The end of another great season!

What a marvelous performance that was on Sunday! There was so much spirit and such beautiful sound – thanks to both the quality of the singing and the wonderful acoustics! A number of audience members afterwards paid us the compliment of saying they heard every word, like we were one voice. Thank you Rene for your patience and perseverance in coaching us.

Engelman Hall is a gem of a concert hall and both the audience and the choir seemed to thrive in it – even with such a large crowd. However, we did see a few glitches, largely tied to the new venue and the sold-out house. The refreshments were gorgeous – our singer/home cooks outdid themselves- witnessed by the huge line during intermission. The accompaniment by Rene, Matt and Brian added its own lovely flair and the introductions really brought the audience into the music and mission of the Peace of Heart Choir.

This was only possible because of the incredibly hard work so many choir member put into making it all happen. From finding the concert hall and negotiating the contract, to designing and printing the elaborate program, to telling family and friends to come so that we sold out the hall – it all made a huge difference.

We always love to receive feedback on your experience at the Benefit and with the rest of your choir interactions.

-Choir Singer

It has become a tradition for a member of POHC to do a post-concert write-up. It started when our Sign-up Coordinator began emailing her summaries to the other members in order to entice newer members to sign-up to sing at community concerts held early in the season. It didn’t take long for Concert Write-ups to become greatly anticipated amongst our members, so we share them here in hopes that you’ll join us at a future concert

At Rivington House

It was a long, trying day. I was running late. I had no working cell phone or home Internet among a host of other things--and then I walked into Rivington House and a lady with HIV in a wheelchair shouted out to me with a broad smile as I got onto the elevator, "You look so pretty." She put a smile on my face and put everything back into perspective. Everywhere there were signs to be aware upon entering if you had a cold or an infection. This put everything in perspective too. To the residents at Rivington House with HIV/AIDS, getting the common cold can be a life and death matter. I made my way to the recreation room in the Penthouse where Rene was rehearsing with a nice-sized group of Peace of Heart choir singers with all groups pretty well-represented. There was a small audience already present as we warmed up. The acoustics in the room were absolutely lovely as Rene was quick to point out.

And so the outreach with a small audience of fewer than 10 people began with a lovely rendition of Wanemo introduced by Enuma whose father had written the song, with a spirited duet by Gail and Leslie. Next up was "Downtown" with an introduction by Larry (for Pearl) as Pearl's roommate Christie Baugher was responsible for this arrangement and Pearl had suggested the song this season. "Downtown" felt light and free with lovely vocal support from Lenore and I think it was perhaps the first time we had performed it in an outreach so far this season.

"Morning Song" was to follow introduced by Nancy with Rene providing fine support on haunting FIRST NATION (Canadian) flute. Next I introduced the sing-along Michael Row the Boat and invited the audience to sing along with the chorus part, "Michael, row the boat ashore, Hallejulah"! I saw several audience members, particularly a man sitting towards the back start to bob his head and mouth the words. Barry then delivered an intro to our homage to Charlie Chaplin, "Smile" and Peace of Heart Choir delivered a solid rendition.

Next was "Paz y Libertad" introduced by Alejandra and Pokarekare Ana introduced by Evelyn. The sing-along "Rock-a My Soul" seemed to engage the small audience. One woman who sang along with me had the most colorful beads around her neck--some even resembled prayer beads, perhaps. I commented that I liked them. In response, she smiled and showed me her wedding ring and I was touched.

"Mas Que Nada" introduced by Rob in a lovely dedication to his mother as it was her favorite song. I know she would have enjoyed our version as it was spicy with fine vocal support from Nancy and Alejandra. Ruth introduced "Let There Be a Peace on Earth, a nice way to end the concert and obviously appreciated by the same gentleman who liked "Michael, Row Your Boat Ashore." Siyahamba was to end the concert. We took a bow and exited the recreational room. What a great outreach it was!

- Carrie, Peace of Heart Choir Singer

It has become a tradition for a member of POHC to do a post-concert write-up. It started when our Sign-up Coordinator began emailing her summaries to the other members in order to entice newer members to sign-up to sing at community concerts held early in the season. It didn’t take long for Concert Write-ups to become greatly anticipated amongst our members, so we share them here in hopes that you’ll join us at a future concert

At the JASA, Upper West Side

JASA’s mission is to sustain and enrich the lives of seniors so they can remain in the community with dignity and autonomy.  Our concert for their lunch program brought back memories of my mother, who used to pay $1.00 for lunch at her senior center in Brooklyn.  She would get there early, before it sold out, to ensure her place at Table 2, with her friends. Before our performance today, there were JASAannouncements, one of which was that the current $2.00 suggested lunch donation was going up to 2.50 on May 1.  (The actual cost of the meal is $5.25.) [img responsive="true"][/img] We warmed up in a corner of the large third-floor dining room, joined by a woman who incorporated herself into the alto section (see attached photo).  Then we were on, accompanied by Rene on his various instruments and Marv on guitar—no piano at this concert.

There was a core of people who were attentive throughout, despite the backdrop of activity—people moving to different tables, talking to friends, going to the restroom.  They enjoyed participating, some by singing, others by clapping or swaying. As has been happening more often in our concerts, periodically someone whipped out a smartphone to capture us—especially during Siyahamba, our attention-getting opening, and when Rene played the flute for Cherokee Morning Song.

A memorable moment for me was watching the man in a wheel chair in the front row during Wanemo. Rene was conducting, his hands showing us how to shape the sound, and this man imitated everything he did, holding his hand high when Rene had us sustain a note, moving it down low when we were gradually fading out.

Special mention must be made of today’s tenor section, which numbered two.  Kudos to tenor Abe, who was singing his first community concert, and to baritone Larry, who morphed into a tenor for the day. Great work, guys.

Also very much in evidence was the special energy that we create when we engage with the audience, not only through our song introductions, but by moving among audience members.  This happened most notably in Down by the Riverside (shaking hands around the room), This Land is Your Land, and Rock-a-my Soul, which got the most applause—it was the song where 100% of us were integrated with the audience. This is what makes POHC so unique.

At the Xavier Mission

It was our first time singing at Xavier Mission. It was also my first time seeing a soup kitchen. To be honest, I had prepared myself for a slightly shabby place and was quite impressed by how pretty the soup kitchen hall was. It had a beautiful closed cloister style architecture going for it (ok, I probably got that all wrong) and could seat more than 200 people. Later Soprano Evelyn, who had organized today’s outreach, told me that the soup kitchen hall also served as her son’s school cafeteria. It was all run by the Church of St Francis Xavier.

We started our vocal warm ups in a little lobby at the entrance of the hall and then went on stage to perform. There was more than a 100 people seated, all busy working their way through their meal, not really noticing us. I had the disconcerting feeling that they had big problems to worry about and had no time for a bunch of people who sang for a bit and went back to their cushy lives. But then people started forming a line to be served right in front of us. As each of them passed by, our singing made them turn to us and smile. There were claps of encouragement, in different parts of the hall, from people who had finished eating.

We debuted Charlie Chaplin's Smile and we sounded beautiful. I was concentrating on my notation to make sure I got the part down perfectly and then I looked up and saw a man, sitting right in front, in tears. It was difficult not to get choked up myself watching him so I had to stop singing and look away before I could resume. Luckily there were enough and more sopranos ! Alto Carrie, says that he came up to her after the concert and told her he enjoyed the show and thanked us all for coming with a "Bless you”. And that makes singing with Peace of Heart, the joy that it is.

-Peace of Heart Choir Singer

It has become a tradition for a member of POHC to do a post-concert write-up. It started when our Sign-up Coordinator began emailing her summaries to the other members in order to entice newer members to sign-up to sing at community concerts held early in the season. It didn’t take long for Concert Write-ups to become greatly anticipated amongst our members, so we share them here in hopes that you’ll join us at a future concert

At the YAI

According to their website, “YAI is a network of agencies offering people with intellectual and developmental disabilities a comprehensive range of services across the lifespan. Our mission is to help others achieve the fullest life possible by creating new opportunities for living, loving and working.”

It was a few moments before we were ready to begin, but that was all part of the show for the audience, who seemed to enjoy watching Rene “find a place for all my things”—his various instruments—while we stood in formation. Then came our standard opening, Siyahamba, which got many of them swaying and a few holding their phones aloft to record us.

They enjoyed all that we did, the introductions as well as the singing.  Especially interesting to them was Rene’s demonstration of his various instruments.  When he asked them what Marv was holding, someone shouted out “A strap and a guitar.” And when Barry, in his introduction to Smile, asked whether anyone knew who Charlie Chaplin was, someone said, “He’s the one who had a mustache.”  We couldn’t see Barry’s face—he was standing with his back to us, looking at the audience—but we heard his explanation that this was a song about smiling when you were feeling kind of sad, “a smile that looks like this.”  Then came their appreciative laughter, leaving us to guess what face he put on. Everything we did was part of the show.  They even thought it funny when Rene was looking for his glasses and said, “It would be good if I could see the music.”

They liked all three sing-alongs. After Rene taught them Rock-a-My-Soul and led them through it, he said “You guys are great,” and someone shouted, “So are you!” In This Land is Your Land, a few in the audience added hand motions for the line “This land belongs to you and me,” pointing to us, then themselves. We found out that it was two people’s birthday, so after This Land is Your Land, we sang Happy Birthday twice, one to Jennifer, once to Ishmael.

A special moment for me was Cherokee Morning Song.  Rene introduced it by telling the audience that Native Americans like to be called First Nation.  He showed them the flute his wife and mother-in-law had bought him, and also the seed-pod shakers.  Then he started playing his flute.  The audience had been getting a bit energetic from the Riverside sing-along that preceded Morning Song, but as soon as the pure, simple flute notes started, they settled down.  Music truly hath charms to soothe.

Our smash finale was Empire State of Mind, featuring Anthony in shades, firmly in control of the mike and the lyrics.  Let’s hear it for NEW YORK!!!!  YEAAAAH!!!!!!  YEAAAAH!!!!!! Then came a surprise, a song that YAI had prepared to sing to us. POHC sat in the audience and the YAI members came up front and sang several choruses of Because I’m Happy. Now it was our turn to cheer and applaud. Thank you, YAI, for inviting us to be part of the living, loving, and working tonight.

-Peace of Heart Choir Singer

It has become a tradition for a member of POHC to do a post-concert write-up. It started when our Sign-up Coordinator began emailing her summaries to the other members in order to entice newer members to sign-up to sing at community concerts held early in the season. It didn’t take long for Concert Write-ups to become greatly anticipated amongst our members, so we share them here in hopes that you’ll join us at a future concert

At The Park Avenue Armory ,Women's Shelter

One of the shelter residents was outside having a smoke when I arrived. I told her we were singing at 7:00 and invited her to come. “Is this a religious choir?” she asked. I said no. “That’s good!” she said.

Then down the wet (from the rain) steps to the basement, where I found everyone else.  We showed our picture IDs to the guard, got our security stickers, and took the elevator to the fourth floor. There we warmed up in a spacious room with high ceilings while the residents ate in the dining room next door.  At 7:10, they came into the room we were in to sit at round tables and along the back and side. We began with Siyahamba – what else? – and I looked around for my resident but didn’t see her.  A few people were recording us on their phones, and a few were swaying to the rhythm, when I saw her walk in, just as we got to “We are marching in the light of God.” I was afraid she would leave.  She didn’t.

We ran the gamut, from peppy, rhythmic songs to contemplative ones, like Bright Morning Star.  This was a receptive, appreciative audience.  They liked it when individual choir members stepped forward, introduced themselves by name, and gave a little background about the next song. They even said hello back, 12-step program style. They liked Rene’s demonstration of his instruments – his guitar-ukulele hybrid, which he explained was called a guitalele, and his plain ukulele. And when we did Paz y Libertad, someone shouted something to him in Spanish and he answered in Spanish (sorry I can’t translate, but I heard the word Mexico).  They loved the way we stepped out of our group formation to stand among them for the three-part sing-along of Rock-a-My-Soul.  For the middle part—So high, So low, So wide—we did a pantomime, and they started to do the pantomime, too, as well as sing the part. “Nice!” someone shouted when it was over.

It’s wonderful when we see that the audience is involved, no matter on what level. The woman I saw smoking outside didn’t sing during any of the singalongs, but she turned to the pages in the handout and followed the words.  And while most of the women were enthusiastic and responsive when we went into the audience to “shake hands around the world” as part of Down by the Riverside, a woman I approached in back didn’t move or smile when I offered her my hand. I was about to retreat when she tentatively extended hand, and we brushed fingers.

We had done eight numbers and just started to wrap up by telling them that our last one would be Let There Be Peace On Earth, when a woman looked at the singalong handouts we had placed on every table and said, “What about If I Had a Hammer?” So we did that one, too—with Marv on guitar—then closed with Let There Be Peace  “Amen,” someone said when we finished, and another said “That was very sweet.”

We will probably never know each woman’s individual story and how she came to be at the armory shelter.  But we do know that we made a difference to them tonight.

-Peace of Heart Choir Singer

It has become a tradition for a member of POHC to do a post-concert write-up. It started when our Sign-up Coordinator began emailing her summaries to the other members in order to entice newer members to sign-up to sing at community concerts held early in the season. It didn’t take long for Concert Write-ups to become greatly anticipated amongst our members, so we share them here in hopes that you’ll join us at a future concert.

At Save the River Jordan Outreach

At the Kane Street Synagogue in Brooklyn, we learned that Jordan River was once mighty, good for swimming, drinking, and nurturing the orchards that lined its banks. But in the last half of the twentieth century, dams built by several countries through which the Jordan flows diverted water from its tributaries. It is now a mere trickle of what it used to be, and polluted with sewage. The Jordan is central to the three Abrahamic faiths—Muslim, Jewish, Christian—and today was the laun

ch event for the interfaith Campaign to Save the Jordan River. While this may not seem like a hot issue, it is one that rises above politics and could provide a way to peace as well as a better ecology and economy for all countries in the region.

There were Muslim and Jewish speakers, and three performing groups besides POHC—Muslim, Jewish, and Christian. Except for the time we were singing, we sat in the audience and listened. When our turn came, we sang Peace Salaam Shalom, Down by the Riverside—many people joined in—and Let There Be Peace on Earth, all of which were warmly received. At the end of the program, we were invited up to sing a last song. That turned into two songs: Michael Row Your Boat Ashore, which mentions the Jordan River, and which we did impromptu with Rene calling out the words from a sheet, and Siyahamba. We charmed many people this afternoon, including the music director of the synagogue, who would like to see more of us and will be in touch with Rene.

Then ten of us—three men, seven women—convened in Alejandra’s apartment on Duane Street in Lower Manhattan to sing for her husband’s birthday. Our audience numbered two: Nick and one of Alejandra’s friends, who recorded us on her iPhone. Leslie, our masestro for the event, led us in Wanemo, Peace, Salaam, Shalom, Siyahamba, Down by the Riverside, Happy Birthday, Rock-a-My Soul, and Let There Be Peace on Earth. There was a lot of improvising and laughing. At the end, we asked Alejandra’s friend to let us hear some of what she recorded, and we were surprised at how good we sounded. A joyous time was had by all, including the birthday boy.

-Peace of Heart Choir Singer

It has become a tradition for a member of POHC to do a post-concert write-up. It started when our Sign-up Coordinator began emailing her summaries to the other members in order to entice newer members to sign-up to sing at community concerts held early in the season. It didn’t take long for Concert Write-ups to become greatly anticipated amongst our members, so we share them here in hopes that you’ll join us at a future concert.

And we have new singers!

This January, we conducted auditions for our Spring season and successfully recruited 15 new singers. Our biggest challenge has always been advertising in the right venues and our auditions coordinator Deb Reiner did a great job of finding the right offline advertising spaces. We had great results with Metro NY.Online we continue to get a trickle of people on Craigslist.Org and Van.Org. And this time we finally replenished our dwindling bass and tenor sections.Three new tenors and at least one new bass singer.As usual we had great success in finding Sopranos and Altos and our choir has swelled to over 50 people.We are now looking for larger rehearsal spaces that can take our new numbers.Looking forward to a great season!

At Housing Works

It was a downright balmy afternoon marking Winter Solstice and Peace of Heart Choir's last outreach concert of the season and our second appearance this season at Housing Works. I arrived at the door to find Gary and Mr. Baker waiting in front of the building. Tasha greeted us and directed us to a room behind the main dining hall where Rene and a nice-sized group of choir members were rehearsing. We opened the outreach with Siyahamba and Rene explained the origins of the music. He invited Gary to tell the audience about Peace of Heart Choir and our mission. We continued with Wanemo, Child of Kwanzaa, Rock-A-My-Soul, Oy Es Dia De Placer, and our tongue-in-cheek numbers, Chanukah in Santa Monica and Cold and Fugue Season.

We had a short break during which Tasha who was referred to by one of the audience members as "teacher" drew a raffle for gift cards to Applebees and Darden's Restaurants (Red Lobster, etc.) which produced some audience excitement. The outreach continued with Imagine, one of my favorite songs which I introduced. One audience member seated up front visibly mouthed the words to the song and closed his eyes at several points, obviously feeling the music. We followed with a rousing Aquarius, heartfelt Over the Rainbow, and ended with Let There Be Peace on Earth which seemed to move the audience.

As I entered and left Housing Works, I noted the quilts, the mosaic pole with part of the mosaic formed in the shape of a peace symbol, and at the elevators there was the Universal Declaration of Human Rights stating the following: "Everyone has the right to a standard of living for his health and well-being of him/herself and his/her family including good clothing, housing and medical care, and necessary social services and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age, or other lack of livelihood or circumstances beyond his/her control."

After the concert, the involved audience member in the front row thanked me and I thanked him in return. As Michael Anne and other choir members conducted audience feedback after the outreach, many noted that Let There Be Peace on Earth was one of their favorites. There was an inspirational piece of artwork that faced us as we sang--a bright piece of artwork with a soaring bird. It was so appropriate that I was staring right at it as an audience member sitting in the back named Sealy interrupted my reverie and he said, "You guys lift my spirits up." We feel the same way, Sealy.

Peace and Happiness and Best Wishes for a Very Happy New Year,

- Carrie Wesolowski, Peace of Heart Choir Singer

It has become a tradition for a member of POHC to do a post-concert write-up. It started when our Sign-up Coordinator began emailing her summaries to the other members in order to entice newer members to sign-up to sing at community concerts held early in the season. It didn’t take long for Concert Write-ups to become greatly anticipated amongst our members, so we share them here in hopes that you’ll join us at a future concert.

At Hallmark Battery Park City

The Hallmark of Battery Park City is an elegant residence facility that provides independent living, assisted living, and supportive services for seniors.  We sang in their well-appointed lounge, arranging ourselves around the grand piano to face the two sections of the audience in front of us and one on the side. Those of us standing closest to the piano could also see past the audience into the adjoining game room, where four residents were sitting at a table playing cards. The Choir has sung at the Hallmark before and we always receive a warm reception from this culturally savvy, alert, and responsive audience.  They pay close attention to the introductions as well as the music.

We opened with our usual: Siyahamba.  At the end of our concert, Vivian was talking to a woman who said she liked that we sang songs “from around the world.”  She said that when our very first song was in Zulu, she knew we were no ordinary group and this was going to be a special evening. We followed that with Wanemo and Child of Kwanza.

Next came Oseh Shalom.  Several people in the audience sang along with it.  Vivian was in a position to see into the game room, where the playing stopped and one of the gamers was tapping on the table in time to the music.  (By the end of the concert, all the gamers had left the table to migrate over to the concert.)

This group did well with Rock-a My Soul, evidently knowing part-1 and being sports about singing parts-2 and -3. To help them along, some choir members went out front to lead them in their sections.  They also liked our other sing-along, Down by the Riverside.

They knew who Tom Lehrer and enjoyed Chanukah in Santa Monica, which we followed with Oy Es Dia, Waltz of the Flowers, Rainbow, and Imagine.  Then came Aquarius, with Brian Muni doing the solo honors.  It was wildly received, even by this relatively sedate audience.  It was nice to see the recreation worker dancing in the back of the audience.

Renee introduced our last number, Let There Be Peace on Earth, and many of them joined in on that, too.

At the end, the brother and sister duo of Marv and Vivian Conan went to talk to Marv’s wife’s aunt, who is 93 and was sitting in the front row.  Some of the people sitting near her started talking to Vivian. One said she was a graduate of Hunter College and was interested to know that we sang there.  Another said that Rene had mentioned a CD, and she asked how she could get one.  At Rene’s suggestion, Vivian gave her the POHC pamphlet and she said she would get it online.

Vivian got questions about where we sang, how many we were, where we rehearsed, and “what is the background of your leader,” this from a resident who was impressed with Rene because when we sang, she could understand all the words.  One man said that this was the most enjoyable entertainment he had been to there.  Then he repeated, the most enjoyable.

The recreation worker invited us to join them for a coffee and cookies reception afterward, and a good time was had by all.

-Peace of Heart Choir Singer

It has become a tradition for a member of POHC to do a post-concert write-up. It started when our Sign-up Coordinator began emailing her summaries to the other members in order to entice newer members to sign-up to sing at community concerts held early in the season. It didn’t take long for Concert Write-ups to become greatly anticipated amongst our members, so we share them here in hopes that you’ll join us at a future concert.