Harmony is Home: A Participatory Community Singing Experience

About This Experience

Harmony is Home is more than a concert, it’s a participatory community singing experience rooted in reverence, resilience, and collective healing. After the success of our first gathering, we are thrilled to return for a second evening of song, connection, and belonging led by Portland’s finest vocalists:

Featuring:
🎤 Larhonda Steele
🎤 Arietta “Mz. Etta” Ward
🎤 Sheniqua Trotman

This gathering centers songs of ancestral reverence and resistance as a bridge to belonging. Whether you sing out loud, hum gently, clap, or simply witness, your presence is welcome.

What to Expect

This is an interactive workshop and circle with elements of performance, reflection, and participation. Together we will explore:

• The ancestral roots of resistance through song

• How reverence deepens our connection to those before us

• Songs carried through oral traditions of survival and liberation

• The healing power of raising our voices in resilience

You’ll experience:

• Grounding and vocal warmups

• Group singing (no experience needed!)

• Call-and-response, harmony, and unison pieces

• A closing ritual honoring our ancestors in sound

Workshop Flow Highlights

• Opening Circle with grounding, warmups, and shared intentions

• Song Teachings from African diasporic and resistance traditions

• Reflections on “what resilience sounds like”

• Live performances of songs

• Closing Ritual with a harmonized offering to our ancestors

🧡 Core Values

• Community singing is for everyone

• Song circles are sacred practices of remembrance and belonging

• Black and POC voices belong in folk and communal singing spaces

• Resistance = Resilience. Reverence = Connection. Song = Liberation.

💡 Accessibility

No singing experience necessary. Feel free to participate through voice, movement, body percussion, or presence.

🎤 Meet the Artists

LaRhonda Steele
LaRhonda Steele is a powerhouse vocalist rooted in gospel, blues, and soul. Known as one of Portland’s most revered voices, LaRhonda’s performances carry the spirit of tradition, freedom, and deep emotional connection. She brings decades of experience leading choirs, performing internationally, and creating spaces where music heals. Her voice doesn’t just sing — it testifies, uplifts, and transforms.

Arietta “Mz. Etta” Ward
Arietta “Mz. Etta” Ward is a celebrated songstress and cultural keeper with deep roots in Portland’s musical legacy. Daughter of the late great Janice Scroggins, Mz. Etta blends jazz, soul, blues, and sacred folk in a style all her own. She brings powerful storytelling, ancestral reverence, and raw authenticity to every performance. Her work bridges generations, reminding us that singing is a birthright and a balm.

Sheniqua Trotman
Sheniqua Trotman is a song leader, vocal empowerment coach, and founder of Elevated Expression, a healing arts initiative that uses singing as a tool for liberation, belonging, and social justice. With roots in gospel and musical theater, her facilitation invites people of all backgrounds to return to the power of their voice. Sheniqua’s mission is clear: to create spaces where everyone feels free to be heard, held, and whole.