Queer Choir Spring: KELP COHORT
Queer Choir is a radical, intergenerational and re-humanizing community, singing into the growing and necessary movement for collective liberation. We welcome queers of all a/genders, cultural backgrounds, and voice types. There is no audition for Queer Choir, and we do not use SATB voicing. At this time, Queer Choir is open to 2SLGBTQIA+ -identified folks only.
KELP COHORT SPRING INFO
- REHEARSALS: Wednesdays from 6-8pm at The Hybrid Gallery, 941 W. 3rd Ave in Eugene
OUR WORK: Each 11-week QC cohort becomes its own organism, well-held by facilitator elias wolf, and always taking on unexpected and expansive shapes. Inspired by the principles and elements of Emergent Strategy (with immense gratitude to Black queer feminist author adrienne maree brown, as well as indigenous peoples and practices all over the globe) elias leads by leaning into possibility, play, curiosity, humor, non-linearity, transformation and authentic connection.
WHAT WE ARE PRACTICING:
- harmony-singing as interdependence
- queer joy as an act of resistance to tyranny
- intergenerational relationality as a pathway for change
- vocal improvisation as trust-building, in ourselves and in the collective
- weekly side-by-side singing as a commitment to rigor in times of uncertainty, chaos and destruction
- learning music by ear, with sheet music and as spontaneous co-creation as an exercise in cultivating resilience and holding multiple possibilities
- attunement to voice and body as an orientation away from separation and disconnection (what all systems of oppression require of us) and toward justice and love (what collective liberation requires of us)
WHAT DOES "KELP COHORT" MEAN?
RECIPROCITY: $44 - 444
ACCESSIBILITY
Our venue is ADA-accessible and includes gender neutral restrooms. There is free street parking in the neighborhood and the venue is within walking distance of the bus line. Sheet music and lyric sheets are provided for a variety of learning styles. This is a neurodivergent / neurodiverse-friendly space where multiple ways of interacting and learning are welcomed and appreciated. COVID/illness policy: if you are sick, have any symptoms, or have been exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID or was otherwise contagious, please stay home. Masks are not required, but encouraged as needed (i.e. if you are no longer contagious but symptomatic). We will have doors open for airflow.
ANTI-OPPRESSION/LIFE-AFFIRMING PRACTICES
Queer Choir strives to be an actively anti-racist /anti-oppression community - through both intentional re-humanizing/life-affirming orientations (read above) and more tangible practices indicated below. As a white-bodied facilitator, I, elias, am committed to a fierce, compassionate and consistent practice of examining and dismantling the culture of whiteness/white supremacist delusion that lives inside my body and lingers in the air we all breathe. These practices are always evolving.
- Naming the unceded / stolen territory where we reside as the traditional lands of the Kalapuya people: Acknowledging the ways in which we benefit from the land, and the actions we can take toward healing, justice and accountability.
- Giving from the overflow: every cohort, Queer Choir puts on a concert and donates the proceeds to a movement or organization that serves our systemically and strategically marginalized community members.
- Educating ourselves on the impact of whiteness and white supremacist delusion, as it pertains to music and community singing, and within our broader world (a resource page can be found here).
- Naming and owning our complicity in systems of oppression and working to dismantle those systems as they show up in ourselves, our relationships, and our wider community.
- Honoring and lifting up the stories and music from humans outside the dominant narratives: listening and celebrating the voices of immigrants, Black, Indigenous and People of the Global Majority, queer and trans kin, elders, youth, disabled kin, abolitionists, and more.
- Understanding cultural appropriation vs appreciation --especially as it shows up in music-- with a commitment to learn from any missteps and repair harm caused with swiftness, thoughtfulness and humility. In particular, Queer Choir acknowledges that ALL popular music (soul, folk, country, pop, jazz, R&B, blues, etc) has roots in music from the African Diaspora. With profound regard, we honor and reflect on this statement from elias' queer Black colleagues Valerie Troutt and Audacious: BECAUSE OF BLACK MUSIC, I AM.
OUR FOUNDER & LEAD FACILITATOR
TESTIMONIALS
"Queer choir with elias has been such an incredible experience! The safety and playfulness they create allows me to open my voice and open my heart. Singing with her and this rad group of queer folks lifts me up every week." - Ira
“elias creates a safe space to unpack all the vulnerabilities and sensitivities that come with singing for me. They are absolutely present and so very knowledgeable. I feel safely held and guided.” - Jenn
DETAILED KELP COHORT SCHEDULE
- Wednesday, April 9th - Open House (option to try Queer Choir for free before registering)
- Wednesday, April 16th
- Wednesday, April 23rd
- Tuesday, April 29th - Community-Building Night at The Lavender Night (open to both cohorts!)
- Wednesday, April 30th
- Wednesday, May 7th
- Wednesday, May 14th
- Wednesday, May 21st
- Tuesday, May 27th - BIG CHOIR at WOW Hall (open to both cohorts! NO Kelp Cohort this week on Wednesday)
- Wednesday, June 4th
- Tuesday, June 10th - Opt-in: BIG CHOIR in tech rehearsal at the Wildish Theater
- Wednesday, June 11th - Opt-in: BIG CHOIR in tech rehearsal at the Wildish Theater
- Saturday, June 14th - Opt-in: Sing The Body Festival at The Wildish!
- Wednesday, June 18th - Closing session + afterparty
- Saturday, June 28th - Opt-in: Eugene Pride (Queer Choir likely performing a set!)
Instructors
elias wolf
Contact us
- Organizer
- me••••e@eli••••c.com
Location
Classifications
Age Groups
- All
Levels
- All