David Burbidge will teach short songs for singing together in harmony.

We will also enjoy periods of sitting together in silence with an introduction to simple meditation for those who have never meditated before. And there will be an opportunity for singers to share their experience.

The Dent Meditation Centre is a beautiful conversion of a chapel in this historic Yorkshire Dale Village. It is warm and comfortable, and has a fabulous acoustic , suitable for singing. Every year David Burbidge leads the Dent Folk Carols festival here.

David Burbidge learned to meditated in 1972 after hitch-hiking to India, where he walked with Sadhus through the Kulu valley and the foothills of the Himalayas, and then lived in an ashram, both in India and the UK, for 10 years. He has been a journalist, yoga teacher, and psychotherapist, and since 1993 has led community choirs and harmony singing groups in Cumbria, Scotland and Slovenia. He teaches songs by ear rather than using written music, and aims to make singing – and especially harmony singing – as accessible as possible to as many people as possible, believing that when the voice is connected to the body, and when the body and breath are relaxed, singing comes naturally.

“We live with opposites, age and gender of course, but also choices in lifestyle, religion and politics. In harmony singing opposites meet together to create harmony – both metaphorically and as real music. In silence we connect with what is natural inside us and within others, and can then have a more authentic and natural voice.”

Since Sedbergh became twinned with a town in Eastern Slovenia, he has been involved with over 40 exchanges between the two towns. He lives on the banks of the river Clough a few miles upstream from Sedbergh, a short distance (as the crow flies) from Dent.

To book please send the booking fee £45 via online banking. Please first contact David Burbidge to check there are still places.