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Community Music Center to host “Trans and Singing: A Symposium for Voice Teachers and Singers” to encourage transgender voices to be strengthened and heard

Photo credit: FeinMentschFilms

 

 

 

 

Community Music Center to host “Trans and Singing: A Symposium for Voice Teachers and Singers” to encourage transgender voices to be strengthened and heard

Contact:
Anne C. Mitchell, Marketing Manager
415-647-6015 x175, amitchell@sfcmc.org

 

For Immediate Release
SAN FRANCISCO, January 23, 2019 – New voices and new ideas are creating a first-of-its-kind transgender vocal symposium. The free symposium is set to take place on Saturday, February 23 at Community Music Center (CMC) in San Francisco. “Trans and Singing” is a day of presentations and discussion on transgender singing for voice teachers and singers of all genders and is hosted by the CMC Voice Department, New Voices Bay Area TIGQ Chorus, and funded by a CMC Partnership Grant.

This past fall, CMC, whose mission is musical access to all people regardless of income, launched New Voices Bay Area TIGQ Chorus, a mixed voice tuition-free choral ensemble for self-identified transgender, intersex, and genderqueer (TIGQ) singers. “Community Music Center’s intention is to create a great choral ensemble and to provide a safe, creative space for transgender, intersex and genderqueer singers to make music, learn, and create community together,” said CMC Executive Director Julie Rulyak Steinberg upon the launch of the pilot program.

This free chorus not only strives to create musical spaces for the San Francisco Bay Area TIGQ community, but also to encourage voices that have been silenced or shamed to grow and be heard. Made up of singers from beginners to professionals, the chorus performs music from diverse traditions, builds strong connections, and lifts up the TIGQ community’s strength and struggle through great choral singing.

“As a transgender singer and conductor, I have experienced first-hand the barriers that TIGQ face to musical participation,” said Reuben Zellman, Director of the New Voices Bay Area TIGQ Chorus, “Singers tend to be rigidly and often thoughtlessly sorted by sex. Yet TIGQ vocal stories are often more complex.”

The “Trans and Singing” symposium emerged out of similar needs as the NVBA TIGQ Chorus. The symposium seeks to educate CMC faculty, CMC students, and the Bay Area vocal community at large on TIGQ singing. The symposium re-examines the thinking and approaches on TIGQ singing in light of new information. The day-long symposium on transgender singing, will be followed by ten weeks of individual vocal instruction for NVBA choir members. The symposium features presentations, masterclasses, and demonstrations by experts in TIGQ vocal pedagogy and voice science, panel discussions with TIGQ performers, and an open rehearsal and community sing with NVBA TIGQ Chorus. Both the symposium and the NVBA vocal training will be offered as a service to the community, completely free of charge.  

“We feel TIGQ vocalism is an emerging field of study of great importance,” said Jonathan Smucker, CMC Voice Department Chair, “and are thrilled to bring it to light in the Bay Area. Through deepened understanding we hope to help create more safe spaces for TIGQ vocal expression, music making, and community building, bettering TIGQ people’s lives, and broadening musical perspectives in the field at large.”

Trans and Singing Symposium:
Trans and Singing: A Symposium for Voice Teachers and Singers
Hosted by Community Music Center Voice Department and New Voices Bay Area TIGQ Chorus, and generously funded by Community Music Center and the Community Music Center Partnership Grant program

Saturday, February 23rd
Community Music Center
Concert Hall
544 Capp Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

Trans and Singing is a a day of presentations and discussion on transgender singing for voice teachers and singers of all genders.

Registration and meet and greet- 2:30-3pm
Symposium- 3-9:30pm

Admission is free, registration required
http://tinyurl.com/trans-and-singing

New Voices Bay Area TIGQ Chorus: https://sfcmc.org/new-voices-bay-area-tigq-chorus/

Photos:
New Voices Bay Area TIGQ Chorus launch
Credit:Salma Salman

Video still NVBA at Trans Day of Remembrance 2018_1
Credit: FeinMentschFilms

Video still NVBA at Trans Day of Remembrance 2018_2
Credit: FeinMentschFilms

Video: New Voices Bay Area TIGQ Chorus at Transgender Day of Remembrance 11/20/18
Credit: FeinMentschFilms

Available interviews:
Reuben Zellman, New Voices Bay Area TIGQ Chorus Director
Jonathan Smucker, CMC Voice Department Chair
Julie Rulyak Steinberg, CMC Executive Director

About Community Music Center:
Founded in 1921, San Francisco’s Community Music Center (CMC) is one of the oldest and largest community arts organizations on the West Coast. CMC makes high quality music accessible to all people, regardless of financial means. Last year, CMC awarded over $2 million in tuition assistance, serving more than 2,600 students of all ages, ethnicities and income levels with music lessons, classes and other programs. Thousands enjoyed performances at CMC and out in the community. Learn more about CMC at www.sfcmc.org and follow the organization on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

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CMC students on the road with outreach concerts in San Francisco

“Doing community outreach…is important to our humanity,” said Kim. “I believe in using the gifts we have to beautify our corners of the world and beyond, whenever possible.”

Strings faculty member Heidi Kim is no stranger to playing music as a way to give back to the community. When she was a young violin student, she played concerts at retirement homes and assisted living centers. Playing in front of people and having a concert to work towards were important elements of her music education. Just as important as the practice of performing is sharing the gift of music with others. “Doing community outreach…is important to our humanity,” said Kim. “I believe in using the gifts we have to beautify our corners of the world and beyond, whenever possible.”

Heidi Kim is giving her students the same opportunities she had with monthly community concerts.

On December 8, a small group of her students played at the San Francisco VA Hospital Community Living Center, dedicating the concert to the veterans for their service to the country. Her young students performed classical and Christmas music for the veterans, and were well-received by the residents and staff alike.

On December 23, a larger group of Heidi’s students performed at the San Francisco Fire Department’s Station 14. According to Heidi, planning a concert at a firehouse was “tricky” since the station could get an emergency call at any time. They were able to arrange a concert at a station in the Richmond District that doesn’t get as many calls as other stations. The strings concert was dedicated to the memory of one of the station’s firefighters who had lost his life in an automobile accident and as a general “Thank You” to the firefighters. The students performed classical music and Christmas songs for an audience made up of firefighters and families in the station garage. After the concert, the students got a tour of the fire station with the fire pole being a major highlight.

Heidi remarked that her students are enjoying the community outreach concerts. One of her fourth grade students said the concerts made him feel like he was “traveling the world.” Heidi mentioned that one of the important parts of the outreach concerts is for students to get out of the familiar spaces of performing only at CMC. She is interested to see how her students react to new spaces and feels that performing is great for not only encouraging practice, but also for getting over performance anxiety.

The next studio recital is on January 26. Both her Mission and Richmond District students will be performing at Cypress at Golden Gate retirement home.