Voices Rising One-Day Choir!

This is an invitation for you. Yes, YOU! Do you sing in the shower? Driving around town? Taking a walk? Doing the dishes? This is a choir for you.

Welcome to Voices Rising One-Day Choir! A chance to jump in with fellow community and make beautiful sound together. All voices welcome! No experience needed. This is a non-performing group, oriented around experience, fun, depth, and connection. Let go of perfectionism, we're singing for the joy of it!

From soulful to silly, each session will offer a feast of songs focusing around a particular theme, including rounds, layered parts, and harmonies. No sheet music, all songs are taught by ear through call and repeat. All you have to do is show up, bring your love of singing with willingness to learn some earworms!

DATES & THEMES:

JULY 21 "Nature Praise"

AUGUST 18 "Evening Revels"

SEPTEMBER 15 "Water's Gifts"

TIME:

DOORS 5:45pm • SINGING 6-8pm

VENUE:

HANAI Forest Room - 62430 Eagle Road, Bend

REGISTRATION (PER EVENT):

• EARLY BIRD: $15 (ends 30 days prior each event)

• GENERAL: $20

Register for one, two, or all three sessions!

* Make sure to select the correct date at the top of this page before clicking the ticket button.

** You will not have to pay any additional fees when purchasing.

.....

Directed by Kira Seto, discover an experiential, inclusive, and supportive space for folks to come together to heal and connect with our voices, through joyful and wholehearted singing in community. We're singing for the simple pleasure of singing as a group, NO PERFORMING. Singing is a birthright and all levels of experience are welcome. Timid and new singers are held by the collective as they find their voices and belonging in the group tapestry of sound.

Each session will include playful vocal warmups and exercises and a break midway to invite folks to connect and replentish. Like a yoga class, you will leave feeling a mixture of upliftment, learning, and connection.

.....

• ACCESSIBILITY: Sessions are mainly standing events, AND if anyone needs to be seated to support their physical health, chairs are available. You are empowered and supported to take care of your body. Please share in your registration if you will need a chair or if you have any other accessibility needs that we can try to meet.

• ATTIRE: Wear comfortable clothing and shoes that you can move around in.

• BRING: A leak-proof water bottle - keep yourself hydrated!

• ARRIVAL: Arrive 10-15min early. We begin at the posted start time, and being present for the beginning is important.

• FOOD: Eat lightly before we meet. Singing requires space in your diaphragm and outward-facing expressive energy; digestion doesn't help with either. Small snacks to get you through are fine.

• SCENTS: Be fragrance/perfume-free.

• KIDS: This is primarily an adult group. Children who can participate or enjoy themselves without distracting the group are welcome. Please ensure their needs are well met. Youth under 18 are included for FREE.

• PHOTO/VIDEO: Some pictures/videos may be taken at these events to help grow this work. If you do not wish to be in pictures, please let me know in your registration.

• PHONES/RECORDING: Make sure to silence and put away your phone before our sessions start. I ask you to refrain from any recording during sessions.

• TRY ON PARTS: You are encouraged to try on different song parts and see how they feel in your body (sing them an octave up or down if that helps). You are welcome to switch parts and move across the room as you feel inspired.

• CONNECTION OVER PERFECTION: The goal is rich and meaningful experience as a group, not musical perfection. If someone sings a wrong note or is off, be kind, this is a "call-out free space". We're going to sing loud and oftentimes "badly", remember, you are always allowed to move. No shaming self or others for how we sound.

• HEALTH: This is an in-person, indoor, mask-optional class. Consider it to be full exposure. We will be close to one another, and breathing together deeply. Do not come if you are sick with anything, or might be.

.....

Refunds are available up to 2 weeks before each event (minus Eventbrite fees).

.....

Kira Seto (she/her) is a multiracial (Japanese and white) song catcher, songleader, artist, community leader, and ever-evolving human residing in the original homelands of the Paiute, Wasco, and Warm Springs people, also known as Bend, Oregon. Enlivened by the magic of many voices weaving together in sonorous alchemy, Kira blends heart and harmony, sharing potent, soulful, and enchanting songs, from simple pocket ones to layered polyphonic pieces. She believes in the transformative power of community singing - that it is an invaluable tool for empowerment, connection, and healing, both individually and collectively.

Kira has been leading group singing since 2017, ever since she experienced deep liberation with her own voice. In 2020 she joined as a co-songleader and organizer for Open Hub Singing, a drop-in community singing group in Bend. In 2023 she started Voices Rising, an all-voices community choir. She is a student of Lisa Littlebird’s Songleader Flight School (2020) and graduate of the Community Choir Leadership Training (2023). She has been a featured songleader at various festivals around the country, including Oregon Country Fair.

Learn more about Kira’s music and offerings by following her on Instagram: @kira.is.singing or visit her Linktree site: https://linktr.ee/kira.seto.

To sign up for updates & news of future offerings visit: https://mailchi.mp/f9538f7d0648/voices-rising-mailing-list-page

.....

INCLUSION & SOLIDARITY STATEMENT

As a cis-gendered, white-passing, bi-racial (both white and Japanese), hetero, able-bodied woman, I am committed to undoing systems of societal oppression and supporting liberation from the inside out, personally and collectively. I welcome folks of all identities and backgrounds to join my offerings and will do my best to cultivate an inclusive and supportive community space for those demographics that have been historically marginalized. I also acknowledge the limitations of my perspective and capacity due to the conditioned lens through which I see the world. I am committed to listening, learning, and unlearning. May our collective learning serve towards the liberation of all beings.

.....

Host or Publisher Kira Seto