Hone your playing skills in a workshop
Workshops for recorder players and other early music enthusiasts offer the opportunity to get acquainted with the repertoire of music written for recorder and to advance participants’ ability on their instruments. Under the expert direction of Vicki Boeckman, the Seattle Recorder Society is well known for producing two important workshops for recorder players, the Port Townsend Early Music Workshop and the Fall Fipple Flute Forum. Additionally, the SRS-sponsored Recorder Orchestra of Puget Sound typically brings experienced players together twice a year to rehearse selected pieces and present a concert.
Fall Fipple Flute Forum
In even-numbered years, the Fall Fipple Flute Forum offers a weekend of classes for recorder players, with ample opportunities for players at all levels from less experienced to advanced. This smaller workshop features a Friday night faculty concert, two days of classes and a “tutti” session where everyone participates.
This year’s event (the fifth FFFF) will be held on Saturday and Sunday, September 21-22, 2024. The FFFF workshop will be held at Shoreline Community College, just north of Seattle. It will feature faculty including Anne Timberlake, author of excellent recorder blog posts (www.annetimberlake.com/blog), as well as our own Vicki Boeckman and Miyo Aoki. Registration will open on Tuesday morning, May 28.
A faculty concert on Friday evening, September 20 will be open to all, at Faith Lutheran Church, 8208 18th Ave NE, in Seattle. Check back here for further details as the date approaches, or go to the FFFF website at www.recorderworkshop.org/.
Port Townsend Early Music Workshop
The Port Townsend Early Music Workshop offers an exciting week-long opportunity for players of recorders, viols, and percussion, as well as singers, to immerse themselves in music of the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods, and much, much more. Most classes are geared towards players with reliable technique and reading skills, but there is always a place for those who feel they are less experienced or rusty, or who are coming back to music after a long break. Many of our participants agree that our workshop is one of the most friendly and inclusive of any they have attended.
This workshop is held in July of odd-numbered years on the lovely campus of the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma. Information about the next PTEMW in July of 2025 will be provided in the fall of 2024.
Recorder Orchestra of Puget Sound (ROPS)
The Recorder Orchestra of Puget Sound (ROPS) was founded by director emeritus Peter Seibert in 2008. The format at that time was a compact, four-rehearsal schedule throughout the month of April, culminating with one performance at our annual Members’ Night in May of the same year. Peter led this for several years before stepping down.
Charles Coldwell and Vicki Boeckman revived the orchestra in 2015 and changed the format to half-day rehearsals spaced apart over two months aiming for more visibility in the community with several performances a year. ROPS thrived under this format from 2015 until the start of the Corona virus pandemic in 2020. ROPS restarted in Spring of 2024.
ROPS’ repertoire includes Renaissance and Baroque pieces, arrangements of music originally for orchestra or other large ensembles, and 20th- and 21st-century compositions specifically written for recorder orchestra. Fees for participation in ROPS cover the cost of rehearsal and concert space, music purchases, copy costs and conductor compensation. Membership is by invitation. Please contact directors Vicki Boeckman or Charles Coldwell if you are interested in participating.
The next ROPS concerts are on Saturday, May 25 at Maple Leaf Lutheran Church in NE Seattle and Sunday, June 2 at Skyline’s Olympic Tower in downtown Seattle. Click here for the details.
Other workshop opportunities
There are recorder and early music workshops offered across the country, by organizations including the following
Additional information about these workshops can be found in our Recorder Notes Section and on the American Recorder Society website.
Miyo Aoki
Anne Timberlake
Vicki Boeckman
