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Sound & Spirit

Occasional Posts from Our Directors

Our Programs in Music & Spirituality

8/2/2021

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Dear Friends,

We are well on our way to offering the full programming in music and spirituality that we have envisioned. This is exciting for us as we work to build Halcyon Arts New England.

Coming in September, the weekend, residential workshop, From Fear to Joy: Discovering Your Inner Singer, is confirmed at Hallelujah Farm Retreat in Chesterfield New Hampshire. Nancy Salwen is a wonderful teacher who has a vast tool bag to help participants feel comfortable in exploring their vocal abilities even if they think they have none! This retreat is a lot of fun. Please join us. There are still places available.

Also in September, The Halcyon Institute for Spiritual Studies begins. For the Fall semester we offer the first module entitled The Two Streams of Western Spirituality. A new group exploring Sacred Texts from many of the world's spiritual traditions is also starting. These two programs are online.

An Introduction to Celtic Shamanism takes place in person October 15 - 17 with Jane Burns. This retreat, also at Hallelujah Farm, usually sells out, and we currently have nine more spots available!

Finally, we are overjoyed to announce that our live, in person concerts will be starting. As of today we have dates, but have not yet booked artists. Our first concert is planned for Saturday, October 23 at 7:30 pm. Our venue is the Unitarian Unversalist Society of Amherst, 121 N. Pleasant St. and we are planning 12 concerts each year. Please watch future emails for concert announcements.

In this issue of Sound & Spirit, you will find these upcoming programs and more. We hope you will join us for a retreat or a concert soon!

All the Best,
Beau
The UU Society of Amherst, MA,
​at 121 N. Pleasant St. is our new concert venue beginning in October!
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Our Vision for Halcyon World Music

8/2/2021

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Dear Friends,

In June, the Halcyon Board met to approve our new vision for the Halcyon World Music Institute, defining the various programs we will offer. Thanks to Michael Harrist, our new World Music Director, for all his time, inspiration, and articulation of this vision. 

Our mission is to provide an intimate space, via concerts and workshops, in which students and lovers of music can connect directly with master musicians and skilled practitioners from the world’s great musical traditions and burgeoning cross-cultural forms.

Program Offerings:
  • Retreat workshops (4 days long; 2 or more per year)
  • Masterclasses (3+/- hours long; as scheduled per interest and availability)
  • Concerts (12 per year, including concerts from workshop instructors)
  • Halcyon House Ensemble (1 concert/retreat per year)
  • Halcyon World Music Festival (1 per year)


In our masterclasses and workshops, "Halcyon aims to provide an environment in which students can sit at the feet of masters of the great traditions and learn from them on their own terms. We expect our students to respect the traditions, but not to treat them as fixed exotic forms. We recognize that these traditions are contemporary living entities and we aim to cultivate an environment of discipline, play, experiment, and full-bodied engagement." The masterclasses will be 3-4 hour sessions and the retreat workshops will generally begin Thursday evenings and continue through Sunday afternoon at a retreat center in New England. 

We aim to offer in-person concerts beginning this Fall and are currently working on securing venues in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts. Some of these concerts will be paired with Masterclasses. 

I am personally excited about the Halcyon House Ensemble, an annual, residential program in which we invite a collective ensemble of regional musicians who each bring an original composition or repertoire piece. The musicians will arrive on Friday evening, rehearse Saturday and Sunday morning and give a public matinee concert on Sunday. The Ensemble will be provided with meals and lodging Friday through Sunday and will be paid an honorarium. In future years, as it becomes established, we will open the Ensemble program to applications.

Finally, the Halcyon World Music Festival will bring musicians from a variety of traditional music traditions and as well as contemporary crossover and fusion expressions. This will likely be our longest term goal.

In this issue of Sound & Spirit, you will find all our upcoming programs. We hope you will join us for a retreat.

All the Best,
Beau
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    ​Robert Bowler

    Robert Bowler ("Beau") founded Halcyon Arts to continue doing what he loves, presenting cultural and educational programs in world music and spirituality. ​He majored in Religious Studies at Reed College with a focus on the western mystical tradition. He earned an M.Div. degree from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California (after a year at Oxford University studying Theology) and is an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister.

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HALCYON ARTS New England

Mission
Halcyon Arts brings the world
of music and spirituality ​to New England
by presenting programs ​​that enrich and transform. 

Contact us
​PO BOX 2822, AMHERST, MA 01004
413-345-2917​     info@hartsnE.org
Music Booking: halcyonbooking@gmail.com

  • HOME
  • Special Events
    • Events Calendar
    • Indian Movie Night
  • Music
    • Concerts >
      • HarpBeat
      • Aine Minogue
      • North Sea Gas
    • Halcyon World Music Institute
  • Spirituality
    • Groups >
      • Silent Fire
      • Spiritual Texts
    • Halcyon Institute for Spiritual Studies
    • Schattner Library >
      • Schattner Library Online
  • Donate
    • Sponsorships
  • About
    • Board of Directors
    • Venues
    • Organizing Documents
    • Ticketing & Registration
    • Policies
  • Contact
    • Sound & Spirit - blog
    • Email Campaigns
    • Contact Us