"Fast Car" | One-Day Choir | San Francisco

We’re so excited to be visiting San Fransisco!!

For local community organizers, there will be a bulletin wall to share any info about your local music gatherings/opportunities. Feel free to bring a print out - or we will have some paper and pens available :) Please note that for this pop-up we are actually going to be a 15 minute drive from SF proper in West Oakland!

WHAT IS A ONE-DAY CHOIR?

Gaia Music Collective's One-Day Choir series is an opportunity to sing in a choir for one day only. A celebration of song and the connective power of singing in harmony. An opportunity to build community, make some new friends, and raise our powerfully diverse voices as one.

No auditions. No commitment. No need for perfection.

Just the joy of creating something bigger than ourselves with a room full of beautiful humans!

For each choir, we pick a single piece of music to rehearse and sing our hearts out to. In our time together, we'll:

• Play some fun singing games, warmups, & connection games
• Work through the piece section by section
• Break down the lyrics & emotions at play in the song
• Shape some key musical moments
• & Record some casual rehearsal videos of the piece to share with the greater Gaia community

Whether you're a vocal ensemble veteran or have never sung in a group before, you are welcome here - all experience levels are valued in Gaia Music Collective!

OUR SONG THIS TIME AROUND

Join us as we raise our voices in harmony to sing queer music icon Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car”. This beautiful folk-rock is a working class anthem, telling a captivating story about cycles of poverty and the questions of belonging and purpose that permeate modern life. This song has been covered many times throughout the decades, and has recently topped charts as covered by country artist Luke Combs.

Our version will be arranged by our founder, Matt Goldstein, and will set the song as a ballad of cinematic scope (as inspired by Jon Smith's beautiful arrangement for Hyannis Sound). We will go on a musical journey through the story of this song, building to a powerful climax that brings the burning questions of this song to life as we sing our hearts out.

Check out Tracy’s original music video here! Well worth the watch:

And here's a clip of Gaia's version of this beautiful song from our One-Day Choir in NYC:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0zkgZUOuF3/?igsh=MTR1MWxydHMweG02Mg==

LEARNING THE MUSIC

Sheet music and vocal recordings of each part will be available as learning resources before the event, and our collective goal is to practice the parts ahead of time so that we might come into the gathering with it learned! This way we can spend our time together really diving into the richness of music-making, rather than trying to teach the parts one by one. We don't need to know our parts by heart by any means (and you defffinitely don’t have to memorize it), but the stronger we are in our parts coming in, the more we'll be able to really dig into the fun stuff!

(If this style of learning isn't your cup of tea, we have other group singing events where you don't need to prepare at all! Check out our CircleSinging gatherings and House Shows.)

FACILITATED BY:

This session will be facilitated by our amazing Founder and Artistic Director, Matt Goldstein.

Matt Goldstein (he/him) is an award-winning vocal arranger, music educator, singer/songwriter, and facilitator who cultivates community through collaborative creation. He has enjoyed a vibrant career as a professional in the a cappella world, performing with and music directing for The Vassar Devils and Hyannis Sound, and composing award-winning vocal arrangements for over 80 ensembles around the world. He has taught workshops & courses in circle singing, vocal improvisation, ensembleship, and arranging at programs and schools across the country, including A Cappella Academy, NACC, and V.I.P. (Vocal Intensive Program). He now teaches private coachings and lessons for creative flow, improvisation, and vocal arranging, directs a community pop/rock choir called Rock Voices, and pours so much love & creative energy into… you guessed it…. Gaia Music Collective!

🌱 🌿 🌳

LOW-PRESSURE PARTICIPATION

Gaia Music Collective events are participatory, but low-pressure. You'll be invited to sing along and make music with us, but we encourage you to draw your own boundaries and engage at your own pace - we pride ourselves in creating a judgment-free community where you can express yourself however feels right!

LATE ARRIVALS

We ask that you arrive no later than 30 minutes after start time, after which we close the doors (lovingly) in order to preserve the intimacy and trust of the musical container we’re building. Thank you for understanding!

ACCESSIBILITY

Handicap accessible with 2 restrooms & chairs available

TRANSPORTATION

Free onsite parking, Free street parking

Close to the West Oakland BART as well as the Jack London train stop

OTHER VENUE INFO

We're so excited to be hosted by Shotclock Studios, an incredible family-run business. Learn more about/support them here!
www.ShotClockStudios.com
https://gofund.me/2ac43d09

CANCELLATION POLICY

Tickets are refundable up to 24 hours before the event, after which we are no longer able to offer refunds. This policy helps us keep these events financially sustainable for both our community & our team. If you RSVP but are no longer able to come, please let us know so that we may offer your spot to someone else! We want as many people to be able to experience these gatherings as possible, and since capacity is limited, each spot is precious.

For more info, contact us at [email protected].

MEDIA CONSENT

Because we want to share what we’re up to with people who can’t join us in person, there may be photographers and videographers present — by attending, you consent to being a part of that media, some of which may be posted online! If you have any questions or concerns, please email us at [email protected].

NO ONE TURNED AWAY FOR LACK OF FUNDS

Gaia is funded by sliding scale ticket donations, with a “no one turned away for lack of funds” policy. It is of the utmost importance to us that these events remain affordable and accessible - we never want money to be a barrier to making music together. If a ticket scale is financially prohibitive to you, feel free to donate outside of the scale at whatever amount is sustainable for you, or to email us at [email protected] for volunteer opportunities or assistance!

OUR MISSION

Gaia Music Collective is an NYC-based creative community seeking to foster a more connected world through collective music-making. Founded in June of 2021 in a living room in Brooklyn, this project was born out of a desire to create accessible, inclusive, playful spaces for people to explore connection, expression, healing, & release through collaborative song - spaces where folks feel empowered to make music free of judgment or expectation, and to make new friends as our full, beautiful, authentic selves.

We believe that communal music-making is a fundamental human practice, and this project seeks to build spaces for folks to nurture their relationship to music, whether they're shower singers, professional musicians, or anything in between.

All are welcome in this community: all ages, races, genders, sexual orientations, classes, religions, abilities, national origins, languages, and musical experiences. All we ask is that you bring an open mind, a desire to connect, and a willingness to leave judgment of self & others at the door.

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Host or Publisher Gaia Music Collective