Friday, March 22 · 7:00 PM
Song Circle $15-25 sliding scale

Eventbrite link:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sing-into-spring-east-bay-tickets-834706167617
Facebook event:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1740725423080174

About this event

We are thrilled to welcome singer-songleader Lea Morris, traveling all the way from Germany to grace us with her amazing music and presence!

Please join an exciting SONG CIRCLE with Lea Morris, Kaitie Ty Warren, Sara Stutz and Antonina Beyea, who will share their engaging and original music and a few favorites by other songwriters.

Community Singing is a growing movement of singers, songleaders and songwriters who sing together for joy and healing. Songs are taught in the oral tradition in a simple call-and-echo style, and include chants, rounds, unison, harmony, and songs with multiple layers. The lyrics are affirming and hopeful, with themes of love, connection, acceptance, compassion, overcoming struggle, authenticity, social justice, the earth, and honoring grief and pain. No singing experience is required and you may come and sing or simply relax and receive the goodness!

THE ARTISTS . . .

LEA MORRIS: SoulFolk Singer-Songwriter, Community Songleader and Choral Composer (she/her)
Lea’s sound often draws comparisons to Tracy Chapman and Joni Mitchell. It’s no wonder, with her warm vocals, insightful lyrics and familiar melodies. However, as Lea’s compositions expand to include looped harmonies, vocal percussion and other elements, it’s clear that her SoulFolk style is unique.
Born in Washington, DC to a father who toured the world playing trumpet in a funk band and a mother who dreamed of opera, Lea began to sing in the Baptist church as soon as she could speak. As a teen, she started teaching herself to play acoustic guitar by writing songs.
Having shared the stage with luminaries including Odetta and Mavis Staples, Lea is also returning to her roots by composing multi-layered chants and grounding a community singing experience in Braunschweig, Germany, where she currently resides.
https://www.thisislea.com/

KAITIE TY WARREN: Songleader, Teacher, Writer and Performer (she/they)
Kaitie is a Bay Area-based artist with a love for harmony, both energetic and musical. Passionate about neuroscience, she encourages joy and play as acts of resistance, learning, and healing. In 2015, she founded Living Room Choir ANEW and now co-leads it with Sara Stutz; she also teaches Community Singing at Berkeley Adult School and in small private groups. Kaitie has worked extensively in stage, film, television, audio books and visual art, but feels most at home in the creative, collaborative exploration of community music.
Kaitie works to create safe, playful spaces where humans of all ages can get silly creating beautiful music together, while raising her 3-year-old who is very good at keeping things silly!
https://kaitietywarren.com/

SARA STUTZ: Community Song Leader, Song Catcher and Pediatric Physical Therapist (she/her)
Sara grew up singing in a musical family, studied music in college and eventually became a pediatric physical therapist, using song and dance to engage and encourage clients. Along the way, Sara has performed and co-directed musical theater, light opera, garage bands, early music and circle singing.
The supportive and inclusive nature of community music with its oral tradition and heart-filled songs, combined with the philosophy that it is everyone’s birthright to sing immediately felt like home and what had been missing in Sara’s musical life. Sara is based in the Bay Area, and is deeply grateful for Kaitie Ty Warren’s mentorship in the realm of song leading and building safe and welcoming community spaces.

**Hosting this event is LIVING ROOM CHOIR ANEW: Living Room Choir ANEW is a culture of joy, stress-reduction, and meaningful connection with self and others. It is an all-ages, intergenerational choir inspired by Kaitie’s years singing in Golden Bridge Choir (in Los Angeles) and her friendship/mentorship with Maggie Wheeler. Both Golden Bridge Choir and Living Room Choir are part of the Ubuntu Choirs Network, an international network of choirs which believes it’s everybody’s birthright to sing. https://thelivingroomchoir.wordpress.com/https://ubuntuchoirs.net/

ANTONINA BEYEA: Singer-Songwriter, Songleader and Choral Enthusiast (she/her)
Based in Santa Cruz, Antonina is a lover of nearly everything musical and natural! She thrives as a community-builder, networker, and consultant for non-profit organizations, and loves bringing people together in a variety of ways.
Antonina collaborated with local poet Suzanne Morrow on her recent album Heart of All That Matters in 2020, and also released Notes from Nature in 2002. Current projects include leading monthly Song Circles; dabbling in choral arranging; singing in Pacific Voices, Heather Houston’s Yala Lati women’s choir, and Threshold Singers; and creating and producing musical events. And, of course, singing as much as possible! Music can be potent medicine and an antidote to the heartbreak of our modern world.
https://antoninasings.com/

OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Covid precautions: windows will be open for ventilation so please dress warmly. N95 singers’ masks will be available for those who would like them. We trust all of us to act in consideration of others who may be more vulnerable than ourselves to illnesses.
Arriving: Grace Lutheran Church, at 15 Santa Fe Avenue in El Cerrito, is located 1 mile from the El Cerrito Plaza BART station, and can be reached via several AC Transit bus routes. There is ample street parking, and carpooling is encouraged.

NOTE: On the following day, Saturday, March 23rd, will be Sing Into Spring – Santa Cruz! with Lea Morris, Debbie Nargi-Brown, and Antonina Beyea. Song Circle and Concert:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sing-into-spring-santa-cruz-tickets-813709636427