About Our Singing Circles

The idea that only certain people are qualified to be "singers", and the rest of us belong in the audience is a relatively recent western invention. For most of human history music has been a thing to be experienced and co-created, rather than witnessed and applauded for. Countless generations of people have sung songs in praise, in grief, to honor seasons, to invoke the divine, to pass time doing manual labor, and just for the plain joy of it. Lifting our voices together is a powerful sonic way to feel into our togetherness, to settle our nervous systems, to be present with our emotions or to lift our spirits. But through complex processes of industrialization, christianization, colonization, and modernization, many of our communal singing practices have been lost. Most people in the west today insist they are not “singers,” when in reality, they just have never been given the space or support to get into right relationship with their voices. Our mission is to provide that space. We believe in reclaiming and re-investing in the power of song created communally. We believe that singing is our birthright. We believe that our relationships to our voices are sacred, and that everyone deserves the chance to be heard and to create beauty together. We recognize the severe lack of opportunities for people to sing outside of houses of worship and choirs, and strive to provide accessible, low-commitment, judgment-free spaces for people of all relationships with their voice to feel welcomed. We draw inspiration from the modern ‘Community Singing’ movement, Bobby Mcferrin’s CircleSinging practice, and the singing cultures of historical social movements and folk traditions. We recognize our role as a small part of a larger wave of people and communities weaving singing back into our social fabric and everyday experience of being alive.