SongRoutes – Southern France 2025

DATES - Sept 23-30 2025

VENUE - Mas Vilalte

LEADERS - Sarina Partridge, Moira Smiley, Gideon Crevoshay and Karla Mundy

COST - $2500 CAD + $125 Registration Fee + GST (based on double occupancy)

There are some limited single occupancy spots for an extra $400 CAD + GST)

**REGISTRATION WILL OPEN SAT MARCH 8th at 11:00 am PST

The Registration Links will start working on that day!

Music, Creativity and Nature Retreat

Join us for a nourishing 7 day retreat in Southern France where we will explore music, our voices, creativity and be transformed by the nature around us! This is a chance to nurture your whole creative self with wonderful song leaders in a beautiful mountain retreat under starry skies!

You will work with teachers and musicians Moira Smiley, Sarina Partridge, Gideon Crevoshay and Karla Mundy. Together we will work on group singing and arranging and we will also dig into deep listening and exploring our own unique voices. There will be opportunities for songwriting and we will offer up exercises in creativity as a group and as solo adventurers.

The beautiful Mas Vilalte retreat centre is situated on the south facing slope of Mount Canigou in the Pyrenees, 10 km from the small village of Corsavy and 3 hours from Barcelona. As Mas Vilalte is so isolated, there is no light and sound pollution and we will be surrounded by nature, wildlife and hiking trails. We aim to take advantage of these incredible natural surroundings and to spend time walking, singing, playing and creating outside. Mas Vilalte is an ideal place to be inspired by the natural world and dig deep into some creative work with a supportive group of fellow musicians.

Our days will consist of vocal and physical exercises/warm-ups, group singing, arranging and group creative work. There will be time for reflection, writing, walking and practice. There will be options for improvisation and songwriting as well as lots of time to bond with a group. There is space for 26 singers and all are welcome. All you need is a willingness and eagerness to try and a desire for connected creativity and deep musical work.

We have room for 26 singers and accommodations are a combination of a dorm room for 6, triples, doubles and some limited single rooms.

WHAT'S INCLUDED

Cost will include full tuition, accommodations, transportation while at Mas Vilalte and all meals! **ALL MEALS ARE VEGETARIAN!! We will be arranging for vans to drive us from Barcelona and back.

Registration will open on Sat March 8th at 11:00 am. There are some limited single rooms available for an extra cost of $400.

INSTRUCTORS

SARINA PARTRIDGE

Sarina Partridge is a musician, song-leader, educator and activist in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She feels most alive when learning, creating and sharing songs -- especially songs that grow out of time spent in wild places.

Sarina sings with a wide variety of music projects: community song-leading; harmony-rich original music with folk trio Heartwood; performing and teaching of Eastern European and Yiddish song - her own musical lineage; and harmony music from around the world, which she has learned from tradition bearers and master singers.

Sarina has a passion for connecting people with their own creativity and with community, and uses harmony singing as a modality to help folks develop a sense of wonder and belonging in this wild world around us.

MOIRA SMILEY

Moira is a Grammy-nominated composer, singer and educator renowned for her mastery of the voice and playful ability to inspire singers of all levels and backgrounds. With a deep respect for the cultural roles of singing, Moira blends teaching, composing, improvising and performing to empower community, and our sense of wonder and belonging.

She’s published over 150 choral works that are sung by millions of singers worldwide, and has produced 10 albums of vocal-harmony-centered songwriting and traditional folk music (while recording on nearly 100 projects by others).

Known for her dynamic voice and stage presence, Moira has collaborated with some of the most celebrated names in music, including Tune-Yards, Eric Whitacre, Chris Thile, Hilary Hahn, and Morten Lauridsen. As a member of Tune-Yards, she's performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Conan O’Brien and the UK’s Later… with Jools Holland. Recently, she performed & recorded for Chris Thile’s project ‘Attention!’ and Laurie Anderson’s ARK and released an album and book called The Rhizome Project.

GIDEON CREVOSHAY

Gideon Crevoshay is a musician from the hills of the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. He uses the human voice to explore the countless dimensions of sound, language, and improvisation. Gideon studies traditional and ancient forms of singing from the US, Caucasus, and Mediterranean, finding inspiration in the wisdom contained within these traditions and how they can inform present ideas of music making and community.

He performs regularly with many projects including Tenores de Aterúe, Resonanda, Starry Mountain Singers, and Briars of North America, and is grateful to have been able to perform with such artists as Meredith Monk, Cynthia Hopkins, and Meshell Ndegeocello. Gideon has taught youth-oriented songwriting and sound production courses with Found Sound Nation, and teaches polyphonic singing to young adults with the world music organization, Village Harmony.

KARLA MUNDY

Karla Mundy is a vibrant, soulful and diverse vocalist, pianist, arranger and choir leader. Karla directs Rhythm ‘n’ Roots Choir 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. She started SongRoots Summer music camp in 2014 and since then the organization has expanded to include singing study programs in Cuba, Mexico, New Orleans, Asheville and France. In partnership with Village Harmony, Songroots has also traveled to South Africa, Corsica and Georgia.