How Does a Poem Become Music? A Composition Workshop with Rona Nadler
In this two-part workshop, songwriters and composers will be guided in the creation of a new musical setting of a poem of their choice by a Jewish Montreal poet.
Throughout the workshop, the group will explore how poetry and music work together across a variety of languages and musical genres, while also analyzing individual poems and compositions. This workshop is geared toward participants who are comfortable singing and/or playing an accompanying instrument; who may or may not have written some songs before; and who are interested in pushing their boundaries and trying something new!
$50 per person. Due to the limited capacity of this workshop, advanced registration is strongly encouraged. Click here to register.
About the Instructor:
The workshop will be led by Rona Nadler, a versatile musician who loves engaging with the sounds, rhythms, and meanings of text in a variety of languages. Her original pieces set lyrics by modern Yiddish poets Kadya Molodowsky, Esther Shumiatcher and Itsik Manger, as well as the eighteenth-century poetess Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Her music draws on influences from classical, folk, popular, and cantorial styles, and has been performed by numerous ensembles in the Montreal area, including Ensemble ArtChoral, Les Rugissants, La Chorale Harmonia, and the Ottawa Choral Society.
In addition to composing, Rona has performed with an array of ensembles in the Montreal area as a vocalist, harpsichordist, vocal coach and music director. She has toured the United States and Canada as a member of the Juno-nominated quartet Infusion Baroque, while also serving as artistic director of the chamber choir One Equall Musick and the Blue Dawn Quartet. Rona is on faculty in Early Music Area of the Schulich School of Music, and also serves as Music Director and Cantorial Soloist at Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom in Westmount, Quebec.
Workshop Session Overview:
Session 1 – January 11th
Through listening and guided discussion, we will explore different parameters for how music and lyrics can interact. According to given guidelines, we will each create a setting of the same short poem, and share our results. We will also read through our individual poems together and begin to conceive our compositions.
Session 2 – January 18th
We will spend the first part of the session doing improv activities together. We will also do a round robin in pairs to get feedback and inspiration for our individual compositions. Afterwards we will present our compositions in their latest incarnations, and finish with a group discussion.
This event is presented as a part of the Montreal Jewish Arts Collaborative (MJAC) granting initiative, made possible through the support of the Averbach Family Foundation, CANVAS, and the Azrieli Foundation.