SongRoutes Corsica
May 26-June 7 2025 - Corsica
with Jean-Étienne Langiani, Frederic Vesperini, Cathy Graziani, Lysander Jaffe, Sophie Michaux & Adam Jacob Simon
REGISTRATION WILL OPEN SEPTEMBER 14th at 11:00 am Pacific Time!
SongRoutes Corsica will be an intensive 13 day exploration of traditional Corsican Polyphony. Led by musical tradition bearers - Jean-Étienne Langiani, Frederic Vesperini and Cathy Graziani, this adventure will open new pathways to understanding this rich, unique and beautiful polyphony tradition. Lysander Jaffe, Sophie Michaux and Adam Jacob Simon will help us understand, break down and rehearse the songs during our practice sessions.Lysander, Sophie and Adam will also teach us a set of ensemble pieces from other vocal traditions to round out our concert offerings to our Corsican audiences. 
This intensive workshop will take place primarily in Canari where we will sing and eat at our home base of I Fioretti, a convent that was founded in 1506 and converted to a retreat centre in 2003. We will hold classes and eat our meals at I Fioretti and singers will either be housed at I Fioretti or share airbnbs that are all within walking distance. Canari will be our home base for the whole trip but we will be taking several day trips to visit nearby towns and beaches. We will spend 2 days in the middle of the trip in the seaside town of Ajaccio where we will learn from and perform with Spartimu.SongRoutes Corsica
Corsican Music - What to Expect
Traditional Corsican Polyphony is challenging music with elaborate ornamentation and precise intonation. We will be learning this music by ear and singers will need to be confident enough to sing one on a part in a small ensemble.
Below are some examples of this beautiful polyphonic tradition.
Secular Music
A Filetta - Paghiella
Tavagna - Terzetti di Russia
Sacred Music
Jacky Micaelli, Jean-Etienne Langianni, Marie-Ange Geronimi
Kyrie/Sanctus/Agnus Dei
Spatimu - Agnus Dei
Teaching Method
Jean-Étienne Langiani
Jean-Étienne Langianni is a well-known singer, composer and teacher across Europe, is at home as much with contemporary popular music and all periods of European classical chant as he is with the traditional folk and sacred polyphony of his native Corsica.
He leads workshops of Corsican singing both in Corsica and throughout western Europe. A member of Tavagna (the Corsican folk music group) and Organum (the ancient music ensemble led by Marcel Peres), he is a talented composer whose works reveal a deep understanding of Corsican folk and sacred music.
Frederic Vesperini
Frederic Vesperini of Ajaccio, Corsica is a long-time member (and currently director) of Ensemble Spartimu.
Specializing in the traditional folk and sacred polyphony of Corsica, the ensemble is regularly invited to in prestigious international festivals, most recently including trips to Sardinia, Poland and to Tbilisi, Georgia.
Over the past decade the ensemble has added brilliant performances of music from the Republic of Georgia to their repertoire. Spartimu has recorded two CDs. Frederic and Spartimu have worked with international students through Village Harmony since 2004.
Cathy Graziani
We are thrilled to welcome Cathy Graziani to this group of instructors.
An experienced traditional Corsican singer who has been collaborating with Village Harmony for years.
We are excited to learn more about Corsican music from a women's perspective.
Cathy's bio is coming soon...
Lysander Jaffe
Lysander Jaffe is a violinist, violist, and vocalist based in Boston. Equally at home in classical music, traditional music, and cross-genre projects, he has appeared at venues such as the Kennedy Center and Shalin Liu and on national television in Kosovo, Greece, and Georgia. Lysander holds a Masters in Contemporary Improvisation from New England Conservatory, where he studied styles ranging from free improvisation to Hindustani music with Warren Senders, Joe Morris, and many others. He is a Co-Artistic Director of the chamber orchestra Palaver Strings and a founding member of Culomba vocal ensemble. Lysander has worked with masters of traditional music in Corsica, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Greece, and Georgia, and has twice received the MA Cultural Council's Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Grant to support his work on the music of Epirus, Greece. He has taught with Village Harmony since 2013 and toured internationally with its affiliate ensemble Northern Harmony, and currently serves as Artistic Director of Boston Harmony, SingPositive, and Congregation Kahal B'raira. For more information, visit lysanderjaffe.com
Sophie Michaux
Born in France and raised in the French Alps, Sophie Michaux has become one of the Northeast’s most versatile and compelling singers, at home in an eclectic span of repertoire ranging from grand opera to French cabaret songs.
This season’s engagements include the role of Alcina in Francesca Caccini’s La Liberazione di Ruggiero dall’Isola d’Alcina (Haymarket Opera Company), Clorinda in Monteverdi’s Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda (A Far Cry), as well as a Hawaii Tour (Les Délices), and a Pacific Northwest tour (Culomba).
Other recent collaborations include the Boston Early Music Festival, Haymarket Opera Company, Blue Heron, A Far Cry, the Lorelei Ensemble, Bach Collegium San Diego, Palaver Strings, Ruckus, and the Lowell Chamber Orchestra. She has sung under the baton of Marin Alsop, Andris Nelsons, Thomas Adès, Leonardo García Alarcón, and Lidiya Yankovskaya, among others. She is the co-founder of Culomba, a world polyphony sextet, that tours and teaches singing workshops around North-America, and is the artistic director of the cross-genre ensemble Tiny Glass Tavern, that performs wildly eclectic programs across New England. She teaches voice at Williams College and Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts, as well as singing workshops around North-America.
Adam Jacob Simon
Adam Jacob Simon is a composer, singer, arranger, string plucker, and ivory tickler based in New England. As a composer, he has enjoyed many recent performances and commissions from nationally acclaimed ensembles, including; A Far Cry,Cantus, Lorelei Ensemble, Ruckus, Conspirare, Seraphic Fire, Palaver Strings and WordSong Boston.
He is an avid folk music singer as well, performing frequently with the world folk ensemble Culomba, and VT based vocal ensemble Northern Harmony, traveling throughout Europe, South Africa and the states.
Adam has a Master’s degree in Composition from Tufts University in Medford MA and a UD in composition and piano performance at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge MA. Adam is Director of Music at Edwards Church in Northampton, MA.
Organizers
Patty Cuyler
Born in California, educated at Princeton University, long-time resident of Vermont and currently living in Chicago, IL, Patty is an energetic, dynamic workshop leader and choral director and is internationally-renowned for her expertise in teaching Corsican, Georgian and South African music.
She has been co-director of Village Harmony since 1995 and over the years spear-headed the expansion of the organization’s reach into the four corners of the globe.
Karla Mundy
Karla Mundy is a vibrant, soulful and diverse vocalist, pianist, arranger and choir leader. Karla directs Rhythm ‘n’ Roots and the City Soul Choir in Vancouver. Karla leads harmony singing workshops throughout BC and organizes many singing camps, workshops and singing study trips abroad. Karla is a founding member of the No Sh!t Shirleys, TriVo, Cleia, Plough, Tanglewood Trio and Big Whoop! Karla is passionate about teaching harmony singing, getting the music off the page and digging deep into new musical territory.
Karla has been running singing tours since 2017 and has taken groups to Cuba, North Carolina, Ireland and New Orleans. Karla has teamed up with Patty Cuyler from Village Harmony to lead tours in South Africa, Cuba and the Republic of Georgia. She is thrilled to be taking a group to Corsica with the guidance and help of Patty Cuyler!
Schedule
CANARI - May 26-June 7th
May 26th - Participants can fly in and out of Bastia. Our program officially begins on May 26th with an evening rehearsal with Lysander, Sophie and Adam. May 26th will be a busy day of picking up rental cars, getting groceries and setting up the spaces for cooking, eating and singing. Extra sets of helpful hands will be wonderful! We will spend some time getting to know our immediate surroundings and the town.
May 27th -we will continue to settle in and begin working on our non-Corsican repertoire with Lysander, Adam and Sophie. We will also go over some Corsican musical concepts to start to prepare ourselves for our sessions there.
May 28th - we will continue to work with Sophie, Adam and Lysander and we will have a workshop with Cathy Graziani.
May 29-May 31st - we will be working intensively with Frederic Vesperini as well as Sophie, Adam & Lysander.
May 31-June 2 - We will travel to Ajaccio to enjoy this beautiful seaside city, have a workshop and concert with Spartimu and enjoy the stunning drive down the island and back.
June 3-5 - we will work intensively with Jean Etienne Langiani and continue to work on the repertoire we have learned so far.
June 6 - we will spend our last full day preparing for our concert and perform in the evening in Canari.
June 7 - today is a travel day and we will say our goodbyes after breakfast in the morning!
Accommodations
CANARI
In Canari, the group will be split up between I Fioretti and three near by AirBnBs. Most of the room set ups at the AirBnBs are geared towards single rooms or couples while the rooms at I Fioretti will be used more for shared spaces.
I Fioretti
We will be studying and eating our meals at I Fioretti so it will be our main home base for our time in Canari. The accommodations there are split between small apartments and former simple convent accommodations.
You can read all about it HERE
AirBnBs
To supplement our accommodations and to give us lots of space, we will have three full homes rented. They are all within a short walking distance to I Fioretti and we will have the whole home to ourselves. There will be about 5-6 people in each place
AJACCIO
In Ajaccio we will all be staying at the Hotel Fesch and Spa.
This hotel is in the old city, has a rooftop pool and, yes, a spa! We will have some time off while in Ajaccio so you can spend some time enjoying the town, the spa, the beach... Breakfast is included! The rooms here are more set up for sharing so if you require your own room for these two nights, let me know and I will see if we can book another room (for an additional cost)
FOOD
Sora Harris-Vincent
Sora Harris-Vincent is a postpartum doula, lactation consultant, and singer based in Minneapolis. Having grown up in Vermont and a member of the singing group Village Harmony since she was 12 years old, community singing is an integral part of Sora's life. Sora has travelled and toured internationally with Northern Harmony, Village Harmony, and is a member of the Boston based group Culomba, and has taught singing camps and workshops for singers of all ages. Whether it's at home with her wife Riss or in the homes of clients, Sora is often in the kitchen creating delicious and nutritious plant-based food while singing and writing new songs to 
sing with friends. In recent years Sora has taken on the role of menu planner and grocery shopper for many of the Village Harmony summer camps and loves the creativity that is required for feeding large groups of people. Graciously accepting the title once given by a friend of "Food Doula", Sora is thrilled to be returning to Corsica for the third time to coordinate, organize, and cook food for this trip of singers!