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A Community Sings
Coming Soon to WKAR
This special from WKAR looks inside the community singing movement in mid-Michigan and how it can lift spirits during tough times.
With narration and commentary from mid-Michigan folk musicians Joel Mabus and Sally Potter, radio host Bob Blackman (host of The Folk Tradition) and the participants themselves, "A Community Sings" visits the Mid-Winter Singing Festival, festival workshops, the Ten Pound Fiddle Holiday Sing and other gatherings to capture the magic and communal experience shared by people who love to sing.
“It Gives You an Idea What World Peace Looks Like.”
“These folks love to sing,” says Sally Potter, a co-founder of the Mid-Winter Singing Festival. "Some are incredible singers; some are not, and it doesn’t matter.” As Joel Mabus, musical director of the Mid-Winter Singing Festival puts it, “Some are shower singers – they like to belt it out. Some are ex-choir singers, and they feel safety in numbers. [The rest are] a bunch of others who are basically strumming folk music at home or [play] a little rock and roll, and it’s fun to sing with other people.”
Hundreds of community members gather to participate in these group sings, culminating with the Mid-Winter Singing Festival in January, which attracts 500 music lovers who attend workshops and singing events over a two-day period.
Why? What are they looking for? What does singing mean to them? What do they hope to change?
Potter believes that singing together can “reseed a homegrown culture and empower the ordinary citizen to change society.” And, as one participant puts it, “It gives you an idea of what world peace looks like.”
Lifting the Spirits in Challenging Times
The mid-Michigan area is one that has been hit hard by the state’s economic challenges. Yet, the Lansing/East Lansing area still has a large amount of civic pride, despite the economic situation. “It’s hard to explain how it lifts the spirits in the winter when the days are short, and you get out and do the singing,” explains one singer. Mabus echoes, “It’s like a big campfire without the fire.”
published: July 21, 2010
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