Saturday, September 19th
6:30-8:30pm
Doors at 6pm
Saint David of Wales
Episcopal Church
2800 SE Harrison St.
Portland, OR 97214
To honor Mabon, the Pagan celebration of the Autumnal Equinox, we will sing with wild voices ancient and original songs that honor the earth.
This concert will feature two full choirs, small group numbers, and solo performances of a variety of music, including ancient traditional Eastern European music, American folk, opera, throat singing, screaming/harsh vocals, keening, intentional dissonance, and complex harmonies.
Earth Women
Performing ancient polyphonic, earth worshipping songs, Earth Women sing to reclaim their raw and authentic voices. Many of their songs travel from distant lands, reminding us of how our voices feel and sound when they remain feral, and in tune with the elements.
Directed by Ayla Realta, Earth Women consists of American singers who are making an effort to connect to nature through this ancient music. Through complex and often dissonant harmonies, Earth Women reclaim their wildness, and sing songs in reverence to our shared planet.
Performance videos are available on YouTube, or follow @earthwomenpdx on IG for more songs and videos.
Hartwood
Hartwood, a singing group conceived as a masculine compliment to Earth Women, weaves ancient and traditional folk songs with visceral soundscapes. Often delving into harsh and guttural tones, the group is a place to commune with old, impolite, animal parts of our corporeal selves, without the undertones of violence and domination that so often pervade male spaces.
Helmed by Koby McConnell and co-directed by Ayla Realta, Hartwood was created as a space to share and celebrate the unique qualities of the male voice in ways rarely welcomed in public. There are many things that we hold hidden within ourselves, and the catharsis of the voice unleashed is the right of all. Through soaring highs, the grounding rumble of kargyraa and the raging bellow of screams and death-growls, Hartwood seeks to gather all aspects of the voice in synthesis.