“This Little Light” Winter Solstice Concert 2023 (Mike Greenlar)
Dear Choir Community:
It was the first really warm spring day. The trees were bursting with buds, flowers, bees and new spring green leaves. The SyracuseCommunity Choir was buzzing as well, working on the many details it takes to build a community where every voice matters and everyone can sing. We have been doing this for almost 40 years!
On this particular day, the children’s choir team was meeting in the downstairs sun drenched front room, the doors to the porch open. Suddenly, two women wearing hijab, and two bright eyed girls came through the open doors, accompanied by our own beloved alto, Annegret. They didn’t speak English. We didn’t speak Arabic, but we gathered around the table, grabbed our phones and, using the translators, began to communicate. They were from Syria, newly arrived. We welcomed them, shared our names and one special thing about ourselves. The children knew some of the song “If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands”, so we joined in, adding verses, being a little silly. We smiled at each other. We taught “Peace. Salaam. Shalom (by Emma’s Revolution) and “We believe in peace. We believe in peace” echoing throughout the house. It was a choir moment.
At the next Wednesday night rehearsal, we spent time in small groups discussing “Rise Up , our theme this season. We talked of bread rising, spring rising up, flowers growing towards the sun; we talked about just getting up each day, and in a hard world, the courage it takes to keep going. We spoke of the people rising up to resist, to join together for a movement, for a revolution or rising up to the occasion, reaching up and out. And finally we spoke of Phoenix rising from ashes and how thousands of people at this moment, around the world have lost their homes, blown to bits, only ashes left. People rising up to rebuild takes strength, courage and faith that life will carry on in some way.
I thought of our circle with the Syrian refugees and how much grace there was in the room, but also how much we did not know of their story, the great loss, trauma, grief. Still being with them for even a short amount of time, changed me. This is a core of what the choir has done, what we believe. We try to create a space with our music, message, and actions that keep us connected to the arc of justice and peace for all people.
And indeed, the choir keeps me on track. It offers a gate through my denial; it reminds me of my obligation and my love for the earth, the people. We craft our concerts/seasons carefully, finding pieces that speak of the possibilities. We also hope to offer a way to both notice our connections and help us to stay present to our grief as well as the pain of war, occupation, global warming. It’s sacred work!
➡️ And we need your financial support.
Individual donations from ordinary people are the core of our budget. It is because of you that we are here. But we still are not fully recovered from covid. Give a generous donation so we may continue this work.
Join us! Give a little more than last year. Give a one-time legacy donation.
➡️Come to our concert on June 19th!
In peace and justice,
Karen Mihalyi, Founder
