Participant Information

BOXWOOD CANADA 2008

Arrival, Check-ins and Departure

Arrival for the Boxwood week is recommended for Saturday July 19, or Sunday July 20. Our opening dinner & concert takes place on the evening of Saturday July 19 and the Tempest Baroque concert takes place on the evening of Sunday July 21. Check-in registration at St. John's Anglican Church Hall will take place between 1–5 PM, on both Saturday July 19 and Sunday July 21. The week officially ends after the post concert party at the Lunenburg Fire Hall, Saturday morning July 26, at about 1 AM.

Getting Here

Air Travel
Fly into Halifax International Airport (YHZ) if you're arriving by air. There's usually a sale on the major carriers in April/May. Thanks to an initiative of Canada Tourism and the Halifax International Airport, there will be direct service to YHZ from Chicago, Atlanta, and Washington, DC in the Spring & Summer months which may result in lower fares than in recent years. You may also have some luck incorporating some of Canada's low-fare airline WestJet who has inexpensive flights from major Canadian airports as well as connections in New York, Florida, and California. Zoom Airlines is making direct flights to Halifax from major hubs in Europe for a significantly cheaper price than the major carriers.

Another option for the budget minded traveler is flying on Southwest Airlines to Manchester, NH; from there a shuttle bus to Downtown Portland, ME (about 2 hours), and then the ferry from Portland, ME to Yarmouth, NS. We can arrange to carpool you from Yarmouth.

Discounted Airfares on Continental Airlines
You can take advantage of our agreement with Continental Airlines to receive a discount of 5% or more if you travel on or between July 16-31, 2007 from any airport in the world that is served by Continental. The amount of discount is maximized when you book your tickets on-line at www.continental.com. You'll see an 'Offer Code' box on the front page where you first enter your travel details; enter the following code in the offer code box: (TBA).

By Car
If you're driving, make note of the various ferry options available. Bay Ferries operates The Cat from Bar Harbor, ME and Portland, ME to Yarmouth, NS (very fast and moderately expensive), as well as a ferry from St, John NB to Digby, NS. This ferry is a particularly good value if you're budget minded.

Carpool Service from YHZ to Lunenburg
Boxwood will again coordinate carpool runs between the Halifax airport and Lunenburg on Friday evening 7/18, Saturday 7/19, and Sunday 7/20 for a nominal charge. We'll be compiling a clearinghouse of everyone's transportation plans, therefore, make your plans early and contact us so that we may either assist you with a ride or may ask for your assistance with transportation if you have a car.

Lodging

Boxwood's activities are centrally located and within walking distance to most lodging options including staying at one of the many beautiful and historic B&B's in historic Lunenburg. Motels are located on the edge of town a short walk from town, Car & tent camping is centrally located in town, or you may billet with a local host family.

Billeting accommodations will be coordinated this year by Musique Royale's Ruth McConnell - 902.634.9994 or e.mail. Billeting will be available from Saturday July 19 - Friday July 25 only. The cost is a flat $250 CAD. The billeting fee will not be pro-rated for shorter stays. For more information on Billeting accommodations, pricing and availability download the PDF form. Feel free to contact us via e.mail or telephone with specific questions about the billeting option. The check-in times for billeted lodging are: Saturday, July 21, 12 p.m.–12 a.m., and Sunday, July 22, 1–5 p.m. at the St. John's Parish Hall.

PLEASE NOTE: The number of billeting spots is limited and is allocated on a first-come-first-serve basis.

Schedule

The following schedule is the framework for our activities and may be helpful as you make your plans:

FRIDAY JULY 18

• Evening car pool availibilty.
• Billeting not available.
• An informal session is likely.

SATURDAY JULY 19

• Morning and afternoon car pool availibilty.
• Billeting available with check in from 12 PM–12 AM at the St. John's Anglican Church Hall.
• Opening Concert and pre-concert Scholarship Dinner
  • 6:00 PM dinner at the Lunenburg and District Fire Hall.
  • 7:30 PM concert at the St. John's Anglican Church.

SUNDAY JULY 20

• Morning and afternoon car pool availibilty.
• Work Study participants meeting at 12 noon at the Lunenburg & District Hall.
• Billeting and registration check in from 1 PM – 5 PM at the St. John's Anglican Church Hall.
• Supper at 6 PM, St. John's Anglican Church Hall.
• Tempest Baroque Concert, 7:30 PM, St. John's Anglican Church

MONDAY - FRIDAY JULY 21-25

• 8:30 AM - All students & teachers meet at the Academy for orientation & questions (Mon. only)
• 9:00-10:15 AM - Classes at the Lunenburg Academy
• 10:30-11:45 AM - Classes at the Lunenburg Academy
• 12:00-1:00PM - Lunch at the Lunenburg and District Fire Hall
• 1:30-2:15 PM - Classes at the Lunenburg Academy
• 2:30-4:30 PM free time - Academy open for practice, rehearsal, special classes TBA
• 4:30-5:30 PM - afternoon lecture/demo at the Lunenburg and District Fire Hall
• 6:00 or 6:30 PM - Supper at the Fire Hall
• 7:30 or 8:00 PM - Evening activity

SATURDAY JULY 26

• Morning & afternoon car pool availibilty.
  

EVENING ACTIVITIES & EVENTS

• SATURDAY - pre-concert Dinner at Lunenburg and District Fire Hall 6 PM
  Opening concert at St. John's Anglican Church 7:30 PM
• SUNDAY - pre-concert Scholarship Dinner at Lunenburg and District Fire Hall 6 PM
  Tempest Concert at St. John's Anglican Church 7:30PM
• MONDAY - Ceili dance for Boxwood particpants at the Lunenburg Academy 8 PM
• TUESDAY- Brian Finnegan/Pierre Chartrand concert at St. John's Anglican Church 7:30 PM
• WEDNESDAY - Big Boxwood Ceili Dance at St John's Parish Hall 7:30PM
• THURSDAY - Participants take the stage in Talent Night at the St. John's Parish Hall 8PM
• FRIDAY - Finale Concert at St. John's Anglican Church 7:30 PM
  

Updates in faculty and classes offered as of July 1, 2008:

• Betsy MacMillan (viola da gamba) is unable to attend due to an illness in her family
  
• Nick Halley (perscussion) is added to the faculty and will offer a morning rhythm class for musicians, dancers and singers.
• Shelley Phillips (oboe, harp, flutemaking) is added to the faculty will be offering private lessons in traditional oboe, and will teach an afternoon class in bamboo flute-making where participants can make their own bamboo flute.
• Brian Finnegan (Irish flute & whistle) will be compressing his teaching schedule into the first four days of classes, as he traveling to Estonia on Friday July 25. His number of classes remains the same, just crammed into four days.

Notes on the format and schedule of the classes - from director Chris Norman:

A preliminary schedule of classses is available in PDF format; download it here. Please read the section that follows carefully and feel free to contact me directly with any concerns or suggestions.

Among the goals of Boxwood is expanding musical vocabulary. We encourage participants to take a variety of classes each day so that throughout the course of the week, you will have met with a variety of teachers, ideally across a number of disciplines. This year's schedule is specifically designed to faciltate cross-fertilization between musicians and dancers. As always, the flute and its musical traditions are front-and-center at Boxwood, however we're presenting classes in many styles, genres and disciplines. The two morning classes are typically taught by a single teacher, and these are the classes where you can hunker down and get intensive class-time in your specific area of interest. The afternoon classes are presented by one, two, or more teachers on special topics. A further goal is the development of an aural sense of musical traditions – learning and playing by heart and by ear as much as possible. This is encouraged by having participants divide themselves up in to four groups according to their ability to learn by ear. There is no audition for this; we'll typically have one slow, two medium groups moving at the same speed, but divided to keep the class-size down (medium and intermediate) and one fast group.

Which classes you attend is entirely up to you. The schedule is arranged so that you can follow-along with others of your playing level to a variety of teachers across various genres of music and disciplines. If the scope of your interest is narrower, you may choose to stay with the same teacher all day long. Either option is fine, however if you choose the latter course, it's likely that you'll cover the same material more than once as the teachers will be teaching to the specific levels.

Baroque classes will a feature a morning master class format with continuo accompaniment available. This morning masterclass is open to all Boxwood particpants regardless of stylistic focus or the pitch of your instrument. If you wish to play with continuo accompaniment, the harpsichord switches easily from A=440 to A=415. This masterclass will be directed by David McGuinness, David Greenberg, and Gilles Plante. Bring your own music. This is a unique opportunity to get some pointers on your specific repertoire from world-class artists.

Those wishing to focus on dance during the week will have the opportunity to take a morning class with Anne-Marie Gardette focussing on renaissance & baroque dance, Nick Halley's rhythm class at 10:45 is highly recommended for all including dancers, then two classes in the afternoon with Pierre Chartrand; a social dance class & step dance class.

Some singers and instrumentalists will notice that classes for their specific instrument are not listed on the schedule. This is because the class size is small enough for you to arrange a daily private session with your teacher. Those offering private or special small sessions are:

David McGuinness (keyboards)
David Greenberg (violin, fiddle)
Shelley Phillips (oboe, harp)
Bill Coulter (pluckers)
Edmund Brownless (voice)

Additionally, if you have ensemble music that you would like to perform, bring it along with you. We'll be arranging for at least one class during the week to be for ensemble master class coaching in each level. Groups will be arranged by the individual at Boxwood.

Classes take place at the Historic Lunenburg Academy Building on the first and second floors (yes, there is an elevator). You can't miss it - atop the hill at the top of Kaulback St. (see map of Lunenburg). Some baroque, renaissance and dance classes will take place at the St. John's Parish Hall. Robert Bigio's afternoon talks will take place in the Fire Hall immediately preceding the supper hour so particpants and filter down and take part before dinner.

Meals

Lunch and supper will be served Sunday-Friday at the Lunenburg and District Fire Hall at 25 Medway St., close to the corner of Falkland & Dufferin St. It's about a five minute walk down the hill to the fire hall and a ten minute walk up the hill to the Lunenburg Academy. Wear comfortable shoes! If you need a ride, speak up; there will be rides available.

Contact info during the week

We'll be moving around a bit each day. Phones will be available at the Lunenburg Academy, the Lunenburg and District Fire Hall, around town, and at your lodging.

• BOXWOOD/MUSIQUE ROYALE OFFICE
  St John’s Anglican Parish Hall
  64 Townsend St.
  902.634.9994
  Ruth McConnell - administrator
• Lunenburg Academy (all classes)
  101 Kaulbach St.
• Lunenburg and District Fire Hall (all meals, registration)
  25 Medway St. (902) 634-8343 EMERGENCY ONLY

What to bring

All musical instruments are welcomed. Most of the classes will be at A=440, but some of the advanced baroque classes will be at A=415. If you have the opportunity to borrow a 415 flute, recorder or violin before arriving at Boxwood, please do so. Flutes may be available for loan on a limited basis. If you have extra instruments and would be willing to share them during class time, please bring them. Your fellow students will appreciate it!

. . .also tape recorder, pencil and paper, manuscript paper, tuner, and portable music stands may come in handy. Comfortable walking shoes are a MUST as Lunenburg is hilly, sweater, umbrella or rain coat, sunglasses, bug spray. Your billeters will be providing bedding.

Please bring a camera if you are photographically inclined. We look forward to sharing your pictures/videos.

Wine, Beer & Spirits

Wine, beer & spirits will be available to accompany our evening meals at the Lunenburg and District Fire Hall. You must be 19 or older to purchase beer or wine. The bar usually opens 1/2 hour before dinner and remains open during and after the evening activity.

Boxwood Boutique

The boutique will be open during the evening activities on Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday nights, as well as during meal times to sell recordings, books, etc. If you have items to sell, bring them along and submit them to the Boxwood Boutique Coordinator at registration or whenever the boutique is open. Boxwood retains 10% on the small stuff. No commission on instruments.

Refunds

Registration for Boxwood 2008 is limited and is filled on a first come first serve basis upon full payment of tuition. Places cannot be held with a deposit. No Refunds will be made after June 15, 2008. Refund requests made on or before June 15, 2008 will receive a refund within 30 days of receipt of the full amount paid minus a $50 administrative charge. There are no refunds for work study participants after May 1, 2008. Cancellations prior to this time will be subject to the abovementioned $50 administrative charge.

To be notified of updates and to be added to the Boxwood mailing list, please e-mail us your physical and e.mail coordinates.