Festival Overview 2024

In this workshop we will introduce you to our new vocal warm up book called "Warming Up - A Handbook on Choir warm up, voice training and singing together". We will show what "Singergy" is all about and how the warm up can be a greenhouse for community and strengthen the joy of singing as well as a playful learning space for musical and vocal development, and we will take you through our favourite vocal warm up exercises from the book. You will learn and sing a lot of exercises and we will show you how you can build your own warm up programs with elements from the 5 boxes: Breaking The Ice, Body Breath & Support, Waking and training the Voice, Sin(g)ergy and Focus.

For singers and teachers with good pitch and the desire to study vocal improvisation, circle singing and song form. Participants sing together to find our unique and personal sound, working alone, in pairs, and in ensemble collaborations using the pleasure of physical movement while combining intuition and invention with skill and heart. Using Rhiannon’s Vocal River exercises, singers deepen their improvisational vocabulary, study melody, harmony, rhythm and tone, and then circle up and sing. Rhiannon has built her process for teaching vocal improvisation on the idea that we must be solid in musical skills, develop intuition and be available to the mystery and grace that exist when creating music spontaneously. Believing that improvisation belongs in personal creativity as well as performance, she has developed a process to make improvisation an essential piece of a singer's training. These exercises unfold in a carefully articulated progression. Working in circle, students first improvise melody, harmony, rhythm, counterpoint and interlocking parts in solo and small ensemble games. Then in learning to improvise as an ensemble, with exercises using the natural connection of body and voice, you learn to reveal a vulnerable, authentic sound. You also practice using language, both invented and in your native tongue, sung and spoken, as part of your musical repertoire. Many of these games become strong performance pieces and teach you how to invent a group sound without a leader. Learning to improvise as an ensemble with shared responsibility and power teaches deep listening, generosity, courage and musical awareness. Level: beginners/medium

How to instruct Pop & Jazz choirs. Focus on learning technique. "Don't sing wrong! Why spend time correcting what you learned wrong?” Use the appropriate methodology and learn only what's right. From the App. Conductor's Toolbox: Prep work on rhythm and harmony. Analyse the music. Always audible subdivisions and a clear tonal universe in the room. “The 5 focus Areas”. Floor-Roof. Work in reverse. Loop and improve. Use conducting and vocal painting. Speak Less. Improvise. Make variations. Have fun learning.

This seminar and workshop is in two parts; before and after lunch on Saturday, May 18th. Part 1 A seminar presentation and discussion led by Peder - Your inner power; intuitive mindset & the power of your subconscious - From ideas to song, one step at a time - Audio examples - About time management and resources for your song writing LUNCH Part 2 An interactive workshop with two topics: 1. How to create unique voice sounds We sing musical examples in many different ways, to get a concrete overview of vast possibilities in how to make sound with the human voice. 2. How can I make sure that I don’t forget a musical idea? How can I record my ideas as they come up? This part of the workshop is about tips & tricks for how you can use built-in apps in your mobile phone (iPhone or Android) to collect and organise bits and pieces of musical phrases, melody, rhythm and song lyrics. In cooperation with The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg (RAMA)

Over the last decade the Transgender and non-binary community has grown a lot and many of them sing! Unfortunately there is not a lot of knowledge/research available about how transitioning can affect the (singing) voice. This is problematic for transgender/non-binary singers that want to keep singing the best they can and for conductors/singing teachers that lack tools to guide these singers. Sven is FTM (female to male) and transitioned at age 23. Currently, he has been on testosterone for 4 years and his voice drop from mezzo soprano to tenor went smoothly. By combining his own experience with known research he wishes to guide other conductors and singers. Let’s make the choir a place where everybody feels welcome!

Vocal music isn’t all about arrangements and vocal parts; Most world cultures have a tradition of a cappella singing that relies on nothing but one’s ear and voice. Learn the fundamentals of improvising pop songs, how to sing a “circle song,” and how to improvise music without any rules or boundaries. Sometimes used as warmups, sometimes used to help build focus or musical precision, sometimes used to help build confidence in improvisation, this seminar teaches a numberof different singing games that can be enjoyed by all ages.

This workshop seeks to explore some of South Africa’s indigenous music from different indigenous groups in the country, namely the Sotho, Zulu, Xhosa and Venda people. We’ll get to learn more about the different ethnic groups, their culture, their music and also get to sing songs from each one of them whilst analysing the musical compositions and the elements therein.

Experience the magic of vocal painting: This workshop will introduce you to one of the latest trends in choral music: Vocal Painting. Together, we will delve into short rhythmic arrangements and learn to create musical moments using the unique sign language that Jim himself has developed. This workshop will not only enhance your creativity skills but also provide you with a new understanding of making music collectively in the moment. We look forward to welcoming you to this unique and dynamic workshop! Workshop 1: Beginners level Workshop 2: Advanced level This workshop is presented in collaboration with RAMA Vocal Center.

In this workshop we will show you how icebreakers can bring people into the state of mind called flow and turn everyone into superheroes. Yes! Superheroes. Confident, curious, creative, having fun in finding solutions and exploring what is behind the next corner. Finding the flow is the way to fun, deep concentration and creativity and in a group context also faelleskab and teamwork. In the workshop we will talk about the most important 2 minutes of your choir rehearsal and introduce you to some of our favourite icebreaker games including games that train rhythm and groove in combination with singing. Icebreakers are games and exercises that break the ice between people of all ages using singing, music, movement and playing to get there. Icebreakers provide a framework for social interaction and strengthens the feelings of trust and community in a group while also training basic musicality like rhythm, coordination, ear training and creativity. You can find more info about icebreakers and our icebreaker hand books at https://www.breaking-the-ice.dk/en

Should Pop & Jazz Choirs be Conducted? If so, then when? How? From where? A workshop about innovative choir leading with the focus on conducting technique and body language in different styles. Spontaneous response to the magic hand. Keep it Simple. Only show what's needed. Remove "Noise". Examples from the App: "Conductor's Toolbox" will be used.

Have you ever wondered how to arrange a contemporary song for choir without using soloists or a rhythm section? Join Grammy winner Ben Bram as he breaks down some of his choral arrangements influenced by pop, jazz, barbershop, r&b, and folk.

This seminar and workshop is in two parts; before and after lunch on Saturday, May 18th. Part 1 A seminar presentation and discussion led by Peder - Your inner power; intuitive mindset & the power of your subconscious - From ideas to song, one step at a time - Audio examples - About time management and resources for your song writing LUNCH Part 2 An interactive workshop with two topics: 1. How to create unique voice sounds We sing musical examples in many different ways, to get a concrete overview of vast possibilities in how to make sound with the human voice. 2. How can I make sure that I don’t forget a musical idea? How can I record my ideas as they come up? This part of the workshop is about tips & tricks for how you can use built-in apps in your mobile phone (iPhone or Android) to collect and organise bits and pieces of musical phrases, melody, rhythm and song lyrics. In cooperation with The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg (RAMA)

Experience the magic of vocal painting: This workshop will introduce you to one of the latest trends in choral music: Vocal Painting. Together, we will delve into short rhythmic arrangements and learn to create musical moments using the unique sign language that Jim himself has developed. This workshop will not only enhance your creativity skills but also provide you with a new understanding of making music collectively in the moment. We look forward to welcoming you to this unique and dynamic workshop! Workshop 1: Beginners level Workshop 2: Advanced level This workshop is presented in collaboration with RAMA Vocal Center.

This workshop is about learning basic rhythm and breathing techniques that allow for a seamless transition into vocal percussion. Participants will be taught fundamental vocal percussion sounds such as the kick drum, hi hat, rim shot, snare drum and crash cymbals. You will leave with practice patterns to take home and the necessary tools to perform live. Beatbox Beginners is for everybody fascinated by the art of vocal percussion. This is your chance to get started!

Brazilian popular choral music workshop, led by Federico Trindade. Using original arrangements, which will be worked on from the point of view of their possibilities of sonority, interpretation, harmonic, melodic and rhythmic understanding, the following aspects will also be worked on: body percussion applied to the choir, body awarness as a basis for musical development, icebreakers and vocal improvisation with "Brazilian accent" through VOPA (Vocal Painting). The workshop will make it possible to explore individual and group understanding of the different possibilities when making MPB (Popular Brazilian Music) in a group. To assist in this process, we will count on the participation of the “Grupo UPA!”, as support singers and example of the sound of the Brazilian popular choir, as well as to create an atmosphere of greater confidence and ease for the experience. The cultural exchange will favor the understanding of different accents and grooves that MPB requires and allows. The rhythms worked on, through exercises and arrangements, will be "baião" (a northeastern Brazilian rhythm, with influences from "moda de viola", Brazilian country music, samba, conga and indigenous dances from Brazil), "ijexá" (a rhythm ritualistic of African origin, brought by the Yoruba people, linked to the cultural manifestation of Afoxé; this rhythm was incorporated into Brazilian popular music and several artists, throughout Brazil, use it in their compositions or arrangements), in addition to a representative piece of the Brazilian popular music songbook itself. The proposal is that, in addition to a small dip in Brazilian culture, the workshop can provide different experiences and rhythmic, harmonic and melodic tools for the participating singers.

All beatboxers and vocal percussionists are welcome at this workshop. Whether you have just been practicing beatbox for 2 weeks, or are a professional beatboxer. Every participant will get some individual time with a beatbox master to work on the elements they want to improve. The whole room, including the teacher, will benefit from this process, where we dive deep into the details of beatbox. Different snares, better breath control, singing and beatboxing, new patterns, different styles, clean hi hats, throat bass, vocal scratch, microphone settings... Let’s take it to the next level!

Deep dive with James & Kristoffer to explore a variety of creative methods for collaborative arranging. This workshop offers practical exercises to hone vocal arranging skills with other like-minded participants, so bring curiosities and get ready to make new friends. There will be opportunities for Q&A on all things vocal harmony.

At AAVF 2022 Malene and her students from RAMA Vocal Center presented the concert “Human Transformations” with 10 brand new vocal compositions. At this year’s AAVF Malene will do a workshop about how to create your own vocal music - with voices as the instrument. We will both sing and listen to different examples and you will leave this workshop with many new ideas to finding your inner composer. Participating in this workshop, it is advantage if you know a little about arranging, but you don’t need to have composed before. In cooperation with The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg (RAMA)

Latvia's official slogan is "the land that sings", and it is essentially thanks to three milestones: folksongs, the song festival and the "power of song" as a nonviolent resilience gaining independence. Latvian folksongs – or dainas – are the poetic expression of Latvian daily life over the centuries, encapsulated into succinct melodic phrases or song-poems. They not only form part of the cultural heritage of Latvia but are also classed as symbols of Latvian identity. For Latvian Voices, Latvian folk songs were the very first source of inspiration, and they are still an essential part of their concert programmes today, both in traditional settings and modern a cappella arrangements. Over time, the group has developed a methodology that helps to acquire the first skills in vocal improvisation based on Latvian folk songs and traditional singing techniques.

Singing in the Vocal River For singers and teachers with good pitch and the desire to study vocal improvisation, circle singing and song form. Participants sing together to find our unique and personal sound, working alone, in pairs, and in ensemble collaborations using the pleasure of physical movement while combining intuition and invention with skill and heart. Using Rhiannon’s Vocal River exercises, singers deepen their improvisational vocabulary, study melody, harmony, rhythm and tone, and then circle up and sing. Rhiannon has built her process for teaching vocal improvisation on the idea that we must be solid in musical skills, develop intuition and be available to the mystery and grace that exist when creating music spontaneously. Believing that improvisation belongs in personal creativity as well as performance, she has developed a process to make improvisation an essential piece of a singer's training. These exercises unfold in a carefully articulated progression. Working in circle, students first improvise melody, harmony, rhythm, counterpoint and interlocking parts in solo and small ensemble games. Then in learning to improvise as an ensemble, with exercises using the natural connection of body and voice, you learn to reveal a vulnerable, authentic sound. You also practice using language, both invented and in your native tongue, sung and spoken, as part of your musical repertoire. Many of these games become strong performance pieces and teach you how to invent a group sound without a leader. Learning to improvise as an ensemble with shared responsibility and power teaches deep listening, generosity, courage and musical awareness. Level: advanced

Due to illness Ben Bram sadly won't be able to lead the workshop. Get well soon! We still want you to have a great experience at AAVF so we invite you to go to the following workshops instead: Sing it out loud: Epic pop - Godsbanen Remisen Play it by voice - RAMA 236 Music culture of the bunun - RAMA 228 The Art of Excellence - RAMA 238

In the Sing It Out Loud workshops the main goal is to do just that; Sing It Out Loud! The center of the workshop is some catchy arrangements that is guaranteed to stick to you all day. Did you ever dream of standing like a hero on the rock and filling the whole universe with your sound? Do you want to experience how it feels, when the choir sound and vibrations in the room are streaming through every inch of your body and give you tons of goosebumps? Congratulations! This workshop is the right place for you ☺ We will work on 1-2 arrangements that have focus on epic melodies, that you really can sing out loud with your full body. The room will be filled with high energy, powerful sound and body movement and joyful smiles. In this workshop we will also work on performance techniques to get the right expression into the music and body language. Having said all that, remember that it's primarily about having fun singing.

Stephan Lutermann demonstrates in this workshop how movement can be utilized both emotionally and physically to make choir concerts lively and inspiring, providing innovative insights into the world of choral singing. Workshop Contents: 1. Discovering emotional depth in choral music: Learn how to deepen the message of your musical performance through emotional expression. 2. Strengthening physical presence for choir singers: Find out how movement and posture can enhance the stage presence and performance of your choir members. 3. Reinterpreting choral music: Explore innovative approaches to interpreting choral music through movement, uncovering new perspectives.

The world is sound, and we are a part of it. Tune in your antennas for togetherness and explore new sounds, sonic landscapes, and the art of spontaneous improvisation within the group. Open your heart and ears to a variety of musical possibilities and expressions in the interplay of interaction, reaction, and shaping individual impulses. Together, we rediscover music and sounds, allowing space for impulsive unconscious potentials. Graphic notations serve as the foundation for our shared sonic journey and vocal exploration, alongside verbal and nonverbal sources of inspiration. Create and experience music in its most elemental form.

This brand-new class arose from a desire to help my students jump on a faster track to meet their potential. Of course, "excellence" is subjective; but after 37 years of world wide experience in the music industry, I'd like to help others break down a more immediate path to their success in music making. We will do exercises of vulnerability and inspiration, share examples, and create a community of musical conversation, acceptance, and risk taking. Hopefully, you will find that "still point" that either allows you to "hear the pin drop" in the room; or elevate your audience to their feet with a showstopper. Everyone should bring a tune that will raise the hairs on the back of my neck or give me goosebumps. Together, we'll lift the standard to new heights!

Through ancient songs, exercises that connect us to each other and intuitive improvisations, I will guide you into the way I work with traditional songs from different cultures. By learning the harmonic language that our ancestors sang, we connect to our musical roots and create a space where new sounds can arise. You will learn songs from Georgia and Corsica - some of these are more than two thousand years old and have been passed down from generation to generation, slowly shaped into the gems they are now. They resonate within us, like a vibration from our ancestors that can feel like coming home. They are ceremonial and solemn, but equally secular and current. Even if you don't understand the language, you will feel it. In the workshop you will learn some of these polyphonic songs by ear. Together we will make these old songs alive and vibrant and you will be introduced to the first steps of how to recreate, transform and make them your own.

In this workshop you will get to know the basic principles of CVT. Get tools to improve your singing and tools to deal with challenges you may encounter when singing. We will also work as a choir and implement the technique into the singing - turning theory into music.

How can we combine Fun, Feeling and Focus when we sing together? Play It By Voice is an online e-book written by Peder Karlsson, that contains exercise tutorials, scores and audio examples, exercise videos, methodology presentation videos… plus various topics relevant for whole cycles of activity in vocal groups and choirs. Play It By Voice provides singers with an overview of the purpose of collective practice, along with concrete guides for how to practise individually to develop your skills as an ensemble singer – at home, between rehearsals. Play It By Voice is also written for choir leaders to get new inspiration and various perspectives on how to lead rehearsals, how to do long-term and short-term planning, and how to involve choir singers in planning and repertoire development. Experience has shown that when you put the individual singer at the center of learning activities in vocal groups and choirs, then everything changes. Perhaps most importantly: how to combine Fun and Focus. If what we are doing isn't fun to do, then we are doing it wrong. About this workshop In this seminar and workshop, we will sing together different exercise examples from the book, mixed with presentations of e-book chapters. In cooperation with The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg (RAMA)

We all have music inside us – some of us just have a hard time getting it out. In this workshop, suitable for any age or level of experience, we banish inhibitions and use the tools we all possess to create music in the moment. Beginning with some fun warm-ups, and progressing through improvisation games and listening exercises, participants will soon find themselves composing musical masterpieces on the fly. This is a truly empowering session that gets to the heart of what musicality means – over and over again, ensembles have shared their delight at the lasting results from this session.

Come and follow Christine’s footsteps into one of the most remote villages in the deep mountains, and discover the music culture of the Bunun tribe – one of the 16 aboriginal tribes on the island of Taiwan. Bunun is known for their homophonic and choir-like singing tradition, which uniquely exists among all the tribes in Taiwan, especially their ritual song “pasibutbut”. In this workshop you will get to know this tradition, and learn a song or two that you cannot find anywhere else in the world.

If your head is full of ideas for vocal arrangements that just lack the right cohesion or if you dream of being inspired by others to come up with new ideas, then this is just the workshop for you. We will collaborate to make a vocal arrangement using joint brainstorming and group improvisation. You will experience the joy of developing other singer´s musical ideas and hearing you own ideas take on new forms in a fast flowing and intuitive process, where the musical encounter creates arranging ideas that you would not have come up by yourself. In this process 2 plus 2 equals 5. Tine Ohrt will be the anchor who guides the process and gathers the ideas for the final arrangement. Tine Ohrt has been using this method for many years creating unique arrangement with her students and has recently formed a quartet which creates their music in this particular way.

Let’s re-unite what was once combined. Let’s mash up elements of physical theatre and choir singing, start to improvise and have some fun. Adding techniques of physical theatre to choir singing opens the way to a much more holistic experience of singing, and induces a very strong stage intensity. The experienced concert director and performer Felix Powroslo leads through his favorite exercises and techniques, and explains the secrets of stage intensity and Stage Resonance®. A workshop for everybody interested in experimenting with body and voice, individually as well as in a group - subtle and quietly, chaotic and powerful, from „sacred” to “animalistic”.

In this workshop I will guide you through a series of practices that help you release tension, deepen your body awareness and unleash your creativity. After warming up the body and tuning in the mind you will learn some ancient Chinese qigong exercises that boost your energy levels and help you get calm and centered. Circulating energy with a focused mind is just what we need for creative activities and stage performances, the more we practice this state in our daily lives, the less time we need to get back to it when needed. Most of the time I will ask you to guide your attention inwards, but you will have the chance to connect with others through music and movement. We will create sounds together, experiment and improvise. Feel free to join us, everybody is welcome in this workshop! What to bring: comfortable clothes that allow free movement

Harmony is a foundational building block of music; in turn, learning about harmony enables us to sing, arrange and harmonise with creative intention and control, bringing new life to familiar melodies and lyrics. Together in this workshop, participants will uncover the extraordinary range of harmonic possibilities at our disposal through the harmonisation of a familiar song. Often it’s a matter of perspective; figuring out new chords that propel us forward into an arrangement, as well as working backwards to prepare for that satisfying resolution.

Nothing beats louder than a young heart! In this workshop, we’ll dive into songs by new, exciting artists, such as Yebba (US), eee gee and lucky lo (DK), Regardless of our current age, we’ll connect with the raw, original emotions and desires that live inside of us and channel them through our voice. The vocal arrangements have 4-5 parts, and everyone is welcome in this fun, fabulous and effecient 2-hour inspirational workshop.

Text and notes are in place, everything is well rehearsed, now it's time to go on stage! But here, completely new questions arise: Where do I look? How do I move? How do we come across? How do I establish contact with the audience? What gives me confidence? How does a solid performance transform into a soulful, touching performance? In this masterclass, concert director and stage resonance coach Felix Powroslo illustrates what really matters on stage by introducing the most important techniques and by working practically with two vocal ensembles on specific repertoire.

The Single Singers return to AAVF for the 6th time in 2024, having been an integral part of the festival since their inaugural appearance in 2013. This global phenomenon, founded by Annemarie Homan and Emily May 't Hoen, brings solo attendees together to perform in a group, fostering international friendships among a cappella enthusiasts worldwide. The Single Singers is not your regular workshop: when you choose to join The Single Singers, you will learn three a cappella songs at home, you will have two rehearsals at the festival (Friday and Sunday) and one performance of the three songs, on Monday morning May 20, 12:00-12:15 We are looking for singers that are: - experienced choir/ensemble singers - not performing at AAVF2024 with their own choir/vocal group - able to individually study their notes at home, using digital rehearsal files that will be provided When you make your travel plans, please make sure you don’t have to leave before the performance!

This workshop is about how to make a transition from by heart to “kick-ass” in the expression of a song in your repertoire; a collective process where each singer turns the whole song into a natural part of oneself. Peder will first lead a few example exercises with the workshop participants, followed by coaching of two or three vocal groups / choirs (selected by AAVF). The purpose of the coaching is to give examples of how to bring out the potential of the song and of the group. When singers hold a score in their hands, then a lot of their attention will go to the paper in front of them. And therefore, less attention will be directed towards the actual music. It is not until all the singers of a vocal group or choir has learned to sing their part of an arrangement by heart that you may feel the essence of the music. In cooperation with The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg (RAMA)

In the Sing It Out Loud workshops the main goal is to do just that; Sing It Out Loud! The center of the workshop is some catchy arrangements that are guaranteed to stick to you all day. In this workshop we will be singing some funky songs and explore how to phrase it to make it really groovy. The way we move our body to the music plays a major part in our ability to express music. So in this workshop we will also work with the performing-system, that Tine has developed on how to find a collective bodily expression in choirs. Having said all that, remember that it's primarily about having fun singing. This workshop is presented in collaboration with Kor72.

You want to learn how to create vocal harmony on the spot? And all without writing down a single note? With a bit of music theory, open ears, and a joy for experimenting, you can realize simple arrangements, accompany a variety of pop songs, and immediately get into singing with others. Starting with simple exercises, the seminar culminates in group arrangements where participants spontaneously set free their musical creativity.

In this workshop you will get to know the basic principles of CVT. Get tools to improve your singing and tools to deal with challenges you may encounter when singing. We will also work as a choir and implement the technique into the singing - turning theory into music.