When I Rise Worldwide Virtual Choir

 

https://youtu.be/WTUQrLPPkTA

Wishing everyone around the world a safe and happy New Year!

This spring as the pandemic spread around the world, all public gatherings were cancelled, including choirs and mindfulness retreats. We have missed singing together! So I started an ambitious project of trying to put together a world-wide virtual singing group to perform the song "When I Rise". 

This is a song inspired by the writing and teaching of Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh and writer/farmer Wendell Berry. I have arranged the music into a choral work, which I recorded parts for everyone to sing along with. The response was amazing! Many, many people from around the world sent in videos of themselves singing one of the parts, or playing an instrument. Once I had downloaded them all, I had the task of editing it all together. Turns out, my computer was not up for the task, as it proved spectacularly by dying...

Now, many months later, I have set up a new computer system, and gathered my courage to make another attempt, this time with much more success :-) I hope you enjoy the results! From here on Vashon Island, we are wishing you a safe and peaceful year ahead. Thanks for all you do, friends. Thanks for making this world so full of color and music. 

-Shane, December 2020

Virtual Choir Spring Season begins

Dear friends,

Our houses are too far apart to hear each other sing out the windows, so we are forming a virtual choir online! You and your family, wherever you are located in the world, are warmly invited to join us.

Come join the singing each Monday night this spring!

Joining is easy: all you need is a cell phone, or better yet a computer with a webcam, and an internet connection.  A pair of earbuds or headphones make the experience rich sounding, so you can hear the other choir parts while you are singing, almost like a real choir. 

Sign up for our email list below if you haven't yet, and we will send you all the information on how to join everyone in song this Monday:
 

 

And if you enjoy singing with us, feel free to sign up for all 9 weeks of Spring Season here. We hope to see you soon!

 

.

POSTPONED: Sat. Mar 7th, 7pm - Community Choir Songs for Courage, Peace and Freedom

POSTPONED: Due to King County Health Dept. recommendation, we have postponed this concert until further notice. (See the public health announcement here, recommendation begin at 6:00)

Saturday, March 7th, 7pm at the VHS Theater.  Come enjoy the music that brings us together in community and gives us the courage to Keep On Walkin Into Freedom Land. Including guest instrumentals of Celtic Harp player Tim Hulley and Viola by Shane jewell, as well as Rich Osborne on guitar.  Music of the US Civil Rights movement, South Africa, and Bulgaria.

$5-$10 suggested donation, no one turned away for lack of funds.

Midwinter Music for Peace: Choir Season Begins Monday, Jan 13th

Happy New Year!

This is your invitation to come sing with the Free Range Folk Choir this winter.  This is an important time to come together as a community and support one another, and what better way to do it than singing together? Our first rehearsal is Mon January 13th, 6:45pm at the VHS band room.

This season we will start off by singing at the Vashon Movie Theater to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and end by traveling south to join the Olympia Peace Choir and other choirs from around the region for a choir festival and shared Peace Concert.

And we want your voice to join us!

To join, just come to the first rehearsal, and sign in. No audition is necessary, and you do not need to read sheet music to join, as all songs are taught call and response. Just bring your voice, your peace, and a friend if you wish.
If you'd like more info, all the dates can be found on our choir schedule.

Best wishes for the year ahead!

Singing for change: Come join Vashon's Community Choir this fall!

Dear friends,

You are warmly invited to come sing with the Free Range Folk Choir this Fall Season, starting Monday, Sept. 23rd, 2019. The choir will rehearse in the Vashon High School band room (see map) on Monday nights from 7:00-8:30 pm. (Registration begins at 6:45 pm on Sept. 23rd.)

Join us this fall as we practice singing for peace and compassion each week.  Rounds for peace, and songs to nourish our joy are on the menu for the seasons ahead.

Fun events this year:

• At the end of the fall season, we will give a thanksgiving concert of gratitude.
• In the winter season, we will travel south to join the Olympia Peace Choir and other groups for a choir festival and joint concert.  Meet community folk choir singers from around the region, share inspiration, learn new music!
• In the spring season, we'll round out the year with a performance at NW Folklife Festival over memorial day weekend at the Seattle Center.  This show is always packed, and is such a fun adventure.

Online access allows choir members to listen to and download tutorial recordings for all the vocal parts we are learning, as well as videos of many of the pieces we will sing this season.  You do not need to read sheet music to join: all parts are taught call and response.  Members are also able to share announcements and organize with other choir members - we have a lively community!

Fall season meets for nine weekly sessions from September until mid November. Please visit our schedule page for more details on the rehearsal schedule and upcoming seasons.

Under the direction of Shane Jewell, the choir celebrates the ways that music from around the world can lift the spirit and cultivate community. Feel free to come join us! Invite your friends and neighbors. No auditions necessary to join; everyone is welcome. 

Around the world Concert, Sat. July 27th - FREE RANGE FOLK CHOIR

"We who believe in Freedom
can not rest.
We who believe in Freedom
can not rest until it comes."

 -Sweet Honey in the Rock, "Ella's Song" 
 

After a winter of singing together, the Free Range Folk Choir is inviting you to join us for our final concert, Sat. July 27th, 7pm at the Vashon High School Theater.  The rich and dissonant harmonies of slavic mountain song, the joyful rhythms of south african music, the complexity of japanese choral music and the call to the rain from Ladysmith Black Mambazo will blend to form a rich tapestry.  Come on a journey with us, celebrating the diversity of communities and music around the world that makes it such a beautiful place.  Help us lift the spirit and cultivate the community we all need around us, supporting each of us in our work for diversity and freedom.

Suggested donation $5 - $10 (No one turned away for lack of funds.)

"Freedom is not given to us by anyone; we have to cultivate it ourselves. It is a daily practice... No one can prevent you from being aware of each step you take or each breath in and breath out."

"Real strength can be found not in power, money, or weapons, but in deep, inner peace. When we have enough insight, we are not caught by many difficult situations anymore."

~Thich Nhat Hanh

The Festival Season Begins - you are invited!

After a season of heartfelt and uplifting Monday nights singing together, the Free Range Folk Choir is heading to NW Folklife this weekend!  We hope you will come join us at the Cornish Courtyard Stage, 1pm this Monday, May 27th for some "Worldwide Acapella With Soul". 

Can't make it to the concert?  No problem, we sing every Monday night at 7pm here on Vashon, and you are invited to come join the choir!  We meet at Vashon High School (see map), and everyone is welcome to join, no auditions are necessary.  Our Summer Season starts on June 3rd, with sign-up starting at 6:45pm (click here for all the dates). 

We'll be singing soulful music from around the world to help remind us how miraculous it is to be alive, and what a joy to be able to sing.  We will sing Mondays through July, and perform at the Vashon Strawberry Festival and the Farmer's Market Benefit concerts on the village green.

It is important in these times to practice joy and cultivate community, so that we will continue beautifully and have the strength and courage to be our best selves.

If singing brings you joy like it does for us, we hope you will join us Monday nights!  Until then, we shall remain,

Yours in song,

the Free Range Folk Singers

Free Range Folk Choir @ NW Folklife

Come sing! Spring Season begins and NW Folklife news

Hello folks,

FRFC at NW Folklife

Spring officially begins this week, bring on the flowers! The Free Range Folk Choir is starting spring season too, on Monday March 18th (tomorrow), 6:45pm at the VHS music room. We'll take a break next week, then continue singing through May each Monday at 7pm.  See the rehearsal schedule for all the dates.

Everyone is welcome, bring your friends and family. Want to just try it out? Come visit for a rehearsal, we would love to see you.

Great News: the Folk Choir has been selected to sing at NW Folklife this year!  We will sing at the Cornish Courtyard Stage, 1pm on Monday May 27th.  Every time we have sung at Folklife in the the past has been such a blast. We hope you will join us!  Spring season will culminate in our Folklife performance.

This season we are singing some of our favorite choral music from around the world: Ladysmith Black Mambazo's "Fall Rain", the tight harmony of Slavic mountain songs, folk choral music from South Africa, a beautiful piece from Japan, a Buddhist morning song from Thich Nhat Hanh... and many more.

The Free Range Folk Choir has been bringing community together in close harmony since 2008.  We hope you will join us this spring!

Warm regards,
Shane

Come Sing! 6:45pm Jan 7, VHS band room

Dear friends,

Happy New Year! You are cordially invited to come sing next week with the Free Range Folk Choir. Everyone is welcome, no auditions necessary. Sign-in will begin at 6:45pm Monday, Jan. 7 at the VHS band room.

We'll sing African, Slavic, English and Japanese music among others, some of my favorite pieces we have sung over the years, both beautiful and challenging compositions.  We'll be singing Mondays for the rest of the winter - see the whole schedule here.

Why is this important to me in these times?  Wendell Berry says it beautifully in his poem:

"...Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees
every thousand years.
Listen to carrion – put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts."

                                 (From Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front)

Come sing!

Thanks,
Shane

About the Choir | Video & Audio | Join the Choir | Choir Schedule

Choir Schedule and Exciting News

Dear friends and fellow singers,

As the heat of summer turns to cooler weather, our thoughts begin to turn to joining together with friends and family, and if you are like me, singing together in joyful harmony! I hope you will join us: see below for our choir season schedule.

But first, an important announcement: Emily and I have been offered an amazing opportunity through winning a grant to go record an album in France this fall for 2 months with world class musicians! It was a rather competitive grant, and we are very honored to have received it. We just got the news the other day, and all the pieces are falling into place beautifully. We are so happy to be embarking on this adventure!

It does mean that we won't be back until late November, so no choir Fall season this time around. But at the end of Winter and Spring season 2019 I have planned a third (Summer) season, culminating in a performance at Strawberry Festival, something many of us have hoped to do again for years.

Our first rehearsal this winter, then, will be on Monday, January 7th, 2019, with registration starting at 6:45pm in the VHS band room. Rehearsals will continue on Mondays at 7pm. As usual, you can see all the dates on the schedule page of the choir website for the year ahead. Keep an eye out for more details coming in December, and start the new year off with voices lifted high in song!

I hope to see you in the new year!
Gratefully yours,
Shane

New video and Spring Concert, Saturday April 28th, 3pm at the VHS auditorium

Come celebrate the awakening of spring with harmonies from the Free Range. This Saturday April 28th at 3pm, the choir will perform at the Vashon High School auditorium, directed by Shane Jewell. Music will include Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" and Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water", along with a variety of uplifting songs from around the globe.

"Now I've heard there was a secret chord..." You know the tune, the mood, the irresistible chorus. Come sing-a-long with the Free Range Folk Choir......"the baffled king composing Hallelujah!"

We love sharing traditional and contemporary songs that get your body swaying, feet tapping and hands clapping. This is a family friendly show: bring your kids. Tell your auntie.

Suggested donation: $5 - $10 (No one turned away for lack of funds.)

https://youtu.be/1C-KPBgR-vw

Save the Date! Sat. Mar. 3, 7pm @ VHS Theater - Winter Concert

On Saturday, March 3rd, Vashon Island's Free Range Folk Choir will perform music that cultivates solidity and joy.  We are also celebrating the 50 year anniversary of the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper" - we hope you will join us!

Saturday, March 3rd, 7pm at the VHS Theater. This is a family-friendly show, everyone is welcome.

Suggested donation $5 - $10 (No one turned away for lack of funds.)

Music To Sing Together In Winter

In the cold of winter, when the days are short, it is a joy to come together in the evenings to sing with friends!  You are invited to join us this Monday, January 8th at 6:45pm.  This season we will continue our music from last season, adding new music as we go:

Songs of peace and strength in community, from Rihanna's "Umbrella" to Credence Clearwater Revival's "Down on the Corner", Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" to Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Waters".  Rounds for peace, and songs to nourish love and joy are also on the menu for the season.

Choir members will have access to the Members Only section of the website, which allows singers to listen to and download tutorial recordings for all the song's vocal parts, as well as videos of many of the pieces we will sing this season.  Members are also able to share announcements and organize with other choir members via the announcement board - we have a lively community!

Winter season meets Mondays during January and February, and the singing will continue without break in the Spring season in March and April. Please visit our schedule page for more details on the rehearsal schedule and upcoming concerts.

Under the direction of Shane Jewell, the choir celebrates the ways that music from around the world can lift the spirit and cultivate community. Feel free to come join us! Invite your friends and neighbors. No auditions necessary to join; everyone is welcome. 

Thanksgiving Sing-along Concert: Saturday Nov. 25th, 7pm, VHS Theater

Come celebrate Thanksgiving with the Free Range Folk Choir on Saturday Nov. 25th, 7pm at the VHS Theater.

"When you're weary, feeling small, when tears are in your eyes, I'll dry them all."  When fear is all around, we come together in song to cultivate courage and joy, to practice peace, to build community.  This has been the Free Range Folk Choir's mission since it's creation, and we are celebrating 10 years this season!  On Saturday Nov. 25th at 7pm, the Vashon community is invited to a sing along with some of our all time favorite songs, backed up by the powerful harmonies of the Free Range Folk Choir, at the Vashon High School Theater.  The evening will include Bridge Over Troubled Water, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Down on the Corner, Fall Down As The Rain, and many more.  Bring your family and friends! Lyrics and melodies will be led by director Shane Jewell.  We hope you will join us in celebrating the spirit of Thanksgiving, and come lift your voice with ours.

Suggested donation $5 - $10 (No one turned away for lack of funds.)

Bridge Over Troubled Water: Practice Peace this fall with Vashon's Free Range Folk Choir

Come sing with the Free Range Folk Choir this Fall Season, starting Monday, Sept. 25th, 2017. The choir will rehearse in the Vashon High School band room (see map) on Monday nights from 7-8:30 pm. (Registration begins at 6:45 pm on Sept. 25th.)

This season brings songs of peace and strength in community: from Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" to Rihanna's "Umbrella", Credence Clearwater Revival's "Down on the Corner" to Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah".  Rounds for peace, and songs to nourish love and joy are also on the menu for the season.

Choir members will have access to the Members Only section of the website, which allows singers to listen to and download tutorial recordings for all the song's vocal parts, as well as videos of many of the pieces we will sing this season.  Members are also able to share announcements and organize with other choir members via the announcement board - we have a lively community!

Fall season meets for nine weekly sessions from September until mid November. Please visit our schedule page for more details on the rehearsal schedule and upcoming concerts.

Under the direction of Shane Jewell, the choir celebrates the ways that music from around the world can lift the spirit and cultivate community. Feel free to come join us! Invite your friends and neighbors. No auditions necessary to join; everyone is welcome. 

Free Range Folk Choir at NW Folklife Festival, Sat. May 27th, 4pm

The Free Range Folk Choir will sing at the Northwest Folklife Festival on Saturday, May 27th at the Cornish Courtyard Stage from 4-5pm.
 
Come enjoy an hour of song featuring the intricate rhythms of drummer Gordy Ryan, the gospel jazz piano of Thomas Pruiksma, and vocal harmonies of Africa, America, and Europe. This is a family-friendly show, so bring everyone for the audience sing-along. Songs of freedom from South Africa and the US civil rights movement will round out this performance.

The Cornish Courtyard stage (map) is located outside the Cornish Playhouse (201 Mercer Street, Seattle, WA) on the north side of the Seattle Center grounds. You're encouraged to carpool, bicycle or take the bus to Folklife. (See Metro Trip Planner for details.)

Cultivating Freedom: Choir Concert, Sat. May 20, 7pm

Cultivate the Spirit of Peace and Freedom with the Free Range Folk Choir on Saturday May 20th, 7pm at the VHS Theater.

"Freedom is not given to us by anyone; we have to cultivate it ourselves. It is a daily practice... No one can prevent you from being aware of each step you take or each breath in and breath out."

"Real strength can be found not in power, money, or weapons, but in deep, inner peace. When we have enough insight, we are not caught by many difficult situations anymore."

~Thich Nhat Hanh

On May 20th, the Free Range Folk Choir will perform "I've Got Love" and "No Matter What" by composer Raymond Wise.  Featuring the voices of the 70-member choir and jazz pianist Thomas Pruiksma, these songs remind us how to seek the inner strength needed to go on when we are facing great hardship: "I never found love 'till I found peace, I never found peace 'till I found joy, I never found joy 'till I found music way down in my soul."

Also featured will be a new choral work, arranged by Shane Jewell, based on Olatunji's Uhuru.  This piece balances the rich acappella voices of the Folk Choir with the nuanced percussion of Gordy Ryan, a long-time member of Olatunji's renowned band, Drums of Passion. The song's title, Uhuru, translates as "Freedom to the World Now", and epitomizes Olatunji's world view:

"I am that I am, I am beauty, I am peace, I am joy, I am one with Mother Earth. I am one with everyone within the reach of my voice. In this togetherness, we ask the divine intelligence to eradicate all negatives from our hearts, from our minds and from our actions. And so be it....Ashe."

~Babatunde Olatunji

Sung in three languages, the piece embodies the journey to freedom. The first cycle of the song is the realization that we are not yet free. The second cycle is the effort and struggle needed to achieve our freedom. Finally, the third cycle is the realization that once our freedom is gained we have to maintain this freedom each and every day. Learn more about Olatunji here.

Join us Saturday, May 20th, 7pm in the VHS Theater for an evening of song featuring the intricate rhythms of drummer Gordy Ryan, the gospel jazz piano of Thomas Pruiksma, and vocal harmonies of Africa, America, and Europe. This is a family-friendly show, so bring everyone for the audience sing-along. Songs of freedom from South Africa and the US civil rights movement will round out this evening.

Suggested donation $5 - $10 (No one turned away for lack of funds.)

Spring Choir Rehearsals begin March 20, @ VHS 6:45pm

This spring, the Free Range Folk Choir will be singing music that has arisen around the world from many social movements -- music that gives us the courage to go forth honestly and do what we see is right and good in our lives to support peace and justice. The music of Babatunde Olatunji and Sweet Honey in the Rock will be featured along with Raymond Wise's gospel arrangement I've Got Love and the premier of a new choral work by Shane Jewell based on The Irish Blessing. See the video below for inspiration!

Spring season choir rehearsals begin on Monday, March 20, 2017 at the Vashon High School band room. Registration is at 6:45pm, with singing from 7-8:30pm. Come sing with the Free Range Folk Choir this spring! 

Spring season meets for nine weekly sessions from March to mid May on Monday nights.  Visit our schedule page for more details on the rehearsal schedule and upcoming concerts.

Under the direction of Shane Jewell, the choir celebrates the ways that music from around the world can lift the spirit and cultivate community. Feel free to come join us! Invite your friends and neighbors. No auditions necessary to join; everyone is welcome.

Thanksgiving Choir Concert Nov. 21, 7pm

Come celebrate the spirit of Thanksgiving with the Free Range Folk Choir on Monday Nov. 21st, 7pm at the VHS Theater.

"I am that I am, I am beauty, I am peace, I am joy, I am one with Mother Earth. I am one with everyone within the reach of my voice. In this togetherness, we ask the divine intelligence to eradicate all negatives from our hearts, from our minds and from our actions. And so be it....Ashe."

     - Babatunde Olatunji

On November 21st, the Free Range Folk Choir will premier a new choral work, arranged by Shane Jewell, based on Olatunji's Uhuru.  This song will feature the voices of the 70-member Free Range Folk Choir and the percussion of Gordy Ryan, a long-time member of Olatunji's band, Drums of Passion. The song's title, Uhuru, translates as "Freedom to the World Now", and epitomizes Olatunji's world view.

"While his Nigerian homeland fell into the hands of bullies and thieves, [Olatunji] toured the world and spread love and forgiveness, with song, wild bell rhythms, and cracking sticks on the way-way-off beat that sent shivers through a thousand spines and probably through the forests and cities themselves.

"He played for presidents and kings, figured into Bob Dylan lyrics, and his spirit still resonates in the children, who danced in the corners of his workshops and then grew up to fulfill their own dreams of being a real drummer. He was a vision of Mahatma Gandhi and Miles Davis in the body of a giant.

"I still recall that voice that could split the molecules of the air and open some great emptiness that held all our failures and our greatest moments in a wisp of breeze or a crescendo of pure energy.
“Rhythm is the soul of life,” Baba often said. “The whole universe revolves in rhythm. Everything and every human action revolves in rhythm.” Once, when I felt disappointed by the actions of others, Baba told me, “Everyone’s heart is good. Give up your point of view, and you find your heart.”

         -Rex Weyler, Hollyhock co-founder, author and journalist

During his life, Olatunji toured the American south with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr and joined King in the march on Washington. When he performed before the United Nations General Assembly, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev took off his shoes and danced. 

Join us Monday, November 21st, 7pm in the VHS Theater for an evening of song featuring the intricate rhythms of drummer Gordy Ryan and vocal harmonies of Africa, America, and Europe.  This is a family-friendly show, so bring everyone for the audience sing-along. Sweet Honey in the Rock's "Breaths" and freedom songs of South Africa will round out the evening.

Suggested donation $5 - $10 (No one turned away for lack of funds.)

Uhuru: Sing of Freedom this Fall with Vashon's Free Range Folk Choir

Come sing with the Free Range Folk Choir this Fall Season, starting Monday, Sept. 19th, 2016. The choir will rehearse in the Vashon High School band room (see map) on Monday nights from 7-8:30 pm. (Registration begins at 6:45 pm on Sept. 19th.)

This season brings a world premier of a new choral work based on the legendary singer and drummer Babatunde Olatunji's "Uhuru". Anthems from the anti-apartheid movement, old school gospel music, rounds for peace, and songs to nourish love and joy are also on the menu for the season.

Choir members will have access to the Members Only section of the website, which allows singers to listen to and download tutorial recordings for all the song's vocal parts, as well as videos of many of the pieces we will sing this season.  Members are also able to share announcements with other choir members via the announcement board.

Fall season meets for nine weekly sessions from September until mid November. Please visit our schedule page for more details on the rehearsal schedule and upcoming concerts.

Under the direction of Shane Jewell, the choir celebrates the ways that music from around the world can lift the spirit and cultivate community. Feel free to come join us! Invite your friends and neighbors. No auditions necessary to join; everyone is welcome.