The Magic of Singing
There is a magic that takes place when people sing together, blending their voices into interlocking harmonies and rhythms. For thousands of years all over the world singing has been a part of life, a way of bringing the community together. Inspired by world folk as well as contemporary singing, EmRiver playfully encourages people to sing with harmony, togetherness, and a whole lot of fun.
Crazy Choir and Connective Song Workshops
EmRiver loves to gather people together through song and has led many singing groups over the years. She has held multiple singing workshops at different festivals and events and was at the helm of the Mauao Crazy Choir in Mount Maunganui for almost a decade. The choir performed regularly at local festivals, environmental events, open mic nights, and on stages around the Bay of Plenty.
She also holds peaceful chanting circles, leading a beautiful collection of chants from around the world, including kirtan.
There is a special magic that happens when people join their voices together, a depth of connection and a release of self into the beautiful tapestry of the whole. Participants don’t have to be confident singers to come and sing along; singing is everyone’s birthright, regardless of musical experience or ability. The unique quality of each individual's voice is a shining thread in the rich tapestry of sound that is created together.
In EmRiver's singing workshops she leads participants into experimenting with the vibrations of the voice especially when resonating with others, with plenty of harmony, fun, and freedom of expression.
This is a beautiful video of a song I arranged and taught in November 2017 to a pop up choir in Tauranga, NZ. It was professionally filmed and magically put together by BOP Films. New Zealand's Ria Hall graciously gifted her beautiful rich voice to the project. Sally Cooke from Downtown Tauranga helped to pull it all together. Interwoven in the video is a smattering of my own personal experience with tragedy since the theme of the event was suicide prevention. We raised well over $1000 for a local Suicide Prevention charity. It was a powerful experience to share my story of grief and to then lead the crowd in singing together in support of such a cause. For me it's all about the power of music to bring people together. I still can't watch it with dry eyes.
