Love to sing? Looking for something different — and fun — to do this summer? Kaslo’s gift to the Kootenay summer music scene, the choral workshop I Can’t Keep From Singing, is coming up soon, celebrating its eighth season, led for the third year by conductor Karen Michelle Behn.
Joined by a professional accompanist, Behn will be working with an all-woman contingent this summer — sorry guys, next year. If you’re female and would love to learn to sing in a choir setting — or hone your singing skills — it’s not too late to enrol. The workshop runs Monday, July 20 to Friday, July 24.
Behn, the founder and conductor of Kaslo’s Kuimba Choir, brings her trademark enthusiasm, energy, and love of music to the summer workshops, bolstered by over 20 years of choral conducting of children, church, and community choirs across BC.
A soloist, singing everything from classical to jazz, armed with a degree in music and a major in voice and piano as well as a jazz diploma from Vancouver Community College, Behn is well qualified to lead this week-long choral workshop in the lovely lakeside village of Kaslo.
This year’s I Can’t Keep From Singing culminates with a community concert and celebration on July 24.
Participants will enjoy a beautiful cruise and barbecue on Kootenay Lake, a sing-a-long evening of Beatles and other tunes with the local Kaslo Rise Up singing group, as well as individual lessons and coaching for soloists or small ensembles.
This week-long intensive invites singers of all abilities to come together to sing wonderful choral music in a relaxed and supportive atmosphere — experimentation and improvisation are all part of the vocal experience, along with a varied and eclectic repertoire. Participants build musical and choral skills, learn vocal technique, make new friendships, and bask in the beauty of Alpine Nirvana.
Go to kootenayvoices.wordpress.com for all the details of this year’s summer choral workshop.