The Centrum community is thrilled to announce that Pharis Romero will be guiding the Voice Works workshop for the first time in 2018. Pharis is from Horsefly, BC, and has taught at the gathering nearly every year. We thought we’d ask her a few questions to see what she has up her sleeve for next June.

What was your first job?

Pharis: At 13, I was working as a cook and camp girl on white-water rafting and flying fishing trips on a fly-in only river in central BC. I traveled in a boat ahead of the group, pitched tents and turned down beds for orchestra conductors, Pulitzer-prize winning authors, corporate CEOs, and all sorts. Cornish game hens and wild mushrooms for supper, eggs benedict for breakfast – all over a campfire.

What are you listening to this week?

Pharis: I can’t get over how much I love the way the new David Rawlings Machine album sounds. And Esther Rose. And “Some Bunny Loves You” from a wonderful man named Jesse Thom.

Who are the most striking younger singers you’ve heard this year?

Pharis: A band called Peach Pit from Vancouver made me crazy at a festival this summer. And DakhaBrakha from the Ukraine.

Who is the one singer you’d like to meet, dead or alive?

Pharis: Hazel Dickens.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

Pharis: Listen most of the time.

In broad strokes, how are you putting the staff together for next year’s Voice Works?

Pharis: It’s a diverse assemblage of folks, but the general theme is that they have a masterful way of taking singing styles rooted in tradition and bringing them into something that makes sense for modern ears. They’re also incredibly beautiful, kind and generous people, who seem like they will have a knack of knowing when to offer their insights and when to step back and be a part of magic happening.