Northern Harmony
The shifting, semi-professional ensemble created by Larry Gordon and based in central Vermont, Northern Harmony is the highest level performing group under the Village Harmony umbrella. Since 1993 the groups have toured and performed widely throughout America and Europe to great critical acclaim.
Not a permanent year-round group, the ensemble is constituted specifically for each extended performing tour (typically 7-10 weeks) or shorter term project. The singers always include some of the most talented veterans of other Village Harmony performing ensembles. Many of the members will have sung with Village Harmony since their young teens, and most have studied traditional singing styles first hand with native teachers in South Africa, Bulgaria, Corsica and Caucasus Georgia.
Transcending the traditional definition of choral music, the group is particularly renowned for its command of varied world ethnic singing styles, from the hearty and ultra bright Bulgarian “hard voice” to the equally powerful, but darker and more sonorous Georgian timbre, from the rich, mellifluous South African style or the wild and unrestrained American shape-note sound to a delicate, pure, early music timbre.
In their workshops the Northern Harmony singers always help to teach and lead all the vocal parts, which makes the learning particularly efficient and rewarding.
The last major Northern Harmony European tour was in the spring of 2019, when the group toured through the UK, France and Spain. The album from that tour – A Thousand Radiant Marks – and all other albums dating back to 1999 – are available on Bandcamp.