Description

As we take in the news each day, it is easy to feel helpless. What are we supposed to do? As singers, we have long understood that each member of the choir has a job to do, a note to sing. Sometimes you stagger your breathing so the sound of the choir can continue without interruption. But it takes many voices to achieve that! As we wonder what our role is in fighting the power, we’ve decided that at least ONE thing we can do is to bring people together to sing––to remind each other that we are not alone in this. So let’s sing together. Let’s sing songs of hope, of power, of suffering, of love, of change, of community.

-Nerissa and Katryna Nields, co-directors

Our mission for the Welcome Chorus is to teach and sing songs from the folk tradition plus our favorite songs from 20th and 21st C pop/rock/indie/godknowswhatyoucallit. We sing in 2 to 4 parts (soprano, alto, and tenor/ bass) mostly accompanied on guitar. No auditions at this time.

This chorus is aimed at adults who like to sing. Youth under 14 must be supervised by a parent or have permission from the instructors. No need to read music, but sheet music will usually be provided. We learn some songs by ear, others will have written parts. Tuition includes  a songbook with lyrics. To sign up, go here.

Rehearsals take place on Tuesdays evenings- 7:00-8:30 PM January 6-March 10 (10 weekly rehearsals). We will be ending our session with a performance which may or may not be public. We meet at First Churches’ Lyman Auditorium on the corner of Center Street and Main Street in Northampton MA. Cost is $175 for 10 week session, which includes at least one performance. For more information, write to Nerissand@gmail.com. Registration is complete once this form has been filled out and payment is made. To add additional family members, go here.

Here are some of the songs we have sung in The Welcome Chorus:

-Crowded Table (The Highwomen)
-The Times They Are A’Changin’ (Bob Dylan)
-There Is More Love (Traditional)
-Dreams (the cranberries)
-Helpless (Neil Young with CSN)
-Don’t Carry It All (Decemberists)
-Sylvie (Huddie Ledbetter)

On Our Wish List:
-With a Little Help from my Friends (Lennon/McCartney)
-What a Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong)
-Wagon Wheel (Dylan, Old Crow Medicine Show)
-Nothing More (the Alternate Routes)
-We Know the Way,  from Mo’ana
-God Only Knows ( the Beach Boys)
-One Day (Matisyahu)
-This Land is Your Land, (Woody Guthrie)