Monday, October 20 from 1:30–3pm
Community Music Center Mission Branch
544 Capp Street, San Francisco, 94110
FREE for participants in CMC’s Neighborhood Choir Program
Sign up here or speak with your Choir Director
Learn the basics of Gullah Stick Pounding
We will create a foot stomping, hand-clapping rhythmic community and combine it with singing spirituals and songs of protest and peace. Participants will learn about Gullah/Geechee culture through its dynamic music and rhythmic heart. We will, as a community, turn the whole place into a living, breathing drum.
About Melanie DeMore
Melanie DeMore is a 3 time Grammy-nominated singer/composer, choral conductor, music director, and vocal activist who believes in the power of voices raised together. In her presentations, DeMore beautifully brings her participants together through her music and commentary. DeMore facilitates vocal and stick pounding workshops for professional choirs, community groups, as well as directing numerous choral organizations across the U.S, Canada, and beyond. She is a featured presenter of SpeakOut!-The Institute for Social and Cultural Change, works with everyone from Baptists to Buddhists, and was a founding member of the Grammy-nominated ensemble-Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir. She has received numerous awards for her work in the community, including the Children’s Music Network Award for her contribution to the singing community. She is the Music Director for Obeah Opera by Nicole Brooks with performances in Toronto, South Africa, and Barbados. She is a charter member of Kate Munger’s Threshold Choirs and conducts song circles with an emphasis on the voice as a vessel for healing. In her own words: “A song can hold you up when there seems to be no ground beneath you”
For questions, contact your choir director or Neighborhood Choir Coordinator Abby Ross at (415) 647-6015 x 181 or email aross@sfcmc.org