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The biannual early music workshop, put on by the Seattle Recorder Society, was held June 12 to 18 at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington.  The workshop was reasonably large with 75 participants and 14 faculty ably let by Trish Berlin and Frances Blaker.  The participants were mainly from Washington and California with a few from other states and a dozen from B.C. and Alberta.

The accommodations at Ups, university residences, comprising suites, each with 5 single bedrooms with shared bathrooms and a sitting room with fridge and microwave, are reasonably comfortable.  The food, provided by the university food service, was adequate, if basic, with a good selection of different food styles.  The first night, however, we were competing with several hundred high school football players and the cafeteria ran out of some food items.  They did have the problem sorted out and the situation under control by breakfast Monday.

The workshop offered a good assortment of courses for viol, recorder and mixed groups.  There were the usual technique classes and sessions for music of different periods and styles.  There were also classes in ornamentation, composition and percussion and a session for people who like playing in strange rhythms.  For me, the highlight of the workshop was the Collegium session attended by a group of about 30, singers and viol and recorder players.  The class, under the direction of Peter Seibert, performed Palestrina’s Missa Inviolata and a sonata by Giovanni Picchi.  The arrangements, by Peter, were excellent and the instruments and voices produced a superb sound.  Among the recorders were a contrabass in F and a square great bass in C.  The great bass was constructed of half=inch plywood and looked most inelegant but sounded just fine.

As well as the day-time sessions, there were organised events every evening.  The first nigfht, Sunday, was an orientation meeting and mass play-in.  Monday night was Zimmermanns’s Kaffeehaus, and evening of drinking coffee and wine and eating pastries while regaled with an impromptu concert by the faculty.  Tuesday night we had a salmon banquet with wine provided by the workshop.  Wednesday night was English country dancing led by Jo Baine, the workshop administrator.  Thursday evening was the formal faculty concert (rehearsed and excellent).  Friday evening was the Collegium concert followed by a let’s-drink-up-all-the-open-bottles-of-wine party.  The workshop wrapped up Saturday morning with the student concert after which we had lunch and went home.

The workshop was well planned and directed and the faculty were uniformly excellent.  The people were friendly and the atmosphere was pleasant and relaxed.  The accommodation was reasonable comfortable and the food, although fairly basic, was acceptable and, after Sunday, plentiful.  The cost, $975US, included accommodation and all meals except Wednesday supper.  Tacoma is a very pleasant city and the glass museum was well worth a visit on our free afternoon,  I thoroughly enjoyed the workshop and would not hesitate to recommend it.

                                Ron Costanzo