Saturday, Jan 20, 2024 10:00am - 1:30pm pst
Online Facilitator Development Day

Songleading for Facilitators

In this half-day event, seasoned facilitator, music-maker, and songleader Lydia Violet Harutoonian will teach facilitators in how to integrate community singing into workshops. Humans have been making music in community together forever. Singing together bolsters us during hard times, and lets us share in the beauty of being alive. If you want to bring song into your workshop spaces, join us to learn the skills and gain the confidence to start!

Music can feel like a mysterious magic…

and it IS magical! That’s why so many of us want to include it in our facilitation.

But it doesn’t have to be mysterious. There are accessible systems for understanding how to lead communities in song.

Truly, accessibility is an important part of the power of community singing. This is a musical form that widens the circle and draws more people in.

Songleading can be accessible too. If you have enjoyed community singing and feel the desire to lead songs, you can!

For many millennia, humans have made music together in community…

and it’s been a crucial way we bolster ourselves in hard times.

Music can mend our bones and pour in the grace. It can transform our exhaustion and help us feel more held as a part of the choir.

As we rediscover over and over in Work that Reconnects workshops, it feels good to act in the companionship of others on behalf of life. So too does the homecoming of singing together.

We would love to support you in facilitating these experiences for your community, anywhere you feel called to do so.

There are many ways to bring song into your workshops…

Many facilitators feel drawn to integrate songleading, but feel shy to do so. This might be because of how they feel about their own singing, or because they need to know more about musical leadership.

The good news is, there are many ways to lead songs!

You can adapt your methods to your level of musical comfort. In this workshop, Lydia will cover:

  • the basics of good song leadership, so participants can follow along with ease

  • how to use recordings to support your songleading

  • and how to choose songs that are more simple or more complex, so that they suit your level of comfort

Your facilitator, Lydia Violet…

is trained in music and a performing musician, but she really came to love community singing and start leading song after touring with Rev. Sekou. During that tour dedicated to music and activism, Lydia had a revelatory experience about the purpose of music, beyond a performance art: Music is an incredible tool for helping people access connection and healing.

Lydia is also a facilitator of the Work that Reconnects (WTR). She is always joyously committed to sharing this work with others, conjuring integrity and deep emotional resources for our time. Lydia serves as a dedicated keeper and steward of the lineage of deep ecology elder and wisdom keeper Joanna Macy. After fifteen years of sustained study, mentorship, and co-facilitation of WTR workshops with Macy, as well as immersion in anti-oppression education and adrienne maree brown’s Emergent Strategy, Lydia is excited to empower the next generation of WTR facilitators.

“

I left feeling so energized and uplifted.

I found there to be a collective honesty and authenticity. I loved Lydia's emphasis on song and music, the somatic practices that supported us, the sense of community that got woven so organically and easily. I see this workshop as me giving myself permission to step into facilitating the WTR with a little more confidence and trusting that it's a medicine, both for others and myself.

”

Esmé McAvoy

Mindfulness and Ecology Workshop Facilitator,
Cali, Colombia

FAQs

  • This day is for any new or emerging facilitator who feels drawn to lead community singing. You don’t need any prior music or facilitation experience to learn to lead songs in this workshop.

  • This event will be held online via Zoom, on Saturday, January 20, from 10:00am - 1:30pm PST.

  • Enrollment is $90 U.S. Partial scholarships are available for financial need. Click here to apply for a scholarship.

  • Parts of this event will be recorded. We’ll record all teaching and Q&A, but we will not record any Work that Reconnects practices or the time dedicated to facilitators connecting with each other. If you can’t join us live, you can sign up for access to the recording of the teaching and Q&A.

“

I left feeling hopeful and inspired…

…with a renewed respect for the activities I learned and this incredible program.

I am very excited to integrate it into my climate resilience community organizing work.

”

“

Thank you for creating space for such a life giving experience.

Lydia, you are a gifted and authentic facilitator. Your warmth, joy and music are a true inspiration. Thank you for being an example of how showing up as your authentic self gives space for others to find that within themselves. The entire experience filled me up and is giving me strength to find my authentic path with this work.”

”

Susan Silber

Community Resilience Consultant, Ohlone Land, Berkeley, California

Erin M.

Garden Artist and Facilitator, Cold Spring, New York (Lenni-Lenape Territory)