(Second Night) Winter Solstice Song Ceremony in PDX 2025

Presented by Sing People Sing! A QUEER AND POC-LED COMMUNITY SONG CIRCLE in Pdx

with Shireen "Riyo" Amini and Alexandra "Ahlay" Blakely

WINTER SOLSTICE DESCRIPTION: 
In these times of great transition, both seasonally and collectively, what does it mean to be between worlds: the world we are grieving and the world we are dreaming?

How do we be in the liminal?

And in the midst, how do we love our humanity across our shadows and light?

Join us as we approach winter solstice to explore this terrain in community on a journey of song, story, and ceremony. Through deep receptivity to the fertile darkness and attuned awareness to illuminating beauty, we will sing to surrender, we will sing to anchor together in this holy in-between place.

This will be a unique Sing People Sing! event, one that will be candlelit, include elements of ceremony and extended singing time. 

ABOUT SING PEOPLE SING! ALL-INCLUSIVE:

We invite you to this queer and poc-led singing gathering (open to all) to experience the power of song as medicine, as a tool for liberation, and to simply fill your well of joy and connection. We believe singing is a birthright and welcome all levels of experience. We teach songs on-the-spot, usually through call and echo, that are sourced from the modern community singing movement or have come through the song leaders themselves. We hope you will bring the wholeness of who you are to this embodied experience of singing with full permission to be in movement, grief, laughter and more.

We aim to create an integrated space rooted in understandings of our historical context and current social realities. No matter your race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, abilities, immigration or housing status, you are welcome, wanted, and needed here. 

Our gathering is focused on singing and will have designated percussion support. You are welcome to play provided percussion instruments upon invitation.

ABOUT SONG CONTENT: 

We understand that this country has a legacy of taking musical gifts from other cultures and using them inappropriately, out of context, or for profit. We will do our best to sing songs with permission, to acknowledge context wherever possible, or simply not sing certain songs if it feels harmful. 

We also understand that many of us have previous connections to community singing through religious contexts. This may still be meaningful or may be alienating. To create more inclusivity, we will avoid explicitly religious content. We do invite a spiritual space but do our best to sing from common ground. You are never expected to sing anything that does not feel resonant or aligned for you. 

Unless clearly alerted ahead of time, you can expect that songs will not include sexually-explicit content. 

THE VENUE:

This event will take place at the Historic Alberta House, an event space intended for all, with a focus on reaching and engaging voices from our community that have been disproportionately impacted by social, economic, and racial injustices in Oregon.

Street parking. Biking, walking, use of public transit, and carpooling are encouraged wherever feasible. 

ACCESSIBILITY:

The building is ADA accessible throughout the first floor (where all activity will take place).

There may be clapping, snapping, screaming, wailing, or big laughter. If you have a particular sensitivity to sound, please consider this knowing you are welcome and encouraged you to find ways to take care of yourself amidst this environment. 

EVENT DETAILS:

6:30-7pm arrival, we will sing from 7-9:30pm

This is a no-alcohol event

All ages welcome

$22-55 sliding scale 

Pay what you can / No one turned away Ticket: $0-$21 >> enter Access Code: CARETICKET

BIPOC Comped Tickets Available >> enter Access Code: BIPOC

Our ticketing platform Humanitix donates 100% of profit from your booking fee to children's charities.

REGISTER ONLINE IN ADVANCE TO SECURE YOUR SPOT. 

JOIN OUR WAITLIST (free) IF WE SELL OUT.

***For this event, FULL REFUNDS (minus fees) OFFERED UP TO 24 HOURS BEFORE THE EVENT. Within 24 hours before the event, we will no longer offer refunds. This is to encourage folks who won't be able to attend to refund their tickets sooner to allow enough time for someone on the waitlist to still attend. To enact a refund you can "manage your order" and take care of it yourself, no need to contact the host. Waitlist folks will be contacted in order and have 30 min to claim the ticket before the next person in line is offered. 

***For the sake of ease and in service to the event, we are considering your ticket purchase as an AGREEMENT TO PHOTO / VIDEO CONSENT. We will have designated folks taking photo and video and will keep it minimal and minimally intrusive of our sacred container.

ABOUT SEATING:

We will have first floor cushion seating, first floor chair seating, and balcony seating available on a first-come first-serve basis unless there is a request made in advanced based on need. Please contact host. First floor chair seating will be reserved for those with accessibility needs, but available to anyone once those folks have been accommodated.

REGARDING COVID-19:

If you are not feeling well, please stay home. Masking is not required for this event. We encourage you to mask and distance to your own comfort level and will hold a culture of respect for the choices everyone makes to take care of themselves. In the case of having to stay home because of feeling ill, contact host 24 hours before the event starts to receive a full refund. 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT & TITHING:

We acknowledge that the land upon which we will sing is the traditional territory of the Multnomah, Wasco, Cowlitz, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Bands of Chinook, Tualatin, Kalapuya, Molalla, Grande Ronde and many more tribes.

A portion of donations will go to the Native American Youth and Family Center (nayapdx.org) to support our enduring indigenous community.

WHAT WILL BE PROVIDED:

Altar space

Water and hot tea

Some chairs

Restroom facilities

WHAT TO BRING:

Meaningful altar items (all will go back home with you)

Floor cushion

A water bottle and/or hot tea mug

Any clothing layers and supports you need to to help your body feel comfortable

Your voice, your open heart, your whole truth

YOUR HOSTS AND SONG LEADERS:

alexandra “ahlay” blakely is a descendent of Ashkenazi, Scandinavian and British folk. She is an artist, singer-songwriter, communal grief tender, community organizer, facilitator and ceramicist walking the path of ancestral healing and the reclaiming of lost cultural memories. Her community singing album, Spells from the Unknown encapsulates songs for the community to transform, ask questions, and seek to lead lives in service to the future ones. Her newest community singing album, WAILS: Songs for Grief was recorded with a choir of 200 voices. The album is completely dedicated to grief, inspired by the Whales of the Sea, the wails of our times, and Francis Weller’s book The Wild Edge of Sorrow and more specifically “the five gates of grief.”

Shireen “Riyo” Amini (they/them) is a queer, trans, Puerto Rican-Iranian American, earth-loving song creator, rhythm maker, and community facilitator based in Portland, Oregon. As a human, they carry a deep commitment to their own liberation path and vision of a more just world. As an artist, they believe strongly in music’s power to propel cultural revolution. Shireen blends pop, rock, hip hop, latin, and roots sensibilities with socially-conscious themes as a singer-songwriter and creates modern medicine music for community singing. In song circles, they hold transformational space, leading joyful, groove-based songs, evoking tenderness, and often engaging participants in the rhythm and ceremony of it all. Stay tuned for Shireen’s first community song album in-the-works, tentatively titled “Gather Your Resilience: Medicine Songs for Liberation."Shireen also teaches drumming, leads workshops, and facilitates grief ritual as part of her community-based music empowerment project Shireen Amini Music Medicine.

Darlissa Andrea (she/they) is a Puerto Rican, Cape Verdean, and Hawaiian singer-songwriter, community facilitator and life coach. She focuses on bringing folks together through self development, connection, community collaboration. Check out her website.