How Can I Keep From Singing?
Singing has been an integral part of being human for thousands of years. Choirs, choruses, sing-alongs, spontaneous celebrations, grief rituals, and other expressions of the human experience continue to this day in old and new forms. In this podcast we explore how singing together remains a vital part of life. Through interviews with song leaders, academics, improvisers, gospel choirs, prison ministries, children's singers, and more we discuss some of the how to, the why, and the often surprising ways that group singing blooms throughout the world. Stuart Stotts hosts these conversations, examining, reflecting, and hearing stories from those who are in the field, creating harmony and giving voice to anyone willing and able to join in.
Episodes
Arla Good is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Psychology at Toronto Metropolitan University and the co-director and lead researcher of the SingWell Project, an international research initiative investigating the potential of group singing to support psychosocial wellbeing, communication, and health in older adults.
Our conversation focuses on what science can tell...
Nick Page is the author of SING AND SHINE ON, a guide to multi-cultural song leading. Hal Leonard publishes his SING WITH US songbook which are sing-along songs for chorus and audience. Nick has led sings and songleading workshops at educational conferences, at the Jewish Choral Festival, for the Unitarian Universalist General Assemblies, and at the People Music Network gatherings (where he would wa...
Nadine Cooper and Bernie Bracha started their first Tuneless Choir in 2016. Their sole aim was to have members walk out the door feeling uplifted. There were be no auditions, no music, no parts and no tuition.
Now there are over30 active tuneless choirs around the UK, with more in the planning stage.
Heidi Wilson’s passion is to share songs in service to community and the wild world; songs that celebrate the seasons, bring groups together, offer thanks, muster courage, and make room for deep connection. Heidi has been leading community singing groups in central Vermont and beyond for the last 19 years, and is touring The Well Tree, an original storytelling musical, with her trio Heartwood.
Frankie Armstrong ( www.frankiearmstrong.uk) has been singing professionally since 1964. In 1975 she began her pioneering Voice Workshops based on ethnic styles of singing - where singing is as natural as speaking. She has sung and run workshops all over Europe, N America and Australia
Frankie has made 12 solo albums and co-written three books on Voice, including A...
Joanne Hammil is a composer, songwriter, choral director, music educator and performer. Her passions for singing in harmony and creating community through music infuse her songwriting and teaching.
She has directed many choruses throughout her career and has presented hundreds of workshops and concerts throughout the country.
Read more
Today's episode features two different guests. Lauren McElroy is a song leader in Viroqua, Wisconsin. She frequently attends and offers songs as part of Wisconsing's gathers. Bev Grant is a long time musician, activist, and for many years a leader of the Brooklyn Women's Chorus.
for Bev
and
for Lauren
Rana is a unique women’s choir operating in Jaffa and comprised of Muslim, Christian, and Jewish women. The choir was founded in 2008 by Mika Danny, who serves as its musical director and conductor, and by Idan Toledano, who serves as the artistic director.
Rana has performed successfully throughout Israel and the world. The choir aims to express the female voice, which is not heard enough in their region, to cultivate dialogue,...
Catherine Roma has led community singing in a variety of locations and types, but she has a specific passion for working with incarcerated people. creating choruses and music that reflects a focus on dignity and social change. She discusses experiences and lessons from her more than 30 years of leading singing in prisons in Ohio.
Betsy Rose has been a singer and songwriter for over 50 years. Apart from her compelling and poetic writing, she has a passion for group singing, especially in political and cultural change contexts. Her songs have taken her around the world, but lately her main stage is at political street protests.
more at betsyrosemusic.com
My guests in this podcast are Denis Donelly, Cathy Baker and Dick Jackson. Denis, Cathy and Dick are codirectors of the community choir leadership training in Victoria British Columbia. The training began in 2004 and continues to this day with a yearly program of a two-week intensive in-person session and a full year of mentorship and ongoing networking opportunities through the Ubuntu Choirs Network. T...
John McCutcheon has performed for audiences around the world for over 50 years. Beside his considerable musical talents, he's a committed song leader with a long history of encouraging connection and activism through group singing. We talk about his development of song leading as a skill and a passion.
Esther Morgan-Ellis shares the joys and the structures of this old style of singing together. The exuberance of the practice is echoed in Esther's own enthusiasm for the power of this tradition.
Esther Morgan-Ellis is a historical musicologist who focuses on participatory musical traditions, especially community singing and old-time music-making. She has written extensively about the early twentieth-ce...
Sam Lee is a British folk singer, song collector, and environmental activist who founded Singing with Nightingales, an immersive springtime series that brings audiences into the woods to experience live music in duet with nightingales. A Mercury Prize–nominated artist and passionate nature conservationist, he uses this project to connect people more deeply with the natural world, blending traditional s...
Chau Yoder was born in Hanoi, Vietnam. Since 1989, she has offered workshops and classes in Mindful Living, in youth, corporate retreat, and community settings.
Chau was Trained by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh and ordained as a Dharma Teacher in 2003. She’s dedicated to sharing practical methods of mindful living that cultivate awareness of body and mind. She’s also a retired engineer, who spent 25 year...
Singing that fills the living room or dining room or basement or kitchen is a tradition that's probably as old as group singing in itself. Phil, Beth, and Scott talk about their experience and tips for inviting people in to your home and to the songs themselves.
Beth and Scott Bierko information
and a written piece by Phil and Faith Petric.
These days, many people can’t imagine singing out loud without ...
Heather Mae is a genre‑defying artist‑activist whose music blends the storytelling intimacy of folk with the grit of alternative rock and the hooks of indie pop. She writes anthems about mental health, queer liberation, survivor empowerment, and social justice, inviting listeners into a space of radical honesty and shared vulnerability. Her double‑album project WHAT THEY HID FROM ME has helped to build ...
Jane Sapp is a nationally admired cultural worker, musician, educator, folklorist, and activist whose approach to social transformation is rooted in the African American musical, cultural, spiritual and human rights traditions. Through her singing, documenting local culture and stories, song-writing workshops, and other expressive work with diverse communities and youth, Jane actively engages people in ...
Paul Tinkerhess is a long time community singer and songwriter from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Our conversation explores the ways we risk vulnerability and move forward as singers and as a community.
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