Sing People Sing! QUEER AND POC-LED COMMUNITY SONG CIRCLES in PDX

with special guest Yesh (Y) Salz!

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 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.

We have a limited number of chairs and invite folks to bring a cushion who can comfortably sit on the floor. Our intention is to form our seating in a circle with the floor folks in the innermost concentric circle(s). Balcony seating will also be available.

ACCESSIBILITY:

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

We will prioritize chair seating for folks who have that accessibility need.

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:

Arrival: *6:30-7pm

Singing: 7-9pm

This is a no-alcohol event

All ages welcome

$15-55 sliding scale

Pay what you can / No one turned away Ticket: $0-$14 >> enter Access Code: CARETICKET

Kids 12 and under are free and do not need to register (must be accompanied by an adult)

Your contribution offers reciprocity to the organizers and song leaders of this offering, the living descendants of this land, and helps to keep this series sustainable and regenerative. If financial resources are limited, we offer a "Pay What You Can" ticket option. And of course, no one is turned away. If you’d like to offer reciprocity in other ways, please contact host (i.e help with set/clean up, or other skills/offerings)

REGISTER ONLINE IN ADVANCE. We will absorb $1.29 fixed fee and split percentage fee (50/50) with you. Our ticketing platform Humanitix donates 100% of profit from your booking fee to children's charities.

*Doors open at 6:30pm and we won't be letting folks in any sooner because we need that time to set up, so be prepared to hang out on the front steps or somewhere cool on Alberta St. if you come before 6:30pm. Thank you!

COMMUNITY CARE:

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 before the event starts to receive a full refund. No refunds will be offered if contact is made after the event.

We will have a community table where you can place flyers for your upcoming music / singing-related events, but please remember to take them home afterwards as we won't have a designated place we can put them after this song circle.

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 local indigenous community.

WHAT WILL BE PROVIDED:

Water and hot tea

Chairs

Restroom facilities

WHAT TO BRING:

A water bottle and/or hot tea mug

A floor cushion (if you are able to sit on the floor)

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

Your voice, your open heart, your whole truth

OUR GUEST SONGLEADER:

Yesh (Y) Salz (they/them) is a poet, song-carrier, ritual artist and community organizer based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. As a songleader, Y weaves anti-imperial, post-empiric stories, song and clowning into a multi-genre community ritual space that makes room for the depths of us— our sorrow, our elation, our resilience. They serve as Co-Director for international nonprofit, Restoring Lifeways and hold an MFA in Poetry from the Institute of American Indian Arts.

Y draws on the radical, intersectional legacies of their mixed-heritage Jewish ancestors and strives to live into their inherited name as a Soloveichik or "Nightingale" — bringing song into (and up from) the darkest places.

@why_bynight

YOUR HOSTS:

Ríomas (RiYo for short, they/them), previously known as Shireen Amini, is a queer, trans masculine, Puerto Rican-Iranian artist, facilitator, and culture builder based in Portland, Oregon. Creating at the intersection of music, healing, and activism, they are guided by a belief that music, especially voice and rhythm, can reawaken in us what modern culture has forgotten: how to grieve, grow, and feel our power together. Ríomas crafts artful, participatory songs that invite realness, tenderness, joy, and transformative energy, drawing from roots, pop and folk textures, respectfully from Black and Afro-Latin lineages. Through their song circles and educational offerings, Ríomas empowers people to trust their musicality and engage music as a living practice for cultural healing and social change. They are the founder of Sing People Sing!, a queer and BIPOC-led community song circle series in Portland, author of the course Drum Song Reclamation, and leader of an emerging band collective bridging high-level musicianship with community participation. Their first community song album Gather Your Resilience: Medicine for Liberation is set to release in March 2026.

Darlissa Andrea (all pronouns) is a Puerto Rican, Cape Verdean, and Hawaiian American singer-songwriter, community facilitator and grief tender. With powerful vocals and grounded presence, Darlissa weaves soulful prayers of belonging and holding into the community. Darlissa’s songs are centered around land, liberation, and shifting culture. With deep care for this world, Darlissa’s music invites us to remember who we are, heal together, and imagine a more whole and liberated future. Follow on instagram @darlissa.andrea

Contact the host of Sing People Sing! All Inclusive with special guest Yesh (Y) Salz