Greetings from Jim Corbett (Brother Jimmy Lovejoy),
We are glad you are here!.
The Love Choir came into existence in 1997 at the Sebastopol Apple Blossom Festival with a handful of friends who loved to sing, and who sang for the love of music. Since then we have grown into a large, happy family that gets together each week to sing and share the joy of harmonizing together.
Together we are: “Loving the world, one song at a time”.
The requirements for admission to the Love Choir are to show up, open your heart, and SING! Our motto is: “There is safety in numbers”. We feel blessed to have your voice joining with our voices in an ever growing experiment in harmonizing ourselves and our world.
Welcome, new friend, you are now IN the Love Choir!
The Basics:
Where: Love Choir meets weekly in Sebastopol California. Check our Calendar page for day and time.
Collection Basket: At some point we will pass the basket to collect your offering for the week, which helps us pay rehearsal room rent, takes care of other expenses and fills the “Fun Fund” that supports our group gatherings. We are grateful for your generosity.
Everybody sings in the choir: This is the beauty and the power of the Love Choir. For some songs, everyone sings the whole song, sing-along style. Other songs will feature a lead singer(s) on the microphone. You will learn by listening to those around you, what your specific choir part is.
Sections: We stand in sections of Low, Medium or High voices. Stand where you are most comfortable and listen to those around you.
The Sacred Space: The Love Choir has no “religious affiliations but the Love Choir ‘voice’ has a way of touching the sacred in people. We support this by respecting those around us, and their individual paths, and by singing with an open heart. Another way of supporting this is by remaining quiet between songs. This allows us to keep our sacredness within.
How do I learn the songs? Learn by listening. We try to pick songs that many people already know, or are easily learned. Stand near someone who knows the song and listen. There also is a Love Choir Song page with many of our beloved Love Choir songs.
Listen and Blend with the voices and volume around you. Whether you’re an experienced singer or a beginner, it is helpful to blend your voice with your group. By singing together in this way, we strengthen our overall sound quality and projection without straining our voices.
Sing with your heart. Sing with your spirit. Sing with love. Do not judge your voice or another’s voice. All voices are beautiful.
Be aware of people behind you. Taller singers can see over others to see the director and lead singers for directions.
Microphone etiquette Only the leads and backup singers of each song are to be on the microphones.
You have a song to share? Let me know what song you would like to sing. Some good songs are not good Love Choir songs. If we decide to try your song, we can arrange to rehearse your tune before we present it to the whole choir. Most of all, be strong and lead us through your song.
Performances:
Love Choir performs throughout the year. Attending performances is voluntary, but you will get the most out of the Love Choir when you join in to “Love the world, one song at a time”. Sharing our gift with others fills us with a greater love.
Guidelines:
Stand in your vocal group: LOW voices stage right; MEDIUM voices in the middle; HIGH voices stage left.
Be aware: The audience is watching you. Let them see your smile and experience the joy you are feeling, which invites them to sing along, too. Keep the silence in between songs and hold the sacred space that we create for the audience to join in.
Sing and move with the energy of the song. Let the music move you how it will.