The Singing Soul: Improvisational A Cappella

The Singing Soul is for people who are ready to let go of "getting it right" and embrace letting it just happen. Improvisation is a profound life skill. This utterly experiential program is a powerful experience of improvised music making and of being alive and present. Participants will hone the arts of the improviser: deep listening, spontaneous expression, fluid awareness of self and others, working with change, and trusting intuition. They will also strengthen their abilities as musical architects: creating melodies, harmony, vocal percussion, bass lines. There are no wrong notes and there's nothing to memorize - just breathe and sing.

Read one attendee's experience at The Singing Soul on the Haven Shen archive.

By turns edgy, hilarious, challenging, and deeply moving, each moment is an original composition that is unrehearsed, precious, and irreplaceable. It's also profoundly fun! Improvisational abilities add significant value to creative problem solving, addressing difficult conversations, community building, managing change and the transformation of conflict.

Strengthen your abilities to:

• Sing spontaneously, freely, skillfully, and without doubt
• Accurately hear pitch, rhythm and musical form
• Fly with others in soulful, freewheeling counterpoint
• Create lyrics and tell stories in your singing
• Experience new roles and genres in your music-making
• Access fresh possibilities through improvised movement and free-form writing

Format: Sessions begin with physical and vocal warming, improv style! A wide variety of clearly outlined structures are offered, for the full group, small groups, duets and soloing; each of which generates different experiences and outcomes. Sessions are punctuated with pauses to process our learnings together.

The Singing Soul begins at 7.30pm on the first day of the program and ends at noon on the final day.

Faculty: David Hatfield

2012 Dates:

Registration is now open for our 2012 programs.

Tuition: $550.00 (Accommodation and meals extra.)

Early Bird Tuition: $490.00 if you register and pay in full at least two weeks in advance.

Accommodation and Meals
The Haven offers a range of comfortable rooms and suites. All accommodation is designed to be shared by two or more people, though private rates are available. We make every effort to meet the needs of all our guests, but cannot guarantee specific rooms. Rates include three buffet-style meals per day.

There are three types of room: Basic, Forest view, and Ocean view.
Find out more about accommodations.