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National Road Scholar Recorder/Early Music Workshop

Program No. 6254RJ
Heighten your recorder, viola da gamba or reeds talents in large and small ensembles with world-class instructors — and end your week with a concert in bucolic Carmel Valley!
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  • National Road Scholar Recorder/Early Music Workshop
Music ParticipationMusic AppreciationRetreats
Length
7 days
Rating (5)
Activity Level
Starts at
1,399

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7 days
6 nights
16 meals
6B 5L 5D
1
Check-in, Registration, Welcome Dinner, Orientation
Carmel Valley, CA
2
Early Music Classes with Expert Faculty
Carmel Valley, CA
3
Early Music Classes with Expert Faculty
Carmel Valley, CA
4
Early Music Classes, Free Time
Carmel Valley, CA
5
Early Music Classes, Faculty Concert
Carmel Valley, CA
6
Road Scholar Concert, Open Mic Night
Carmel Valley, CA
7
Program Concludes
Carmel Valley, CA
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At a Glance

Revel in the lyrical sounds of the recorder, viola da gamba and harpsichord as you share your musical gifts during a week-long intensive early music workshop. Enhance your skills in small classes taught by expert instructors with emphasis on improving technique and playing with ensembles. At Hidden Valley Music Seminars, An Institute of the Arts, nestled amongst oak and buckeye trees below majestic hillsides, enjoy a serene and inspiring place for playing music.
Activity Level
Easy Going
Minimal walking on flat terrain.

Best of all, you’ll…

  • Improve your musical talents with instruction from seasoned professional performers.
  • Rehearse for ensemble performances with your fellow musicians.
  • Delight in musical arrangements that include compositions from the medieval through baroque periods.

General Notes

This program is for intermediate to advanced recorder and viola da gamba players. Recorder players must be able to play at least two sizes (at least one F instrument and one C instrument). The November 2, 2025 programs include dulcian and shawm. The dulcian and shawm programs are open by audition. Please contact the workshop director at tishberlin@sbcglobal.net to arrange an online audition. The 2025 musical theme is "A Musical Cornucopia: Explore the Delights of Medieval to Baroque Music from England, France, Spain, Italy, and Germany." Specific class offerings differ by date and will be posted 6 weeks before the program begins. Due to the nature of this program, listening devices are not available. The Retreat Difference: This unique, often basic and no-frills experience at a Road Scholar Retreat includes opportunities for early morning exercise, interaction with the local community for insight into local life, locally sourced meals, and a live performance or event.
Featured Expert
All trip experts
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Letitia Berlin
Letitia Berlin plays recorder with Calextone, the Bertamo Trio, and Farallon Recorder Quartet. She has performed as a soloist with the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, and North Carolina Baroque Orchestra. Tish received her master’s of art in early music performance practices with a concentration in recorder. As co-director of Tibia Adventures in Music, she organizes workshops across the U.S and Europe. She co-directs Hidden Valley’s Early Music Road Scholar program. She will soon be the co-executive directors of the Amherst Early Music Festival.

Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.

Profile Image of Letitia Berlin
Letitia Berlin View biography
Letitia Berlin plays recorder with Calextone, the Bertamo Trio, and Farallon Recorder Quartet. She has performed as a soloist with the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, and North Carolina Baroque Orchestra. Tish received her master’s of art in early music performance practices with a concentration in recorder. As co-director of Tibia Adventures in Music, she organizes workshops across the U.S and Europe. She co-directs Hidden Valley’s Early Music Road Scholar program. She will soon be the co-executive directors of the Amherst Early Music Festival.
Profile Image of Frances Blaker
Frances Blaker View biography
Frances Blaker performs on recorders of all types and sizes as a soloist and with Ensemble Vermillian, Farallon Recorder Quartet, Calextone, Sitka Trio and Tibia Recorder Duo. As a member of Ensemble Vermillian she performs and records chamber music of the 17th and 18th centuries. She has performed throughout the U. S., Denmark, England, France, Italy and the Netherlands. She is conductor and music director of the North Carolina Baroque Orchestra, and of BABO (Bay Area Baroque Orchestra), a community orchestra for accomplished amateur players.
Profile Image of Lawrence Lipnik
Lawrence Lipnik View biography
Lawrence Lipnik has performed with many acclaimed early music ensembles from ARTEK and Anonymous 4 to Piffaro and the Waverly Consort, and is a founding member of the viol consort Parthenia and vocal ensemble Lionheart. In addition to performing, he enjoys a busy teaching schedule which has included national and international festivals including the Benslow Music Trust in the UK, Port Townsend, San Diego Early Music Festival and Pinewoods. He is a contributor to The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and Contemporary Dramatists.
Profile Image of Shira Kammen
Shira Kammen View biography
Shira Kammen is a multi-instrumentalist and occasional vocalist who has spent well over half her life exploring the worlds of early and traditional music, and studied medieval music and Vielle with Margriet Tindemans. She was a member of the early music ensembles Alcatraz and Project Ars Nova and is the founder of Class V Music, an ensemble dedicated to providing music on river rafting trips. She has performed and taught in the United States, Mexico, Europe, Israel, Abu Dhabi and Japan.
Profile Image of Deanna Ross
Deanna Ross View biography
Deanna Ross is a dancer, choreographer, and teacher. Born in California, she began her studies at age seven at the Redwood Empire Ballet in Santa Rosa, then spent 12 years at the San Francisco, Pennsylvania, and Milwaukee Ballet Schools, the HARID Conservatory, and the North Carolina School of the Arts. Deanna lives in Monterey, Ca., where she has choreographed numerous works, and has served as Bay Area guest artist. She also teaches ballet, modern dance, dance improvisation, E-STRETCH, slow breathing and stretching.
Profile Image of David Morris
David Morris View biography
David Morris is a viola da gamba instructor. Dubbed a "continuo wizard" by Gramophone (UK), David Morris is a member of Quicksilver and the Galax Quartet and is a frequent guest performer with the New York State Early Music Association. He was the founder and musical director of the Bay Area baroque opera ensemble Teatro Bacchino, and has produced operas for the Berkeley Early Music Festival and the San Francisco Early Music Society series. He received his bachelor’s and master’s U.C. Berkeley.
Profile Image of Peter Meckel
Peter Meckel View biography
Peter Meckel is the founder and General Director of Hidden Valley Music Seminars. Born and raised in the Midwest, he attended university at Rockford University in Illinois, and Occidental College in California. His leadership of Hidden Valley has resulted in one of the most respected opera training centers in America and a major contributor of arts education programs for vocalists, instrumentalists, and dancers. Students from throughout the world come to study with master teachers from many of America’s most prestigious orchestras and opera companies.
Profile Image of Wouter Verschuren
Wouter Verschuren View biography
Wouter Verschuren is a historical bassoonist, performing as soloist throughout Europe, U.S., and Asia. He is principal bassoonist of The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and regularly plays with renowned period orchestras including The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, The Nederlandse Bach Vereniging, and Les Talens Lyrique. Wouter is featured on countless orchestral and chamber music CDs. He holds teaching positions at The Royal Conservatory, The Hague, and The Royal College of Music, London, gives masterclasses around the world, and coaches for prominent early music festivals.
Profile Image of Tish Berlin
Tish Berlin View biography
Letitia Berlin plays recorder with Calextone, the Bertamo Trio, and Farallon Recorder Quartet. She has performed as a soloist with the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, and North Carolina Baroque Orchestra. Tish received her master’s of art in early music performance practices with a concentration in recorder. As co-director of Tibia Adventures in Music, she organizes workshops across the U.S and Europe. She co-directs Hidden Valley’s Early Music Road Scholar program. She will soon be the co-executive directors of the Amherst Early Music Festival.
Profile Image of Mary Springfels
Mary Springfels View biography
Mary Springfels is a veteran of the American Early Music Movement with lifetime achievement awards from Early Music America and The Viola da Gamba Society of America. Mary has been an active participant in prominent ensembles, including the Waverly Concert, Concert Royal, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, The Folger Consort, and Ars Lyrica Houston. Mary directed the Newberry Consort in Chicago for 20 years, during which the group made several critically acclaimed recordings. Currently, she is co-director of Severall Friends, an ensemble in Santa Fe.
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