Winter Solstice Song Ceremony in PDX

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

with Shireen Amini and Alexandra "Ahlay" Blakely

WINTER SOLSTICE DESCRIPTION: 
We welcome you to approach the winter solstice, the shortest day and longest night of the year, the beginning of the returning of the light, the moment in our seasonal rhythm where we can deeply seed the dreams of the year to come, in song with us.

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

Your co-leaders will be Shireen Amini and Ahlay Blakely.

ABOUT SING PEOPLE SING!:

We invite you to this queer and POC-led singing gathering 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 may sing some songs in Spanish! ¡Cantamos algunas canciones en español!

We aim to create an integrated space rooted in understandings of our historical context and current social realities. No matter your gender, sexual orientation, abilities, or housing status, you are not only welcome here, you belong here. It is one of our core values to utilize song to resist societal oppression and support liberation from the inside out.

We are not perfect, but it is our intention to respect and uplift all beings, human and non-human, seen and unseen. If there is a way we can better care for you, your values, and your experience in this space, please let us know.

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.

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

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.

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

Street parking.

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 for lack of funds.

*Request for increased energetic reciprocity to the cover cost of extended time, deepened space-holding, and more involved space-setting. We intend for this to all add value for you.

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.

Your contribution covers venue rental fees, sustains our song leaders and this offering, and allows us to give back to the original caretakers of the land on which this event will take place.

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.

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 spaces (one for support and resource, one for what you are dreaming)

Water and hot tea

Chairs

Restroom facilities

WHAT TO BRING:

One, two, or several meaningful altar items (all will go back home with you)

A water bottle or travel mug, if you can

A notebook, if you like to jot down inspiration or song information

A blanket or warm layers, if you want to get cozy

Your voice

Your open heart

Your whole truth

YOUR HOSTS AND SONG LEADERS:

Shireen Amini (non-binary using she/her in English, elle in Spanish) is a queer, Puerto Rican-Iranian American, Earth-loving singer-songwriter, percussionist, and song leader based in unceded indigenous territory known as Portland, Oregon. While holding transformational space, Shireen leads infectious, soulful, and groove-based community songs, often engaging her participants in rhythm, because she believes strongly in music’s power to propel cultural revolution. She also teaches drumming, leads workshops, and facilitates grief ritual as part of her community-based music empowerment project Shireen Amini Music Medicine.

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 that might make us ancestors worth honoring. Her upcoming 2024 community singing album, WAILS: Songs for Grief was recorded in July 2023 with a choir of 200 voices. The album is completely dedicated to grief, inspired by the Whales of the sea, the wails of our souls, and Frances Weller’s book The Wild Edge of Sorrow and more specifically “the five gates of grief.” To stay informed, sign up for her monthly newsletter.