Winter Songwriting Retreat Weekend
January 22-24, 2010
With Katherine Wheatley, James Gordon, and Special Guest Jane Lewis
Immerse yourself in a weekend of songwriting with James Gordon and Katherine Wheatley, two successful and respected Canadian singer-songwriters. For beginners and advanced writers of all ages, this three-day experience will be presented for the first time at the beautiful Loyola House at Guelph's 650-acre Ignatius Retreat Centre.Katherine and James have developed a program that provides a nurturing, creative environment for writing songs and learning about the craft of songwriting. The weekend starts Friday night with a dinner and song-sharing circle. (Both James and Katherine will be sharing songs from their brand new CDs, then it's your turn!) One-on-one mentoring, group sessions, workshops, jams and sharing circles lead to a final concert on Sunday afternoon where everyone performs a song they've written over the weekend. This year's winter retreat, featuring special guest writer/mentor Jane Lewis, offers the same sharing opportunities as the previous sold-out weekends, but more personal attention and more time for you to focus on writing a great song!
The weekend includes:
- One-on-one mentoring sessions with the instructors
- An individual songwriting assignment
- Friday night dinner and song-sharing circle
- Access to keyboards if needed, and lots of space to work on your song
- Optional songwriting workshops
- Saturday walk or ski around the beautiful Ignatius property
- Saturday night dinner and evening song critique session
- Late-night Saturday jam session by the fireplace in the lounge
- Delicious organic meals and refreshments throughout the day
- Final Sunday afternoon concert featuring YOUR new song!
- A recording of your completed song
"Left utterly satiated. Thank you so much for a weekend that I won't forget." - Don Ablett
Mentoring and Workshops
This year, each participant will meet one-on-one with James and Katherine (that's 2 one-on-one sessions altogether). Please feel free to ask James, Katherine and Jane for additional personal attention—for help with your songs or help with songwriting in general.Four optional workshops will be offered during the retreat. Katherine's workshop will focus on chords, chord progressions and melody writing. James's and Jane's workshops will focus on lyric writing. On Sunday, Jane and Katherine will give a harmony workshop, focusing on finding harmonies for your new songs.
Location
Located 2 km north of Guelph, Ontario, the Ignatius Jesuit Centre serves as a place of beauty and sustenance, a place where nature may give strength to mind, body and soul. Consisting of a green belt stretching from the Guelph Lake Conservation Area to the Guelph Elora Trail, the estate is home to the internationally-acclaimed Loyola House Retreat, and the Ignatius Farm, surrounded by 650 acres of ski and hiking trails, ponds and streams, fields and forests. The Loyola house has a spacious lounge, comfortable private rooms, fabulous local organic food and lots of space for writing your song and getting some reflective time on your own. www.ignatiusguelph.caFees and Registration
Songwriting workshop with accommodation:Single rooms with shared bathrooms, two dinners, two breakfasts, two lunches plus snacks: $449
Songwriting workshop without accommodation:
Includes two dinners and two lunches: $329
All taxes included.
If you are eligible for a discount, please contact James Gordon directly.
To pay by snail mail (cheque or credit card), click here.
For more information: email or call 519-837-3757
"It was worth my time and resources to repeat the workshop! And, I got a new song out of it!" - Bruce Walton
"A fantastic weekend....I liked that we had lots of time to work on our song, and also the one-on-one mentoring sessions. Spending quality time with you two experts was one of the biggest perks of the whole weekend." - Glenn McFarlane
Instructors
James Gordon has had an international profile as a songwriter for 30 years, first as the founder of the Canadian folk trio Tamarack, and later as songwriter-in-residence for CBC radio. He's written over 1000 songs and recorded close to 40 albums. His best known songs "Frobisher Bay" and "Mining For Gold" have been recorded by hundreds of artists, including the Cowboy Junkies and cast of "Canadian Idol." His "Rhyme Capsules" songwriting-in-the-schools program has helped develop young writers all across North America. www.jamesgordon.ca"A huge thank you to James and Katherine for a fabulous time and sharing their talents & insights with us." - Bernie Gilmore
Katherine Wheatley plays over 100 shows a year. In addition to touring as a solo singer-songwriter, she is a member of "Betty and The Bobs" and plays guitar in Wendell Ferguson's band. She writes and records songs with kids through her Youthsongs program and has produced 13 CDs with schools across North America in the past 3 years. Her music has been used for TV series, documentaries and films. This geologist-turned-musician recently released her 3rd CD, "Landed"—a recording that reflects the grace, power and emotional impact of her live performance. "She turns pebbles of everyday life into dreamy mountains of song." (The Toronto Star). www.katherinewheatley.com
Jane Lewis is a singer-songwriter and the author of six young adult novels, which can be found in schools and libraries across Canada. Her lifelong passion for literature and her excellence as a wordsmith in both fiction and non-fiction is now focused on the craft of songwriting, where every syllable and phrase counts. She is the founder of the All Together Now music series in Guelph, where she presents many workshops, including Finding Your Voice and Exploring Vocal Harmony. She also leads a regular community singalong with her partner, Sam Turton. www.myspace.com/janelewismusic
