Seattle Folklore Society: Windborne Song Workshop
$10-$25 suggested donation
Windborne will present this singers’ workshop on the afternoon of their Seattle Folklore Society concert.
Vermont-based quartet Windborne (Lynn Mahoney Rowan, Will Thomas Rowan, Lauren Breunig, and Jeremy Carter-Gordonis) are known for connecting audiences with the history and musical background of their songs. At this workshop they’ll delve even deeper! This workshop will have a dual theme: they will concentrate both on songs of labor and social movements that they researched for the 2017 book and CD Songs On The Times, and on songs from much different musical cultures, such as the Republic of Georgia, Basque Country, Bulgaria, Lithuania, and others.
Whether or not you plan to attend their evening concert, this workshop is an excellent chance to hear them sing and talk about the source-singers they’ve learned from, all in an intimate setting (space for approximately 30 people to attend).
Workshop runs from 1-3pm. This is not a ticketed event. Seats will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Suggested donation $10-25 by ability to pay.
About Windborne
"The most exciting vocal group in a generation," Windborne's captivating show draws on the singers' deep roots in traditions of vocal harmony, while the absolute uniqueness of their artistic approach brings old songs into the present. Known for the innovation of their arrangements, their harmonies are bold and anything but predictable.
With a 20-year background studying polyphonic music around the world, Lauren Breunig, Jeremy Carter-Gordon, Lynn Rowan, and Will Rowan share a vibrant energy onstage with a blending of voices that can only come from decades of friendship alongside dedicated practice. The ensemble shifts effortlessly between drastically different styles of music, drawing their audience along on a journey that spans continents and centuries, illuminating and expanding on the profound power and variation of the human voice. The singers educate as they entertain, sharing stories about their songs and explaining the context and characteristics of the styles in which they sing.
BBC Traveling Folk describes Windborne as "subverting expectations and redefining the genre [of vocal music] ... just absolutely phenomenal!" Audiences and critics lavish praise upon the singers not only for their technical mastery, but for the passion, engagement, and connection with each other and the audience that imbues each performance with a rare power.
But there's another, crucial dimension to Windborne that guides and roots their artistry. They are adherents to folk music's longtime alliance with social activism, labor and civil rights, and other movements that champion the oppressed, the poor, and the disenfranchised. Their 2017 project, Song on the Times, is a collection of songs of social struggle from the past 400 years, sung for the struggles of today. Bursting with lyrics that, while penned decades or centuries ago, still ring true in modern times, Windborne's dynamic harmonies breathe new life into these songs. The group was unexpectedly propelled into the limelight when a video of them singing Song of the Lower Classes, (originally from the 1840s in England) outside Trump Tower went viral in 2017, prompting their shift into touring full time.
http://www.windbornesingers.com/singers/