SCHEDULE: Song Camp Italy 2020
Wednesday
7:30pm - Welcome Dinner
9:00pm - Opening Night Song Circle
Thursday
9:30am - Community Sing with Ysaÿe M. Barnwell
10:00am - 12:30pm - Song Camp class session: Paul Reisler - Directed Writing 1
1:00pm - Lunch break
2:15pm - 4:15pm - Afternoon Songwriting and Performance classes
4:30pm - 6:00pm - Electives: Instrument instruction, Performance, Music Business topics
Friday
9:30am - Community Sing with Ysaÿe M. Barnwell
10:00am - 12:30pm - Song Camp class session: Paul Reisler - Directed Writing 2
1:00pm - Lunch break
2:15pm - 4:15pm - Afternoon Songwriting and Performance classes
4:30pm - 6:00pm - Electives: Instrument instruction, Performance, Music Business topics
Saturday
9:30am - Noon - Song Camp class session: Paul Reisler - Directed Writing 3
12:30pm - Lunch break
2:00pm - 4:15pm - Listening Sessions & Critiques with Faculty
4:30pm - 5:30pm - Closing Community Sing with Ysaÿe M. Barnwell
8:00pm - Closing Concert
featuring Ysaÿe M. Barnwell of Sweet Honey In The Rock, Paul Reisler, "Chicago" Mike Beck and special guests.
Sunday
10:00am - Farewell "Arrivederci" Breakfast
1:00pm - Shuttles to Verona Airport & Train Stations
Times, details and instructors are subject to change. The information posted reflects the most up-to-date information currently available.
Our Approach
The Song Camp Italy Experience
Ever wish you could write a song that could change someone’s life, or bring them to tears, or perhaps even change the world?
Songs can do all that. Come to Song Camp Italy to learn and get inspired by some extraordinary teachers and masters of their craft -- Songwriting legend Tom Paxton, celebrated Italian songwriter Gian Piero Alloisio, Dr. Ysaÿe M. Barnwell, formerly of Sweet Honey in the Rock; Paul Reisler, the founder of Trapezoid and Kid Pan Alley; international touring singer-songwriter Chicago Mike Beck.
We’ve selected the San Felice Resort in Illasi as the setting for the inaugural Song Camp Italy for its natural beauty, tranquil harmonious atmosphere and world-class facilities, including a modern fully-equipped conference center, superb restaurants and comfortable affordable lodging options.
San Felice Resort is family-friendly, offering swimming pools, spa services such as massage, jacuzzi and steam room, equestrian stables, horse-drawn carriage rides through the Italian countryside, world-class dining, spectacular hiking and vistas, and a large variety of nearby Italian delights. Learn more about San Felice and the region nearby on our Italy & The Region Nearby page.
Our Story
Our Mission
The mission of Song Camp Italy is to inspire the creative spark that lies inside each of us and provide you with an unforgettable life experience which includes world-class songwriting instruction with a unique international perspective, performance classes and nuts-and-bolts how-to information to help share your music with the world, all taking place in the beautiful Italian countryside in the vineyard-covered hills just outside of Verona.
Each day, Dr. Barnwell will lead a community sing that will bring us together in a spirit of open-heartedness and courage that will inspire you to discover your most creative self.
While teaching the art of songwriting has not been part of the tradition in Europe, over the past 30 years, that tradition has been fully developed in the USA, ranging from workshops to college curricula. Our teachers are among the leaders of that movement.
The songwriting traditions in the USA are quite different than those found in Italy, and one of the goals of Song Camp Italy is to illuminate the differences as well as shared characteristics of these diverse approaches to the art of song.
Song Camp Italy closes with a starlit concert featuring our faculty and special guests.
Song Camp Italy will galvanize your songwriting, renew your spirit and leave you with an unforgettable once-in-a-lifetime creative international experience you will cherish forever.
Meet the Song Camp Italy Faculty
Songwriting, Performance & Music Career Faculty confirmed for Song Camp Italy 2022 includes:
Matt Backer
The words “Rock Star” get tossed around frequently these days, but Matt Backer is someone who has unequivocally earned the moniker.
Spanning a 35 year career, he has recorded, performed and co-written songs with a diverse range of artists including Julian Lennon, Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris, The Bombay Dub Orchestra, Shirley Bassey, Sinead O’Connor, Joe Cocker, Swing Out Sister, Aimee Mann, Marcella Detroit, Elton John, Alice Cooper, Bananarama, Rumer, Cher, John Grant, Laura Mvula, Bob Geldof, Steve Coogan, Belinda Carlisle and Kermit The Frog. He has been the guitarist with multi-platinum ’80s superstars ABC for over 20 years.
His solo career has received critical acclaim resulting in New Music Awards in 2013, 2014 and 2015. Mojo magazine described his "Impulse Man" album, which features songs he co-wrote with Julian Lennon, as: "...the chunkiest riffs and licks you wish you'd learned to play wrapped around songs replete with fat choruses and wry humour.'
Matt was born in New Orleans, speaks Italian, French and Spanish and has lived in Mexico, Venezuela, Belgium, the Caribbean and Leamington Spa. His higher education included studies at Hampshire College, The Berklee College of Music and The University of Warwick.
He lives beyond his means in London and we’re exceptionally pleased to be able to include him in the faculty of the inaugural Song Camp Italy.
Susan Cattaneo
In her 20 years teaching Songwriting at Berklee College of Music, Susan Cattaneo has helped students work on over 15,000 songs in all musical genres and styles and mentored over 2,000 artists. She’s taught master clinics at the International Folk Conference and at regional music conferences throughout North America.
Susan Cattaneo is one of Boston’s most respected singer-songwriters, blending rock and folk with a healthy dose of country. Susan won the Connecticut Folk Festival competition and has been a finalist or winner in the country’s most prestigious songwriting and music contests including Kerrville New Folk, Emerging Artist Falcon Ridge, the International Acoustic Music Awards and the Independent Music Awards. Her latest album The Hammer and The Heart charted #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and yielded a folk radio #1 single and top 10 album. She also speaks Italian! We're very excited to have Susan sharing her expertise and passion for songwriting at Song Camp Italy!
Paul Reisler
Songwriting & Guitar During that time, he’s been involved in over 3 dozen recordings as a musician, producer, composer and songwriter. He’s taught at workshops and songwriting schools including Rocky Mountain Song School, Utah Song School, Swannanoa Gathering, Blue Ridge Songcamp, Augusta Workshop, University of the Pacific, Hollyhock, Berklee College of Music, Folk Alliance, Kerrville, Nashville Songwriters Association, Omega Institute, Moulin a Nef in S. France, Songcamp in the Mountains, Puget Sound Guitar Workshop, and many others. In addition to all his songs and instrumentals, he wrote the full-length piece Aesop’s Fables for Orchestra and Narrator as well as the script and music for two new musicals--Bouncin’and The Talented Clementine. PaulReisler.com “Reisler's talents are many and his creativity, vast. Not too many people can do what he can do, bring the spirit of music and creating to new generations, opening up one of the most important doors there is. He is a national treasure." -- Robert Fritz, composer, filmmaker and author of Creating and The Path of Least Resistance Your words, comments, spirit are fine companions as I walk along and listen for the stories and songs that come from my heart. You have a gift not only for your own art and craft, but also for creating an atmosphere that is safe, nurturing, yet challenging.” -- Michael Cervone, NY “I have been coming to songwriting camps for some time to gain knowledge, but when I attended Paul Reisler’s classes on ‘Harmony and Chord Substitution’ I received something better than mere knowledge, I received understanding -- where all that accumulated knowledge came together into a useable form. Then I attended his class ‘A Song is a Story is a Song’ and was given something even more significant, and that is wisdom.” -- Cliff Rice, Valparaiso, IN “The best musical experience I’ve ever had.” -- Eric Eckl, Past President, Songwriters Association of Washington, DC
Paul Reisler has written more songs than the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and Stephen Foster combined—somewhere north of 3,500 compositions. Ok, he has had some serious help from some of his co-writers including a handful of Grammy winning songwriters as well as the over 65,000 children he’s written with in his Kid Pan Alley program.
KidPanAlley.org
"Chicago" Mike Beck
Performance & Music Career In December 2015, Mike completed his first tour of Asia, performing shows in Japan and Thailand. He has personally brought over 30 musicians on their first overseas tours and coached hundreds more. His debut CD, released in 2002, has received radio airplay in the USA, Germany, Holland, Denmark, Transylvania, Romania, Macedonia and Japan. In addition to his performing and recording endeavors, Mike is the founder of Access Film Music, an organization dedicated to helping independent recording artists expose their music to directors, producers and music supervisors working in film, television, videogames and advertising. The 17th annual Access Film Music Showcase will take place during Film Festival Week in Park City, Utah January 27 - February 2, 2020. Access Film Music is also the Official Music Partner of the ÉCU Film Festival in Paris, France each Spring, where Access showcase events have helped further their mission to connect music-makers with filmmakers. Mike has been on the faculty of the renown Planet Bluegrass Rocky Mountain SongSchool in Lyons, Colorado since 2005 and has been a featured speaker and mentor at numerous music industry events and educational institutions. These include AmericanaFest in Nashville, Tennessee, South-by-Southwest in Austin, Texas, Folk Alliance International, many other songwriting retreats, music conferences and film festivals throughout North America and Europe, as well as UCLA, Berklee College of Music in Boston and Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey. He loves empowering and inspiring musicians to pursue their dreams and enjoys sharing practical ideas, methods and information to help make them real. ChicagoMike.com 'Of the numerous industry conferences I’ve attended, hands down, the top two seminars were both delivered by “Chicago” Mike Beck. Mike is a world-class communicator with a deep well of experience and knowledge in areas of interest to artists who are ready to get serious about the business of music." -- Dick Wells, Singer-Songwriter & Recording Session Singer - Los Angeles CA "Your class at FAR-West was the best, most useful presentation I attended all weekend. You are great!" -- Ken Krupnik , Singer-Songwriter - Los Angeles CA
“Chicago” Mike Beck is an ASCAP award-winning songwriter and recording artist who has been touring full-time in the USA and Europe since 2001 as a solo performer and with his band Chicago Mike’s InterGalactic Brother & Sisterhood of Big Eyed Beans.
AccessFilmMusic.net
Register Now
Enrollment is very limited and will sell-out quickly.
To reserve your spot, register today.