More than 120 singers filled the beautiful St Swithin’s Church in Bath for a fabulous workshop with Windborne from the US, on their UK tour. Jeremy, Lynn, Lauren and Will taught three wonderful songs, each leading and and supporting the vocal parts and building up rich harmonies. Singers enjoyed a festive counting song, Come and I will sing you and a Lithuanian winter song, both featured on Windborne’s latest album, To warm the winter hearth, and the rousing Chartist Anthem. Windborne performed a stunning concert to round off the day.
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- Windborne with Jane Harris, Songways
Windborne specialize in close harmony singing, shifting effortlessly between dramatically different styles of traditional music. Their musical knowledge spans many continents and cultures but they remain deeply rooted in American folk singing traditions.
They will teach songs from their new album To warm the winter hearth, songs from their American roots and folk songs from other cultures collected on their travels. The workshop is open to everyone and all the songs and harmonies will be taught by ear by Jeremy, Lynn, Will and Lauren. To round off the day in style, we will become the audience and Windborne will perform for us. Concert-only tickets also available.
Stunningly powerful vocal harmony…
Windborne sets a new bar for folk harmony singing today
Spectacularly good, utterly brilliant…
A joyful and heartfelt celebration of song, Windborne’s lush vocals and unique arrangements bring light to a dark time, as they draw on midwinter music from traditional, classical, and folk from the US, British isles and beyond.
Windborne’s captivating performances draw 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.
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 songs burst with lyrics that, while penned decades or centuries ago, still ring true in modern times, and Windborne’s dynamic harmonies breathe new life into these songs.