joyful voices chorus
winter ‘24 | weekly in San Anselmo + Big Sing
Sing in Community
Love to sing while you're driving? On a walk? In the shower? Then this joyful, soulful, uplifting community choir is for you! Our choir is:
Easy to join in and sing because singing experience is never needed, and, because all songs are taught by ear, line-by-line, call-and-repeat-style, there's no music to read!
Non-audition, non-performative, and anti-perfectionistic.
Welcoming, accepting, and inclusive. We create a safe, non-judgmental, collaborative space that's supportive for all, especially if you're feeling nervous about sharing your voice.
SO. MUCH. FUN.
JOYFUL VOICES CHORUS
7-WEEK community Choir on Unceded Coast Miwok Land
Starting on (date TBD) for our Winter ‘24 season, following on to our wonderful Fall ‘24 Joyful Voices Chorus season, we're doing a 7-week community choir in San Anselmo, which, although similar in most ways (including our Covid policy) to our drop-in song circles, brings you unique benefits that come from being part of a consistent group:
Some of our songs can be juicier, richer songs that take parts of 2-3 successive evenings to learn. So juicy! Like this one!
We get to co-create and experience a deeper feeling of community with each other!
Although there’s no need or pressure to practice the songs between sessions, practice tracks are posted so you can sing along with any part of any of our core songs at any time.
Choir membership includes our Big Sing (see sample photo at the top of this page) during Week 7 on Saturday afternoon, open to the entire community, where we’ll teach and sing a couple of the songs we’ve worked on (you’ll get to vote on which ones) and we’ll welcome an amazing Guest Songleader for the rest of the day’s wonderful songs!
If you’ve never sung in our choir before, you can try it FREE during Week 1 or Week 2!
If you’re not already on Marv’s email list, click here to join it — that’s how to receive the Winter ‘24 Season announcement.
So...what kinds of songs do we sing?
We sing short-form, non-religious, easy-to-learn songs mostly sourced from the modern community singing movement -- unison songs, chants, rounds, layer songs, and 2-, 3-, and 4-part harmony songs. With the occasional old favorite — even a sea shanty!
Songs are selected for their ability to rejuvenate, soothe, uplift and inspire! This season we’re singing songs of belonging, songs of healing, songs of hope, songs of joy.
Feel free to check out our YouTube channel for videos and audio of our choirs singing together, and our Song Library, which has every song we've ever sung so far (with links) -- and there will be a number of new songs this season.
114 amazing souls at our Fall ‘24 Joyful Voices Chorus’ community-wide Big Sing, singing Batya Levine’s We Rise!
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KIND WORDS from past Seasons
“uplifting in every way.”
I felt invigorated, connected, peaceful and nourished.”
“this kind of singing is my daily medicine to get through the hard stuff in life.”
“I felt a connection with a childhood love that I had lost touch with, and I felt joy, more openness, and a sense of community.”
“All my wife knows is that i come home Wednesday nights feeling better than when i left.”
“Marv’s style of teaching was one of the best things about the chorus: His ease that let me feel at ease about not having to get it right, his positivity, his play, his energy, and his effort to want things to work for us all.”
“I felt different feelings throughout: sometimes deeply touching my heart and soul, other times very playful!”
“The night after the election was so incredible as a healing moment.”
“sometimes I’m feeling kind of down and i don’t really feel like coming to choir, but i just know 10 minutes in, i’m already going to feel better.”
“It was very uplifting — we felt inspired and happier every single time.”
“I felt part of something larger — it was very uniting and spiritual for me.”
“It touched my heart and soul!”
Joyful Voices Chorus originates from unceded Coast Miwok land and we acknowledge we benefit from their displacement. To contribute to healing the continuing harms of the colonization of indigenous people, including through rematriating land, a portion of the proceeds are donated to Huukuiko, a local Coast Miwok organization stewarding 26 acres of land in ‘Etcha Tamal (aka Nicasio), land rematriated into Coast Miwok hands for the first time in Marin County history.