for couples.
Meals: There will be continental breakfasts and DIY lunches. Full dinners will be cooked on-site by the MidMountain staff. Attendees will have input ahead of time on dietary restrictions, favorite foods, etc.
Past UnTwelve retreats have been held at large retreat centers with 5-6 buildings on hundreds of acres and with a total capacity of 50-100 people. MidMountain is much smaller, only 3 buildings on 5 acres. The main house is a 4-bedroom farmhouse with a large attic loft. The outbuildings (the post office and the barnette) are almost completely unfurnished. Electricity but no plumbing or AC. Each is one large room, with a cement/concrete floor and a garage/basement/workshop vibe. The post office is about 20'x20'. The barnette is larger, about the size of a small house. It does have an upstairs with a wood floor.
We went with MidMountain for two reasons. One, it costs less than half of the other places, making this the most affordable UnTwelve retreat ever! Two, it's charming and quirky in a good way. The space has a lot of character, and the wonderful people who live there, River and Chris, are extremely supportive.
To get the early bird rate, payment must be received by March 15th. Full refund upon cancellation by Friday April 9th.
Locals: contact River directly about casual drop-ins.
