Mazal Bueno: a Portrait in Song of the
Spanish Jews
Narrated by Tovah Feldshuh
“ This was a life-changing week for me. Thank you so very much! ”
Mount Holyoke College Workshop
in Ensemble Singing
August 2–3 and 4–9, 2025
Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA
Medieval and Renaissance, Early American, Romantic, Folk, Jazz and contemporary repertoire
“ Excellent instruction. Specific, gentle, eloquent, fun and encouraging. ”
— a 2019 workshop participant
About Mount Holyoke College
Mount Holyoke College is a private liberal arts gender diverse historically women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is the oldest member of the Seven Sisters colleges, founded in 1837 as the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary by Mary Lyon. Emily Dickinson was one of the school's earliest students. Mount Holyoke is now part of the regional 5-College Consortium that also includes Smith, Amherst, and Hampshire Colleges, alongside U. Mass. - Amherst. The college's 800-acre campus includes a prominent art museum, an observatory, and a botanic garden.
Mount Holyoke College is within driving distance (2½ hours) of New York and Boston. Peter Pan Bus lines operates daily service to South Hadley from New York City and Boston. Amtrak serves the town of Springfield, Massachusetts just 30 minutes from South Hadley, and bus service is available from Springfield to South Hadley. Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, services all major airlines and is a 45-minute drive from the campus.
The Western Wind Workshop
This summer's workshops represent the 44th anniversary of Western Wind workshops, which began at Dartmouth College in 1981. What makes a Western Wind workshop unique is the focus on small ensembles. In small groups, everyone plays a role and makes an essential contribution. Here’s a chance to sing a variety of music with other singers at your own level. Each group is personally guided by a Western Wind member. During the 5-day session, guest faculty members prepare participants to perform repertoire beyond that learned in one's core group. You may sing a solo or small ensemble piece of Early Music with continuo accompaniment under the guidance of specialists Bob Eisenstein and Hideki Yamaya and/or you may sing a vocal jazz or pop arrangement with the help of arranger and composer Yumiko Matsuoka. Another highlight of the 5-day workshop is a Silly Seminar featuring skits, an off-beat T-shirt contest, and an Elmer Fudd style rendition of the Hallelujah Chorus.
Workshop Timetables for August 2025
The Weekend Workshop for August 2025 is more compressed than usual. Because we don't have access to our air-conditioned dormitory on Friday night, August 1, the Weekend Workshop will not commence until 1:00 p.m., Saturday, August 2. A welcome concert by The Western Wind, warm-up sessions, small and large-group rehearsals, seminars, an evening social event, additional small and large-group rehearsals, and our final participant concert will all take place on Saturday afternoon and evening, and then on Sunday morning and Sunday afternoon. By sharing scores ahead of time and extending a couple of rehearsal slots, we should be able to compensate for not starting the workshop in earnest at 10:00 a.m., on Saturday, our usual pattern. The final concert will end no later than 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, August 3. A detailed workshop schedule will be shared with participants in late July.
The 5-day Workshop commences at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, August 4 following a day of leisure for those who also participated in the weekend workshop. A sample daily schedule appears below. The 5- and 7-day workshops conclude with a participant concert that concludes no later than 5:00 on Saturday, August 9.
Register
Click the button below to make your deposit to register for the workshop (refundable through July 19). You will receive an e-mail confirmation with further information, including an online questionnaire. . The deposit amount is $200 for Weekend Only participants, $400 for on-5-day participants, $450 for 7-day participants, and $0 for scholarship applicants. The remaining balance is due by July 30. You will receive an invoice for this balance about a month before the workshop. There are no formal auditions to enroll, but if you are new to Western Wind Workshops, you can expect to meet with our Workshop Director, Linda Lee Jones, via Zoom to determine an appropriate small group placement for you. If you have any difficulties registering or have registration questions, please reach out to our Workshop Administrator, Anna Feldman, via phone or text at 413-575-7826 or e-mail her.
Scholarships
Please inquire at info@westernwind.org about opportunities. Generous members of the Western Wind workshop community have funded need-based partial and full scholarships.
Bring your Group
Pre-existing groups are welcome at Western Wind Workshops. If enough members of a group enroll, they can apply for a tuition discount and work together as a group. Please contact
info@westernwind.org for details as early as possible.
Workshop Fees through July 11
On-campus fees for workshop participants include tuition, room & board. Commuter fees and those for non-participant guests (double-room occupancy) do not include meals, which are available for $40 per day or a la carte. Fees for staying an extra night include dinner and breakfast.
Weekend Single $610
Double $570
Guest $170
Commuter $500
5-day Single $1,800
Double $1,700
Guest $425
Commuter $1,250
7-day Single $2,070
Double $1,910
Guest $680
Commuter $1,680
Extra night Single $105
Double $96
Guest $96
Note: After July 11, tuition increases by $50 (weekend) and $100 (5-day & 7-day)
A tuition discount of $35 is applied for Friends of the Western Wind.
Partial and full scholarships are available based on financial need.
Deposit methods include credit and bank cards, PayPal, and "manual" methods, including Zelle, Venmo, and mailed checks. Manual methods save us transaction fees.
Our Faculty
Linda Lee Jones, soprano
Christina Kay, soprano
Eric Brenner, countertenor
David Vanderwal, tenor
Bradley King, tenor
Paul Greene-Dennis, bass
William Zukof, Founding Director
The Western Wind Vocal Ensemble
Guest Faculty
Robert Eisenstein, viola da gamba. Founding member of The Folger Consort, early music ensemble in residence at the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C. Long-time director of the Five College Early Music Program in Western Massachusetts. Lecturer in Music History at the University of Massachusetts. Performances with the Newberry Consort, Tanglewood Festival, Cappella Nova, the New York Consort of Viols, the Washington Bach Consort, Hesperus, and the National Symphony. BA Antioch College; MM, Sarah Lawrence College.
Yumiko Matsuoka, contemporary a cappella and jazz specialist. Originally from Tokyo, Japan; professor at Berklee College of Music in Boston, teaching ear training. Founder of Vox One, a Boston-based a cappella quintet, whose albums Vox One (1993), Out There (1995) and Chameleon (1997) have won multiple awards from the Contemporary A Cappella Society of America (CASA). In 2008 she released an anthology album of her arrangements and compositions entitled To Every Thing There Is a Season. Published by the University of Northern Colorado Jazz Press.
Hideki Yamaya, lute and guitar, was born in Tokyo, Japan. He spent most of his career in the West Coast before settling in New England, where he is a freelance performer and teacher. He is one half of the Schneiderman-Yamaya Duo and is the artistic director for Musica Maestrale, an early music collective based in Portland. He is also recognized as an effective communicator and teacher, and has given masterclasses and workshops at Yale University, University of California, Santa Cruz, Montana State University, Oregon State University, and Aquilon Music Festival.
SESSION DETAILS
Accommodations
Most rehearsals and performances will take place in Pratt Music Hall, an historic, air-conditioned facility with practice rooms, classrooms, and two performance spaces. On occasion, events may occur elsewhere on campus: Blanchard Community Center, Abbey Chapel, or the Auditorium, all lovely spaces with air conditioning. Our living quarters this summer are in Creighton Hall, a modern dormitory with air conditioning and elevators, which offers single and double suite accommodations with shared bathrooms. You will be supplied sheets, a blanket, towels, and soap. Creighton has a large living room where we can socialize after each evening's seminar.
Meals
Dining options at Blanchard Community Center include fresh salads, grilled entrees, smoothie and coffee stations, and sushi or other international options. There are always vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options available Much of the produce comes from local family farms, and Mount Holyoke College is always looking for ways to increase these local partnerships. Residential workshop fees include meals. Food may also be purchased at the dining hall à la carte.
Schedule
A SAMPLE WESTERN WIND WORKSHOP DAY (5-DAY SESSION)
9:00–9:45 Vocal warm-ups and rehearsal of large group piece
10:00–12:00 Small group rehearsals
12:00–1:30 Lunch and relaxation
1:30–4:00 Small group rehearsals
4:15–5:00 Optional musicianship skills classes or duo/trio coaching with guest faculty
5:30–6:30 Dinner
6:45-7:15 Brief small group rehearsal to prepare for seminar
7:15–9:15 Performance seminar by all small ensembles
9:30-10:30 Reception & socializing in the dorm
Please note that Thursday afternoon, August 7 is scheduled sparsely to accommodate preparations for that night's Silly Seminar and the following day's Continuo Concert and Pop and Jazz Concert.
Clothing
We advise you to bring comfortable clothing, and, if you desire, a bathing suit and/or hiking boots, especially if you enroll in the 7-day Workshop and have Monday, August 4 free. A sweater or light jacket is a good idea since evenings in August could be cool, as might be air-conditioned rehearsal spaces. Concert dress is informal (and is up to you) for the final concerts. Also, if you are enrolled in the 5-day or 7-day workshops, pack at least one distinctive T-shirt to wear at Silly Seminar.
Music Policies
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The cost of the large group piece is included in your weekend’s tuition. The same is true of other scores shared with you as PDFs.
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Octavos must be purchased at their retail value. Photocopies are 15¢ per side, if a published piece is not available or the piece is in the public domain.
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If your group uses one piece out of a larger collection, you may request (before using or marking the larger book, please!) that the selection be photocopied for you at the charge of 15¢ per page (each side). Please destroy all photocopies of copyrighted music at the weekend’s conclusion pursuant to copyright law.
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Music that you make marks in must be purchased.
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A library of outstanding ensemble music is also available for your perusal and purchase. Please feel free to browse.
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A 10% discount applies to music and concession purchases that total $100 or more! 15% if it’s $200 or more!
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More and more workshop participants prefer to read digitized music from their tablets. Nearly all our music can be made available in this format.
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You will be provided with PDF scores of both the large-group piece for each workshop and your small-group repertoire about a week ahead of time. If you like the challenge of sight-reading, you are certainly free to not look at your music until the workshop begins.
Group Fun
The Western Wind summer workshops also offer opportunities to perform in larger ensembles and sing informally in open reading sessions. As mentioned earlier, during the 5-day session, our guest faculty members coach and accompany singers in ensemble and solo repertoire from the Renaissance and Early Baroque, as well as in the subtleties of jazz and pop performance. Coaches will help you to select suitable Early Music repertoire, if you haven't arrived with music in hand. Almost everyone chooses to participate in the Pop & Jazz concert, even if they rarely perform this repertoire. Yumiko Matsuoka will facilitate your placement in a group. Thursday night's Silly Seminar balances the hard work. Participating in a skit, sharing a talent, or participating in the wacky T-shirt contest can be a welcome relief from the packed workshop schedule. Readings of participants' original compositions are also a regular element of Western Wind workshops. Please bring hard-copy or digital scores if you would like to have your original compositions or arrangements read during the 5-day session.
Pop & Jazz Concert
Continuo Concert
Silly Seminar
Arrival, Check-in, Departure
Weekend Session: August 2-3
(Also, 1st segment of 7-day workshop, 8/2-8/9)
As explained above, the 2025 Western Wind August Weekend Workshop commences at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 2 in Pratt Music Hall, Mount Holyoke College. Please strive to arrive on campus between 11:00 and 11:30 a.m. Follow the directions under Transportation below to Creighton Hall, our dormitory, for check-in. You will receive your room key, a building entry card, and a folder with information at the check-in desk. If you drive to campus, you may park in front of the dorm to unload your belongings. Once you've checked in and taken your personal items to your room, you may need to move your car to a nearby parking spot designated Student or to the large grassy parking a block away at the intersection of College Street and Morgan Road.
Lunch is available at Blanchard Community Center once you have checked in. If you arrive after 1:00 p.m., proceed to Pratt Music Hall next door and join the session in progress in the main auditorium. This will include a first reading of the large-group piece, so make sure you have your music with you. First rehearsals of the small groups will begin no later than 2:00 p.m. If you arrive too late to check in over the lunch hour, you can do so after small group rehearsals and before dinner on Saturday afternoon.
Participants can anticipate a full schedule of activities Saturday afternoon and evening, as well as on Sunday morning and afternoon. The weekend workshop concludes with a participant concert that ends no later than 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, August 3. At the end of the concert, you will check out at Creighton Hall unless you are staying an extra night or for the rest of the week. At check-out, you will return you key and building card, retrieve your key deposit (or donate it to our scholarship fund), and pay for any incidentals (photocopies, octavos, T-shirts, recordings) using a "wacky form."
5-Day Session: August 4-9
Check-in for the 5-day workshop (Monday evening, August 4 through Saturday afternoon, August 9) will be on Monday, August 5 from 4:00-6:00 p.m. at Creighton Hall. Directions to this dormitory are found below. At check-in, you will receive your room key, a building entry card, and a folder full of information at the check-in desk. You may need to move your car after checking in and unloading your belongings. There is a large, grassy lot a block away (at the intersection of College Street & Morgan Road), but there should be other Student spaces available closer to Creighton. Dinner is available at Blanchard Community Center beginning at 5:30 p.m. Late-arriving 5-day participants can check in later in the evening of August 5 at the opening-night reception, or at 8:00 a.m. the following morning. If you will be arriving late, and didn’t check the box on the questionnaire, please call or text Anna Feldman at (413) 575-7826.
The 5-day workshop itself commences at 7:00 p.m., Monday, August 4 in Pratt Music Hall Auditorium with a performance by the faculty. You can also expect a brief orientation to the workshop and a rehearsal of the large-group piece which everyone sings at the end of our final concert. Please bring your large-group music to this opening session. Most rehearsals and seminars involve your assigned small group, however. Most of these occur during the day, but there are also formal events each evening, except on the final day of the workshop. After evening events, there is always a reception at the dorm where you can wind down and socialize.
The 5-day (or 7-day) workshop concludes with a participant concert on Saturday afternoon, August 9, ending between 4:30 and 5:00 pm. Please plan to stay until the end of the final concert. It is very difficult for your ensemble if you leave early. If this is not possible, let us know in advance.
Check-out
It is possible to check out from the workshop during the lunch hour before either of our final participant concerts. Otherwise, expect to check out at Creighton Hall beginning about 5 p.m. on your final workshop day. You will receive instructions on how to handle your bedding, retrieve your key deposit, and complete a “wacky form” totaling any extra charges for music and merchandise. We will also help you with your transportation challenges to the best of our abilities. Participants often offer rides to a train, bus station, or airport. Please indicate that you will need such assistance on your registration form. Alternatively, text or Anna Feldman at (413) 575-7826 or e-mail.
Transportation
Weekend Session: Please aim to arrive on campus between 11:00 & 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, August 2.
5-day Session: Plan to arrive between 4:00 & 4:30 p.m. on Monday, August 4.
By Car
For GPS navigation, the address of Mount Holyoke College is 50 College Street, South Hadley, MA 10175. Creighton Hall is set back about a block from College Street on Lower Lake Road. You can get there by way of Morgan Road. Turn onto Morgan Road from College Street, then, a few hundred yards later, turn left onto Lower Lake Road. Creighton Hall will be on your right almost immediately. There is a large, grassy visitor’s lot on Morgan Road close to College Street for your use once you've unloaded your belongings. However, you may park in any space on campus designated Student.
From the south
Travel north on I-91 and take Exit 16 (Holyoke/South Hadley) to Route 202. Head north on Route 202 through Holyoke, across the Connecticut River, and around the rotary to the exit marked “South Hadley Center-Amherst, Route 116 North.” The College is approximately 2.5 miles from the exit.
From the north
Travel south on I-91 and take Exit 16 (Holyoke/South Hadley) to Route 202. Head north on Route 202 through Holyoke, across the Connecticut River, and around the rotary to the exit marked “South Hadley Center-Amherst, Route 116 North.” The College is approximately 2.5 miles from the exit.
From the Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90), east or west
Take Exit 5 (Holyoke/Chicopee) and bear to the right. At the end of the ramp, turn left on Route 33 going north. Follow Route 33 for five miles until you reach Route 116. Turn right onto Route 116 and drive approximately 1.5 miles north to the College.
As mentioned earlier, you may park in any Student parking space on the Mount Holyoke campus. Parking passes for the physically disabled are available through the Campus Police, located in the Central Services Building. Please let us know if you will need one of these passes and we shall try to arrange to have one waiting for you at registration.
By Bus
Note: If you will be using public transit to get to the Weekend Workshop from the Boston area, we recommend traveling by bus. Weekend train schedules from Boston do not align well with our weekend workshop schedule.
Peter Pan Bus Lines (413-781-3320 or https://peterpanbus.com) (also Greyhound) has daily bus service between Springfield, MA and New York City, Boston, and other New England cities.
If you choose to travel by bus on Monday, August 4 for the 5-day workshop, you might time your arrival in Springfield, MA in order to take a Peter Pan bus directly from Springfield’s Union Station to South Hadley, MA and the Mount Holyoke College campus. This bus leaves Springfield at 3:45 p.m. Travel time from there to South Hadley is 1 hour and 15 minutes. The fare is just $8.
Please indicate on your registration form that you would like to join other participants in getting to campus from Springfield’s Union Station. This is highly recommended if you are arriving late the morning of August 2. We shall do our best to match you up or provide car rides so that you are not delayed in reaching the Mount Holyoke campus.
By Train
Amtrak (800-USA-RAIL) and other rail lines serve the Springfield, MA Union Station, just 12 miles from South Hadley. Options for traveling by train from New York City and southern Connecticut to Springfield, MA are much better than for traveling from Boston to Springfield in terms of our 2025 weekend workshop schedule.
Please see the comments above about getting to the Mount Holyoke campus from Springfield’s Union Station. Let us help you get to South Hadley in a timely way.
By Air
South Hadley is 32 miles NNE of Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, which is served by all major airlines. A door-to-door shuttle service from Bradley to South Hadley is provided by several companies including Valley Transporter (800-872-8752). Reservations are required. Another option is to use a rideshare service to get to Springfield’s Union Station, then take a Peter Pan Bus to South Hadley. Please record your travel needs on the registration questionnaire so that we can assist you in sharing rides from Bradley or Union Station.
Logan International Airport in Boston is served by all major airlines and is a 2½ hour drive from South Hadley. Peter Pan Bus Lines offers direct service to South Hadley from Logan International. There is one option departing from Logan that arrives in South Hadley before the 7:00 p.m. opening concert for the 5-day workshop on Monday, August 4.
Deposit methods include credit and bank cards, PayPal, and "manual" methods, including Zelle, Venmo, and mailed checks. Manual methods save us transaction fees.