The Tuscany Project Vocal Workshop Offers the Opportunity to Sing in Paradise, June 30th-July 7th

By MARILYN LESTER****The Tuscany Project 2018 is not your “usual” vocal workshop. This immersive experience offers a path to creative enlightenment, encouraging participants to “sing your song” in a way that connects voice, body and soul. Moreover, it’s all done at a magnificent villa, the Locanda Del Gallo, nestled in the paradise of the  Umbrian Hills of Italy, complete with gourmet meals. The cuisine and carefully prepared meals alone are enough to stoke the fires of any soul’s artistic expression.

Now in its 26^th year, The Tuscany Project is open to singers of all levels, from beginners to professionals. Shaynee Rainbolt, former student and current administrator and guest teacher long-associated with the Project, says, “Every year a diverse International group of people come together from all walks of life to make music. It doesn’t matter if you’re a banker or lawyer, a massage therapist or an accountant. We are all singers for these seven extraordinary days. And the beautiful thing is there are always people who have never sung before right next to people who have sung their entire lives, learning, exploring and inspiring each other. It’s one of the reasons I love this project so much.”

This summer’s curriculum offers the opportunity to grow as a singer and performer through small group classes on body, voice, presence and Improvisation, taught by Anja Struchholz, a renowned teacher of theatre, movement and voice. Classes in interpretation, connecting with an audience, finding the power of the voice and making a song one’s own, will be under the tutelage of singer-actress Belle Linda Halpern, who has taught singing internationally for over 30 years, with her teaching partner and frequent collaborator, Ron Roy. Roy is a pianist and musical director on the faculty at The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, as well as a pianist and music director in cabaret, musical theatre and opera, including the Off-Broadway hit, Forbidden Broadway.

The Project evolved from the dream of four friends who combined their skills as musicians, singers, actors and teachers to create this annual artistic retreat where individuals could experience the power of the human voice as a celebration of the human spirit. “The belief has always been that singing supported by a community of like-minded Individuals inspires and transforms lives,” Rainbolt explains. “The work is not about competition—it’s about celebrating each participant’s own unique voice, both literally and figuratively.”

The process of the workshop will enable every participant to sing a song from a deeper place, sharing it with an audience and move it beyond beautiful vocalizing on pitch. “The only prerequisites at the Project are a passion for singing with a willingness to be completely open to discovery,” says Rainbolt. “What’s also important is the courage to take risks.” At the core of the work are explorations into the power of breath, the strong belief that everyone is capable of singing and freeing the body and voice to empower the creative light within.

These seven days of supportive inspiration and singing takes place at the stunning Locanda Del Gallo, a first-class venue of superior accommodations and gourmet cuisine. The villa is a restored, modernized 12th century country house nestled on a hillside near the towns of Perugia and Gubbio, about halfway between Rome and Florence. The villa’s rooms sleep 2 to 3 people, plus there are family suites that sleep 4 (2 to a room). A breath-taking swimming pool offers a panoramic vista of the entire valley. Meals emphasize local culinary traditions, eaten al fresco at the leisurely Italian pace. Meals feature fresh, local organic vegetables, aromatic herbs (from the kitchen garden), olive oil made from the villa’s olive grove, home-made yogurt, cakes and breads, presented in the finest traditions of Mediterranean cuisine. Dietary restrictions are accommodated without sacrifice of taste or quality.

For more information on The Tuscany Project and signing up for this unique experience, please go to www.tuscanyproject.com Visit The Tuscany Project on YouTube.

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