Voices Rising: building community through song

There’s just 21 days left to support Voices Rising through our Flower Power fundraiser! If you’re feeling bummed because you don’t have a yard to plant bulbs in, then we’ve got great news for you. In addition to bulbs, we’re also selling a herb garden and two types of sprouts (broccoli and alfalfa) which can be grown inside! You can purchase them through the link in our bio and feel great about supporting Voices Rising every time you water your plants!

There's just 21 days left to support Voices Rising through our Flower Power fundraiser! If you're feeling bummed because you don't have a yard to plant bulbs in, then we've got great news for you. In addition to bulbs, we're also selling an herb garden and two types of sprouts (broccoli and alfalfa) - which can be grown inside! You can purchase them at our Flower Power website -http://voicesrising.fpfundraising.com/ and feel great about supporting Voices Rising every time you water your plants!

What better way to kick off our Fall season than an ice cream sundae get together! Great to see familiar faces, share exciting updates, get pumped up to welcome new members and of course, eat ice cream🍨🍫🍍

We couldn’t have done it without Abbott's Frozen Custard Arlington and their generous donation of chocolate, vanilla and pineapple custard, plus the biggest container of rainbow sprinkles we’ve ever seen! Our most delicious start to a season yet 😋🌈

The end of summer means it’s the perfect time to start thinking about spring gardens and Voices Rising is here to help! We’re currently selling bulbs through Flower Power Fundraising. For each bulb package you purchase, Voices Rising will receive 50% of the total amount and you’ll have beautiful flowers to look at in the spring!

This fundraiser is open until October 15th but bulbs will start shipping in mid-September so place your order early. Visit http://voicesrising.fpfundraising.com/ to support Voices Rising today!

Voices Rising Flower Power Fundraising helps support groups, causes and communities using an earth-friendly alternative to traditional fundraising through the sale of flowers, bulbs and perennials that can be enjoyed for years to come!

If you've been thinking about joining Voices Rising, now is the time! We're hosting auditions on Tuesday, September 10th from 6:30-10pm in Back Bay. Voices Rising is an SSAA chorus focused on building community through song and celebrating the LGBTQ+ and women's communities in the greater Boston area.

You do not need to have prior experience in a choral setting, be able to read music or prepare of piece to sing for your audition! Want to learn more about the audition process? Want to schedule an audition time? Email our Audition Coordinator at [email protected]

We're excited to kick off our 21st year and can't wait to have you be a part of it!

Enjoying the last few weeks of summer thinking about how much fun we had at GALA Choruses in Minneapolis and getting excited for our upcoming season!

A performance 16 years in the making!

Voices Rising performed our own set at the GALA Choruses festival in 2008 in Miami. In the GALAs that followed, we still attended and performed in mass choruses and festival choruses, but we did not have our own dedicated performance slot.

After being placed on a waitlist, we received the exciting news that we would have our own set for the 2024 GALA festival!

We gathered our contingent, rehearsed until we knew our music (and choral-ography!) front and back, and made our way to Minneapolis. On Sunday afternoon, we walked onto the ballroom stage at the Minneapolis Convention Center and sang our hearts out.

This was the perfect way to cap off our 20th anniversary season. Thank you to everyone who has been there along the way!

TONIGHT!!!!!

The GALA Festival is right around the corner! One of our performances will be in the Peace of Wild Things Blockbuster Concert on Thursday, July 11 at 7:15pm CT where our very own Leora Zimmer will be leading us in the title song of the concert.

Voices Rising has performed Peace of Wild Things several times throughout our history, so it’s truly an honor that we will be performing the song at the GALA festival with 140 performers from choruses across the country.

If you won’t be in Minneapolis but still want to see this performance and all the others that will be happening at the festival (including our own set on Sunday!), you can purchase a streaming pass for $35. You’ll have access to ALL of the recordings after the festival.

You can learn more and get the pass here: https://galachoruses.org/resource/livestream/

Rehearsing for our performance in the Peace of Wild Things blockbuster concert tomorrow night, and Leora had to do whatever it took to make sure everyone could see her!

Today’s the day! Most of our GALA Choruses festival contingent is on our way to Minneapolis to join 120 other choruses for a week of community and song.

If you want to tune in for our performance in the Peace of Wild Things blockbuster concert on Thursday evening or our own set on Sunday afternoon, a reminder that you can purchase a streaming pass! The pass allows you access to stream any performance during the festival and you will have access to all of the recordings once the festival is over.

https://galachoruses.org/product/festival-2024-live-stream-pass/

One week from today, we will be performing our own set in the final concert block of the GALA Choruses festival in Minneapolis!

Our set includes songs from our most recent concert, our winter 2024 concert, and even a song from our spring 2023 concert (hint: it includes some spelling and clapping 🐶).

If you won’t be in Minneapolis but still want to see this performance and all the others that will be happening at the festival, you can purchase a streaming pass for $35. You’ll have access to ALL of the recordings after the festival.

We are slated to perform at 4 pm CT, but recommend tuning in for the whole concert block to see the other amazing choruses who are performing.

You can learn more and get the pass here: https://galachoruses.org/resource/livestream/

The GALA Festival is right around the corner! One of our performances will be in the Peace of Wild Things Blockbuster Concert on Thursday, July 11 at 7:15pm CT where our very own Leora Zimmer will be leading us in the title song of the concert.

Voices Rising has performed Peace of Wild Things several times throughout our history, so it’s truly an honor that we will be performing the song at the GALA festival with 140 performers from choruses across the country.

If you won’t be in Minneapolis but still want to see this performance and all the others that will be happening at the festival (including our own set on Sunday!), you can purchase a streaming pass for $35. You’ll have access to ALL of the recordings after the festival.

You can learn more and get the pass here: https://galachoruses.org/resource/livestream/

A shot from our dress rehearsal on Wednesday.

We are so excited to perform for you in this beautiful space tomorrow and Sunday!!

Hello Voices Rising community! We are hard at work preparing for our concerts this weekend but still need some volunteers for our Saturday show.

We need some folks to work at the box office, sell merchandise, usher, and help out with the reception. Volunteers will need to arrive at 6pm. You’ll be able to watch most of the concert.

(And the best part… you get to see the full Sunday show for FREE!!)

If you can help (or know anyone whk can), please send an email to Darya Mattes at [email protected]

We are looking for some volunteers for our concerts on June 1 and 2!

It takes a lot of work to make our concerts happen, and while most of that people-power comes from within the chorus, there are also a bunch of day-of roles that need to be filled by non-singers, including working at the box office, selling merchandise, ushering, and helping out with the reception. Volunteers can see the majority of the concert they volunteer at for free, and are also welcome to attend the other concert at no cost (so they can see the whole thing).

If you are able to help, please send an email to [email protected]

On February 17, 2004, a group of women attended a rehearsal for a new chorus, Voices Rising.

That June, we held our first performance with Another Octave: Connecticut Women's Chorus, and we performed with them again at the GALA (Gay and Le***an Association of Choruses) festival that July in Montreal.

We have some exciting things coming up this season to celebrate. Stay tuned for more information about our 20th-anniversary concert we'll be holding in June. Additionally, we will be attending and performing at the GALA festival this year in Minneapolis.

Thank you to our current and former members and anyone who has supported us in any way. Whether attending concerts, donating financially, or volunteering at our concerts, you have helped us to grow into who we are today. Here's to 20 more!

On February 17, 2004, Voices Rising was born in a living room full of strong women who wanted to sing together.

This organization could not exist as it does today without the contributions of many individuals over the years. It takes a village to raise a chorus!

We are grateful to our founding mothers (some of whom are still singing with Voices Rising today!) for their determination, drive, and resilience.

We are grateful to every Voices Rising member, past and present.

We are grateful to the two talented and devoted accompanists (Jennifer Greene & Soohee Moon) who have worked with us during these eighteen years, and to the many instrumentalists who have joined us in performance.

We are extremely grateful to our outstanding Artistic Director, Leora Zimmer, who has been with Voices Rising since our birth.

While the COVID-19 pandemic may have slowed us down, it has not silenced our voices. Please stay tuned for more information about upcoming performances.

Members of Voices Rising are looking forward to tomorrow's performance. Voices Rising is a proud member of GALA Choruses and is one of the choruses that commissioned Sacred Resilience, a piece by two transgender artists, composer Mari Esabel Valverde and poet Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi.

TOMORROW!

Sacred Resilience
Friday, November 19 at 8pm EDT / 5pm PDT
Sunday, November 21 at 5pm EDT / 2pm PDT
Register for free at https://galachoruses.streamallytix.com

Sacred Resilience is a celebration of trans life, trans ways of knowing and being, and trans joy in observance of Trans Day of Resilience 2021. The event will feature a new commission by two transgender artists, composer Mari Esabel Valverde and poet Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi, as well as an original, collaboratively-written composition by trans members of the GALA Choruses movement.

A preview of our virtual concert! In These Hard Times, There Will ALWAYS Be Singing!!!!

"There Will Always Be Singing" Concert Teaser

Announcing our virtual concert - coming soon to Facebook and YouTube!!!

We are very grateful to October Project for granting us permission to include two songs from The Book of Rounds in our upcoming virtual concert. Please enjoy their recording of Virtual Choir of Joy and stay tuned for more information about Voices Rising's upcoming performances.

October Project - Virtual Choir of Joy Join the Season of Joy: www.thebookofrounds.com/virtualchoirofjoy/signupJOY (Virtual Choir Version)From The Book of Rounds: 21 Songs of GraceLyrics, Julie Fl...

We have a new member!

Thank you so much to the Mass Cultural Council. Voices Rising is proud to be recipients of a relief grant and we congratulate our fellow recipients.

$10M in COVID Relief Granted to Cultural Nonprofits – Mass Cultural Council 183 Nonprofits Awarded Cultural Organization Economic Recovery Grants in Partnership with the Executive Office of Housing & Economic Development

As 2020 comes to a close, we at Voices Rising have one thing left to say to our membership and to our extended community: thank you!

Thank you for helping us keep each other safe this year, as we were forced to redefine what it means to be part of a chorus: foregoing in-person rehearsals, canceling concerts and fundraisers, and eliminating all face-to-face social interactions.

Thank you to all our returning members and to those who rejoined the chorus from afar, as we embarked on our first virtual season. Thank you for your patience as we figured out the new technologies that have enabled us to connect and to continue sharing not only our music, but also the antics of our children and our furred or feathered family members. Thank you for the time you have spent alone, singing at your computers, into your phones, and on camera. We look forward to putting it all together and sharing the results of all of our efforts in March 2021 with a virtual concert: There Will Always Be Singing. Stay tuned for more details!

And, finally, thank you to everyone who has supported Voices Rising financially throughout this pandemic, from singers who donated their refunded membership dues back to the chorus in March, to community members who responded to our Giving Tuesday appeal in December. All donations to Voices Rising are tax-deductible, and every single one helps to sustain the organization so that we can continue to exist and survive as a chorus -- in whatever form that takes. If you’d like to make a donation to the chorus before 2020 ends, you can do so here:

Wishing you a safe, happy, and healthy New Year,

The Voices Rising Leadership Team

Donate – Voices Rising During these uncertain times, we ask that you consider a donation to the chorus to help our community overcome the challenges of this time, and to enable the chorus to emerge even stronger, singing together as we always have.