Sing to Stay Alive: Choral Workshop (with Jenny Moore)

This workshop is a space for us to vocalise, vibrate, expand and test the ritual of communal singing as a survival mechanism. Following a series of fantastic, tender, creative development workshops earlier this year, we're looking for a 50-strong choir to experiment with the climax of Moore’s musical: Wild Mix.

What is it? I sing to be seen, to be in community, to practise vulnerability. To tell the truth. This is rooted in my own story as the founder and co-creator of F*Choir – a queer feminist community choir that meets regularly to practice embodied polyphony, working on powerful music that feels hot in the moment and supports us in our daily lives.

The invitation here is to use this music as a vehicle for channelling, connecting, sensing, moving and asking this question together. Through song, we’ll practice holding space and being held, creating a sonic, embodied way of saying, “I’ve got you.” And a sonic, embodied way of saying, “Ok. I’ll let go.”

What to expect? We’ll start with physical and vocal warmups, quick cannons and group sonic meditations. Then, we will workshop the song “Hold on and Grieve,” from my new acclaimed choral musical, Wild Mix - a soaring 6-par song cycle with multi-layered vocals, intense beats, deeply personal and funny storytelling. Wild Mix asks: what does healing feel like? (see below for more detail).

There will be a 15 min tea & coffee break in the middle and a relaxed environment.

These workshops are made possible by Make It Happen 2024 grant programme from Waltham Forest Council & production support from .

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About Wild Mix

Wild Mix is a new acclaimed musical by Jenny Moore, featuring a queer ensemble of 5 singers, drummers, a kickboxer, and ultimately, a choir. They are lovers, colleagues, housemates, friends. Through this soaring 6-part song-cycle, multi-layered vocals, intense beats, and poignant storytelling, it asks: What does healing feel like? At its core lies Jenny’s unique instrument: a transparent, water-filled boxing bag with a hydrophone. Weighing 50 kilograms and towering like a human torso, the bag fosters a deeply personal, corporeal sonic relationship, shaping our interactions to elicit sound—it's the soundscape's heartbeat. Rooted in communal singing, kickboxing, and drumming, Wild Mix embodies the daily practices of queer healing.

Collaborators and performers include Nandi Bhebhe, Luisa Gerstein, Bianca Stephens, Zahra Haji Fath Ali Tehrani, and Sib Trigg with development support from London's queer feminist ensemble F*Choir. Production by Metal & Water.

About Jenny Moore

Jenny is a composer, singer, drummer and live artist originally from Canada. Voice and rhythm propels her compositional work, deep-rooted somatic storytelling is at the heart of her writing and directing. This practice works from the body, rhythm, oral / aural traditions, with the theories of muscular bonding and Deep Listening, and choreographic tools for tuning, sensing and expanding music. She believes music is a social creature, ripe for political movement. Jenny arranges and writes for F*Choir, offering complex, percussive ear-worms that challenge singers to be full-body vocalists, incorporating percussive elements and expanded vocal technique. 15 years of teaching and facilitation experience support her playful and heart-felt conducting style.

Other projects include: London-based choral-punk ensemble Jenny Moore’s Mystic Business known for their tuned percussion, huge vocals and chanted soulful mantras, a mix of the 90's R&B and post-punk Jenny grew up with. Their debut EP, "He Earns Enough," was released on Lost Map Records in 2021, with The Piano Tapes Vol. 1, recorded live in St Barnabas, Dalston following in 2022.

She's a regular on the London DIY scene in bands like the dance-punk trio Charismatic Megafauna and Bas Jan, hosts a radio show on Soho Radio called 'Hitting Things,' and recently made her theatre debut as Composer for Robin Hood: The Legend Re-Written at Regents’ Park Open Air Theatre.

Her experimental choral musical, Wild Mix, is currently in development.

Access at Walthamstow Trades Hall

• Building entrance is fully wheelchair accessible with a small ramp at the main entrance which is on a gradual hill, no further steps inside.
• There will be space for storing buggies and mobility aids.
• Accessible gender neutral toilets with handles and an infant changing table. The doors are wide enough for an electric wheelchair.
• There's a variety of comfortable seating available. The room has chairs with supported backs and lots of tables. Seats with arms are also available. The workshop will be a mixture of sitting, standing, moving around depending on each person. It's totally possible to participate seated.
• There is a bar inside the main venue space, with non-alcoholic options. We'll make tea & coffee.
• Please test for covid if possible and do not attend with symptoms or a positive test. The venue is spacious with high ceilings, and there will be space for audience members who need to socially distance. Masks are welcome.

Host or Publisher Jenny Moore