Sunrise light on a grove of tufa towers emerging from the water of Mono Lake with soft green and dusty-red wild grasses in the foreground, Canada geese in the shallow water with reflections of the rocky towers, and desert hills in the distance.

Ooolation Singers to return to Mono Basin for 15th year

Sunrise light on a grove of tufa towers emerging from the water of Mono Lake with soft green and dusty-red wild grasses in the foreground, Canada geese in the shallow water with reflections of the rocky towers, and desert hills in the distance.

Those of you who love music and Mono Lake should know about the Ooolation Outdoor Singing Camp.

Ooolation Singers at Mono Lake at dusk. Photo courtesy of Ooolation.
Ooolation Singers at Mono Lake at dusk. Photo courtesy of Ooolation.

This year’s Ooolation camp will be the 15th in a row, bringing energetic young people and uplifting singing to the Mono Basin July 24–August 4, 2015.

Ooolation is run by musician, composer, conductor, and instrumentalist Malcolm Dalglish, along with four other talented instructors. Photo courtesy of Ooolation.
Ooolation is run by musician, composer, conductor, and instrumentalist Malcolm Dalglish, along with four other talented instructors. Photo courtesy of Ooolation.

For participants, Ooolation is a week of being outdoors and singing, combining the the Mono Basin’s wide spaces with poetic, lyrical, powerful song.

The Ooolation Outdoor Singing Camp rehearsal space is an aspen grove at Burger's Sierra Retreat, high in the mountains above Mono Lake. Photo courtesy of Ooolation.
The Ooolation Outdoor Singing Camp rehearsal space is an aspen grove at Burger’s Sierra Retreat, high in the mountains above Mono Lake. Photo courtesy of Ooolation.

Camp applications are being accepted for singers ages 16 to 28, so if spending a week hiking in Yosemite, learning beautiful music, investigating Mono Lake’s salty waters, and rehearsing in an aspen grove sounds good to you, check out the Ooolation website and send in your application!

Ooolation campers at their home base for the week, Burger's Sierra Retreat. Photo courtesy of Ooolation.
Ooolation campers on their way to rehearsal at the aspen grove after warming up. Photo courtesy of Ooolation.
Rehearsing on the porch of one of the Burger's cabins. Photo courtesy of Ooolation.
A dusk rehearsal on the porch of one of the Retreat’s cabins. Photo courtesy of Ooolation.

For audiences, Ooolation means concerts at the Parsons Memorial Lodge in Tuolumne Meadows and at the Mono Basin National Forest Scenic Area Visitor Center in Lee Vining each year in early August. These concerts are a wonderful way to celebrate our favorite Sierra places, bringing together exquisite harmonies, soulful soloists, energetic movement, traditional folk melodies, and original compositions. The Visitor Center concert is my favorite—at dusk on the back patio with the wind subsiding gently, the sunset colors deepening, and joyful harmonies bringing to close another perfect Mono Basin summer day.

The Ooolation week concludes with concerts, here at the Parsons Memorial Lodge in Tuolumne Meadows. Photo courtesy of Ooolation.
The Ooolation week concludes with concerts, here at the Parsons Memorial Lodge in Tuolumne Meadows. Photo courtesy of Ooolation.
The Ooolation Singers perform a concert at the Mono Basin National Forest Scenic Area Visitor Center each year. Photo courtesy of Ooolation.
The Ooolation Singers perform a concert at the Mono Basin National Forest Scenic Area Visitor Center each year. Photo courtesy of Ooolation.

Make sure you don’t miss Ooolation this summer, whether as a participant in a magical week, or as a recipient of the resulting beautiful music.

Happy Ooolation Singers after the Parsons concert! Photo courtesy of Ooolation.
Happy Ooolation Singers after the Parsons concert! Photo courtesy of Ooolation.