joyful voices chorus
winter ‘25 | 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-auditioned, 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 February 26th for our Winter ‘25 season, our 7-week community choir in San Anselmo, 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 drop-in Opening Night with Guest Songleader Noe Venable, and our season-ending 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 Melanie DeMore as our Guest Songleader for the rest of the day’s uplifting songs!
So snag the Early Bird Discount and join us! Or, if you want to bypass the discount and if you’ve never sung in our choir before, you can try it FREE during Week 2! Or join by choosing your sliding-scale fee — for 7 weeks of uplifting singing, it’s a bargain!
Hurry! Membership closes at the beginning of choir, Wednesday, March 12th! Or snag a drop-in ticket to our April 5th Big Sing, which may sell out in advance!
Come sing with us during our Winter ‘25 Season!
Noe Venable
Melanie DeMore
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 choir 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 wonderful 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!”
“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.”
“the specific words of songs is what touches me the most, all wrapped up in the heartfelt community you have brought together, and the ease and intention of meaning and joy you create for the singing experience.”
“It was very uplifting — we felt inspired and happier every single time.”
“Joyful and enchanting — and precious moments aplenty!”
“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.