Malcolm Dalglish Workshop Outline

Back Home Again in Indiana

The Wild, Wild, Word Show (50-60 min.)

Can be made age and grade level appropriate. A marvelous blend of mime, rhyme, rhythm, and song, Malcolm Dalglish’s Show combines story ballads and fast-paced antics with the mesmerizing sounds of hammer dulcimer and virtuoso spoon and bones playing. The original compositions emphasize the magical rhythmic texture of the dulcimer. The songs voice the simple lyricism of an old folk hymn or melody. The stories range from anecdotal to folktale and include body percussion, and physical comedy. This show brings together Dalglish’s background in physical theater and his vast and varied musical repertoire inspired by American and European folk traditions and the nature poetry of Wendell Berry. An internationally renowned composer and recording artist, Malcolm Dalglish leaves audiences of all ages with a new appreciation for the making of music and the music of words.

Smaller Workshop Sessions:

Rehearsal/Music Sessions with choirs: discuss sources and demonstrate the process. Each Dalglish song has a story that is an adventure in the folk process. Be it the improvised compositional ways they are made, the dancing theatrical ways they are taught, or the well-worn pathways in which they are remembered, students see how material that looks challenging on paper really has a comfortable home in the aural tradition. Songs launch singers into free style Celtic sounding mouth music, the dark modality of a fourteenth century Italian laude, old world lullabies and critter songs that open like a classic children's picture book, story ballads of selchies, roustabouts, and moon shiners; songs that give flight to the poetry of nature and the hypnotic rhythm of old time fiddle tunes- all this and more inspire the weave of Malcolm's folk inspired compositions. Some songs would be taught entirely by ear. These sessions would often be in preparation for collaborative concerts with local choirs Repertoire can be chosen, purchased from the website and developed before the residency.

Sessions on the Music and Theater of Words: for general audiences- would dramatize the use of favorite recipes for musical word work: Story/ballad, Rhyme/rhythm, inventive mouth music, and poetry "morphing" into song- how one might take the thoughts and visual imagery of a poet and move them into their sonic counterparts.

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