Latest news with #choirs
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Brooklyn's Black church choirs persist amid attendance decline, gentrification
Brooklyn's Black church choirs persist amid attendance decline, gentrification NEW YORK (RNS) — On Sunday mornings in Brooklyn, nicknamed the borough of churches, the muffled sounds of choir singers, hand‑claps and Hammond organs can be heard from the sidewalks. The borough still has a church on nearly every block, but over the years, the number of people in the pews has thinned. Many church choirs in the heart of Brooklyn, however, have kept singing — despite boasting fewer singers than in years past as neighborhoods face gentrification and organized religious affiliation decreases. Standing in front of the gospel choir at Concord Baptist Church of Christ in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, Jessica Howard, 25, led the gospel standard 'God Is' on a Sunday in July. Dressed in a powder-pink floral dress, she called out lines naming God as 'joy in sorrow' and 'strength for tomorrow.' Some choir members wiped away tears as the song stoked emotions from around the room.' As a Black Christian person, as a descendant of slaves, I think when I sing, I feel really connected to my ancestors,' said Howard, who grew up in Virginia and now sings as a soloist at Concord, where she's been a congregant for six years. 'I really feel sometimes like it's not just me singing, it's my lineage singing.' ___ This content is written and produced by Religion News Service and distributed by The Associated Press. RNS and AP partner on some religion news content. RNS is solely responsible for this story. ___ Founded in 1847, Concord Baptist Church is Brooklyn's oldest historically Black congregation. At the time, a nearby neighborhood known as Weeksville, now considered part of central Brooklyn, was the second-largest free Black community in the United States before the Civil War, said Amanda Henderson, collections historian at the Weeksville Heritage Center. Louise Nelson, a Brooklyn native and church historian of the Berean Baptist Church in Crown Heights, said music was the foundation of the early church, and that remains true for churches in the borough today. "The songs that uplifted us and kept us going through the midst of our misery — music is who we are,' Nelson said. 'I don't think you can have a church today without the music because it brings unity in that idea that we can all do it together.' According to Pew Research Center data, between 2019 and 2023, Black Protestant monthly church attendance fell from 61% to 46% — the largest decline among major U.S. religious groups. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this trend, and its impact is visible in the thinning choir stands. Glenn McMillan, Concord's director of music ministry and a musicology teacher at the City University of New York, who has worked in New York City church choirs since 1994, recalls a time when historically Black churches in Brooklyn regularly had multiple choirs at each parish. 'In the last 20 years, the members of church choirs started getting older because this generation does not see church as important as it was back in the day,' McMillan said. The choir at Concord has shrunk from about 50 voices before the pandemic to 30 today, McMillan said. Back in 2006, the choir featured 100 voices. According to research published by in June, Black Protestants attended church on Zoom more than other denominations during the pandemic, and they have been the slowest to return to in‑person worship. 'The internet has taken over and streaming has taken over,' McMillan said. 'People don't goin to the building as much as they are streaming it.' McMillan said that when in-person services first resumed, it took a long time for the choir to rebuild because many members were still staying home for health reasons. Recently, though, he's seen more people showing up. 'I'm begging people my age to come to Concord,' said Howard, the youngest member of the gospel choir, adding that only a handful of people around her age attend the church. Gwen Davis, a senior member of Berean Baptist Church and a choir soloist for more than 40 years, recalled Easter services in the mid‑1960s, when over 400 people filled the pews and four separate choirs led the congregation in song. 'It was a lot of energy,' Davis said. 'Your ear got trained really well.' Today, Davis said, a typical service attracts approximately 150 people, and roughly 100 virtually. Over time, Berean's choirs have consolidated into a single mass choir with approximately 20 singers. A professional soloist who has been singing at different churches across Brooklyn throughout her adult life, Davis said she believes one reason for choirs thinning out is the decline of music education in New York City Public Schools. 'When I was in high school, I had music every day,' said Davis, who attended high school in the 1970s in central Brooklyn. 'I don't think the children are learning notes and sharps and clefs. I mean, that was like general knowledge for us at the time.' During the 1970s fiscal crisis, the city of New York eliminated thousands of teaching positions, including art and music teachers, and converted music rooms into other classrooms, narrowing arts access in schools in low-income and majority-Black neighborhoods. 'For me, singing is not just singing, it's ministry,' Davis said. 'Some of these old hymns were composed years and years ago, and those old hymns have sustained a people — many people.' Gentrification is another force reshaping Brooklyn. Between 2010 and 2020, Crown Heights lost nearly 19,000 Black residents while gaining about 15,000 whites, according to 2020 Census data. More than 75% of Bedford-Stuyvesant residents in 2000 were Black, while in 2020, around 41% were Black. Those demographic shifts have hit historically Black Catholic parishes hard. St. Teresa of Avilain Crown Heights, which was the first church in the nation to hold Mass in Creole, will close by the end of the year. The anticipated closure demonstrates a wider pattern of Catholic churches that serve people of color closing, often attributed to declining attendance. For Mike Delouis, 38, St. Teresa's longtime cantor and a son of Haitian immigrants who was baptized at the church, the loss is personal. 'Singing for me is not about performance but about participation,' said Delouis, who juggles three services most Sundays between St. Teresa and the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph in Prospect Heights. 'St. Augustine said singing is praying twice.' Delouis is part of a group fighting to keep the parish open, hoping to preserve a piece of their history in a rapidly changing Brooklyn. 'Even through the process of gentrification, there are people that hear the music and they come in,' he said. In June, from his place in the choir loft, Delouis heard the priest announce the church's closure. The words hit hard. 'It was actually kind of hard to finish,' he said. 'We only had the closing hymn to do, and I thought, 'Oh my gosh, no — we can't let this happen.'' Jesteena Walters, 55, has been part of Bedford Central Presbyterian Church in Crown Heights since she was an infant. She began singing at age 6 in the junior choir, and when she turned 18, she transitioned to its Gratitude choir, which her older siblings also joined. 'It was the young hip gospel choir of the church,' Walters said. Today, Gratitude no longer exists in the same way. Its members are older and often reunite only for special occasions, such as singing at funerals. Over the decades, Walters has also watched the congregation itself shift demographics. "When I first went to Bedford Central, it was primarily a white church, and so we were in the minority at the time,' Walters said, referring to the early 1970s. 'In the years that would come, itwas primarily a Black church.' It later became home to a large West Indian population, and today includes many members of Guyanese heritage. 'To be honest, I couldn't break down the history of Brooklyn in a way that says who came first,' Walters said. 'At the end of the day, I believe in people coming together, if we can truly connect, feel each other's pain and celebrate each other's joys.' McMillan emphasized that choirs continue to play a central role in Black church life, even as congregations decline in membership. 'Choir singers are some of the most faithful churchgoers,' McMillan said. 'A choir is a community within the church community, and whenever you have a really consistent and strong choir, they grow with one another.' Howard said she hopes to become a choir director one day, and she credits McMillan and the gospel choir for encouraging her toward the role. 'I'd like to follow in that tradition,' she said. Fiona Murphy, The Associated Press
Associated Press
4 days ago
- General
- Associated Press
Brooklyn's Black church choirs persist amid attendance decline, gentrification
NEW YORK (RNS) — On Sunday mornings in Brooklyn, nicknamed the borough of churches, the muffled sounds of choir singers, hand‑claps and Hammond organs can be heard from the sidewalks. The borough still has a church on nearly every block, but over the years, the number of people in the pews has thinned. Many church choirs in the heart of Brooklyn, however, have kept singing — despite boasting fewer singers than in years past as neighborhoods face gentrification and organized religious affiliation decreases. Standing in front of the gospel choir at Concord Baptist Church of Christ in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, Jessica Howard, 25, led the gospel standard 'God Is' on a Sunday in July. Dressed in a powder-pink floral dress, she called out lines naming God as 'joy in sorrow' and 'strength for tomorrow.' Some choir members wiped away tears as the song stoked emotions from around the room.' As a Black Christian person, as a descendant of slaves, I think when I sing, I feel really connected to my ancestors,' said Howard, who grew up in Virginia and now sings as a soloist at Concord, where she's been a congregant for six years. 'I really feel sometimes like it's not just me singing, it's my lineage singing.' ___ This content is written and produced by Religion News Service and distributed by The Associated Press. RNS and AP partner on some religion news content. RNS is solely responsible for this story. ___ Founded in 1847, Concord Baptist Church is Brooklyn's oldest historically Black congregation. At the time, a nearby neighborhood known as Weeksville, now considered part of central Brooklyn, was the second-largest free Black community in the United States before the Civil War, said Amanda Henderson, collections historian at the Weeksville Heritage Center. Louise Nelson, a Brooklyn native and church historian of the Berean Baptist Church in Crown Heights, said music was the foundation of the early church, and that remains true for churches in the borough today. 'The songs that uplifted us and kept us going through the midst of our misery — music is who we are,' Nelson said. 'I don't think you can have a church today without the music because it brings unity in that idea that we can all do it together.' According to Pew Research Center data, between 2019 and 2023, Black Protestant monthly church attendance fell from 61% to 46% — the largest decline among major U.S. religious groups. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this trend, and its impact is visible in the thinning choir stands. Glenn McMillan, Concord's director of music ministry and a musicology teacher at the City University of New York, who has worked in New York City church choirs since 1994, recalls a time when historically Black churches in Brooklyn regularly had multiple choirs at each parish. 'In the last 20 years, the members of church choirs started getting older because this generation does not see church as important as it was back in the day,' McMillan said. The choir at Concord has shrunk from about 50 voices before the pandemic to 30 today, McMillan said. Back in 2006, the choir featured 100 voices. According to research published by in June, Black Protestants attended church on Zoom more than other denominations during the pandemic, and they have been the slowest to return to in‑person worship. 'The internet has taken over and streaming has taken over,' McMillan said. 'People don't goin to the building as much as they are streaming it.' McMillan said that when in-person services first resumed, it took a long time for the choir to rebuild because many members were still staying home for health reasons. Recently, though, he's seen more people showing up. 'I'm begging people my age to come to Concord,' said Howard, the youngest member of the gospel choir, adding that only a handful of people around her age attend the church. Gwen Davis, a senior member of Berean Baptist Church and a choir soloist for more than 40 years, recalled Easter services in the mid‑1960s, when over 400 people filled the pews and four separate choirs led the congregation in song. 'It was a lot of energy,' Davis said. 'Your ear got trained really well.' Today, Davis said, a typical service attracts approximately 150 people, and roughly 100 virtually. Over time, Berean's choirs have consolidated into a single mass choir with approximately 20 singers. A professional soloist who has been singing at different churches across Brooklyn throughout her adult life, Davis said she believes one reason for choirs thinning out is the decline of music education in New York City Public Schools. 'When I was in high school, I had music every day,' said Davis, who attended high school in the 1970s in central Brooklyn. 'I don't think the children are learning notes and sharps and clefs. I mean, that was like general knowledge for us at the time.' During the 1970s fiscal crisis, the city of New York eliminated thousands of teaching positions, including art and music teachers, and converted music rooms into other classrooms, narrowing arts access in schools in low-income and majority-Black neighborhoods. 'For me, singing is not just singing, it's ministry,' Davis said. 'Some of these old hymns were composed years and years ago, and those old hymns have sustained a people — many people.' Gentrification is another force reshaping Brooklyn. Between 2010 and 2020, Crown Heights lost nearly 19,000 Black residents while gaining about 15,000 whites, according to 2020 Census data. More than 75% of Bedford-Stuyvesant residents in 2000 were Black, while in 2020, around 41% were Black. Those demographic shifts have hit historically Black Catholic parishes hard. St. Teresa of Avilain Crown Heights, which was the first church in the nation to hold Mass in Creole, will close by the end of the year. The anticipated closure demonstrates a wider pattern of Catholic churches that serve people of color closing, often attributed to declining attendance. For Mike Delouis, 38, St. Teresa's longtime cantor and a son of Haitian immigrants who was baptized at the church, the loss is personal. 'Singing for me is not about performance but about participation,' said Delouis, who juggles three services most Sundays between St. Teresa and the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph in Prospect Heights. 'St. Augustine said singing is praying twice.' Delouis is part of a group fighting to keep the parish open, hoping to preserve a piece of their history in a rapidly changing Brooklyn. 'Even through the process of gentrification, there are people that hear the music and they come in,' he said. In June, from his place in the choir loft, Delouis heard the priest announce the church's closure. The words hit hard. 'It was actually kind of hard to finish,' he said. 'We only had the closing hymn to do, and I thought, 'Oh my gosh, no — we can't let this happen.'' Jesteena Walters, 55, has been part of Bedford Central Presbyterian Church in Crown Heights since she was an infant. She began singing at age 6 in the junior choir, and when she turned 18, she transitioned to its Gratitude choir, which her older siblings also joined. 'It was the young hip gospel choir of the church,' Walters said. Today, Gratitude no longer exists in the same way. Its members are older and often reunite only for special occasions, such as singing at funerals. Over the decades, Walters has also watched the congregation itself shift demographics. 'When I first went to Bedford Central, it was primarily a white church, and so we were in the minority at the time,' Walters said, referring to the early 1970s. 'In the years that would come, itwas primarily a Black church.' It later became home to a large West Indian population, and today includes many members of Guyanese heritage. 'To be honest, I couldn't break down the history of Brooklyn in a way that says who came first,' Walters said. 'At the end of the day, I believe in people coming together, if we can truly connect, feel each other's pain and celebrate each other's joys.' McMillan emphasized that choirs continue to play a central role in Black church life, even as congregations decline in membership. 'Choir singers are some of the most faithful churchgoers,' McMillan said. 'A choir is a community within the church community, and whenever you have a really consistent and strong choir, they grow with one another.' Howard said she hopes to become a choir director one day, and she credits McMillan and the gospel choir for encouraging her toward the role. 'I'd like to follow in that tradition,' she said. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
BBC News
26-07-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Wiltshire in Pictures: Salisbury races, summer scenes and choirs
There have been various types of horsing about in Wiltshire this week, from racing at Salisbury to a four-legged visitor to a care choirs entertained the audience at Salisbury Cathedral, and two different groups in the county have been celebrating award ever, we have had some beautiful shots sent in from across Wiltshire. The tower of Salisbury cathedral bathed in the light of a summer dusk with a garden in the foreground and a line of trees partially obscuring the tower. Play on: Choirs from three cathedrals along with the Hanover Band and soloists performed in the Haydn and Mozart concert at Salisbury Cathedral. A little horsing around: Special guest Vino the Shetland pony visited residents at HC-One's Avon Court Care Home in Chippenham to bring a touch of animal magic to the day. National appreciation: Semley Village Stores, a community-owned shop, has won a national 2025 Rural Community Award from the Plunkett Foundation. They won the Nina Foskett Award for Team Spirit. Award success: Marlborough-based leadership consultancy Fired Up Leaders has been named Leadership Development Consultancy of the Year for South West England at the Prestige Awards 2025. Worth the wait: Trying to picture butterflies at the right moment can be tricky, but Weather Watcher CraigRich managed to capture this meadow brown butterfly in Winterslow. Standing Circle: Fellow Weather Watcher Soberty has been out and about, capturing this shot of the granite sculpture at Heaven's Gate near Warminster. Made by local artist Paul Norris more than 20 years ago, it was constructed using more than 50 tonnes of granite.
CNN
17-07-2025
- Politics
- CNN
American choirs sing hopeful tune on US-China ties
American choirs sing hopeful tune on US-China ties About 500 student singers from across the United States are visiting China to interact and perform with their Chinese peers. US experts have noted a dearth of Americans studying in China amid growing bilateral tensions, arguing the lack of exposure to and knowledge about China among the American youth puts the US at a disadvantage. 01:43 - Source: CNN Video shows machine gun fire near Gaza aid site A video from social media shows machine gun fire spraying the ground near an aid distribution site in southern Gaza as crowds of Palestinians lie on the ground for safety. Although the source of the gunfire is not seen in the video, multiple eyewitnesses say it shows the Israeli military opening fire on Palestinians as they waited for food on Saturday. In a statement, the IDF said, 'The details of the video are under review.' 01:02 - Source: CNN Analysis: Moscow's reaction to Trump's 50-day peace deadline President Donald Trump has vowed further sanctions on Russia if a peace deal is not reached in 50 days. CNN's Chief Global Affairs Correspondent breaks down the Russian reaction and perspective on Monday's announcement from Moscow. 01:13 - Source: CNN Trump attends FIFA Club World Cup final CNN's Patrick Snell reports on President Trump's visit to MetLife Stadium for the FIFA Club World Cup Final between Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea. 00:52 - Source: CNN Top Russian diplomat is in North Korea. What does this mean? Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is in North Korea for a three-day visit. CNN's Will Ripley explains why this could be a sign of deepening relations between Moscow and Pyongyang. 01:16 - Source: CNN ICE vehicle runs through protesters CNN affiliate KGO reports that an ICE vehicle ran through protesters attempting to stop an alleged deportation outside the San Francisco Federal Immigration Court. 00:59 - Source: CNN Doctor drives heart through Kyiv during Russian drone attack Amid explosions from a massive Russian drone attack, a Ukrainian doctor drove through Kyiv to deliver a heart to his seriously ill patient, after a donor became available on the opposite side of the city. Following the surgery, the doctor said he was hopeful the 12-year-old girl would recover. 00:51 - Source: CNN Analysis: Do Trump's words affect Putin's actions? President Donald Trump called Russian President Vladimir Putin out for throwing "bullsh*t" on peace talks with Ukraine - hours later, Russia launched its largest ever drone attack on Ukraine. CNN's Matthew Chance analyzes whether the US leader's comments have an impact on Russia's military operations. 01:23 - Source: CNN Rubio meets Russian foreign minister Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, days after President Donald Trump expressed frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin for not engaging in peace talks with Ukraine. 01:22 - Source: CNN Drones swarm Kyiv for second night Russia attacked Ukraine with hundreds of drones for a second consecutive night, killing two people and causing significant damage in Kyiv. In recent weeks Moscow has scaled up its air attacks on Ukraine, as negotiations towards a peace deal have slowed down. 00:52 - Source: CNN Doctors in Gaza struggle to keep babies alive CNN's Paula Hancocks reports on the situation in Gaza as doctors try to keep preterm babies alive in a warzone where formula, medicine and fuel are in short supply. 02:48 - Source: CNN Trump praises Liberian leader's English. It's his native language During a White House meeting with leaders of African nations, President Donald Trump complimented Liberian President Joseph Boakai's English pronunciation, even though English is Boakai's native language. 00:49 - Source: CNN Houthi rebels release video of attack on commercial ship in the Red Sea Video released by the Houthi media center shows the bulk carrier "Magic Seas" being attacked and later sinking in the Iran-backed rebel group's first attack this year on a commercial shipping vessel in the Red Sea. 00:55 - Source: CNN Russia turns up the heat after Trump slams Putin At least one person has been killed after Russia launched a massive drone attack on Ukraine just hours after US President Donald Trump pledged more military support for Kyiv and accused his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin of throwing 'bullsh*t' over peace talks. 01:19 - Source: CNN Who speaks for Hamas in ceasefire talks? With a possible Gaza ceasefire deal coming by week's end, CNN's Audie Cornish speaks with senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a former adviser to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas Ghaith Al Omari about who speaks for Hamas. 01:51 - Source: CNN Trump told donors he threatened to bomb Moscow on Putin call Donald Trump told a private gathering of donors last year that he once sought to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from attacking Ukraine by threatening to 'bomb the sh*t out of Moscow' in retaliation, according to audio provided to CNN. The audio was obtained by Josh Dawsey, Tyler Pager and Isaac Arnsdorf, who detailed some of the exchanges in their new book, '2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America.' The Trump campaign declined to comment on the content of the tapes. 01:36 - Source: CNN Three men found guilty of Wagner-backed arson on Ukraine-linked businesses in London Three men were found guilty on Tuesday of committing arson attacks on Ukraine-linked businesses in London on behalf of Russia's Wagner private mercenary group. Two others, ringleader Dylan Earl and Jake Reeves, had already pleaded guilty to offenses under the UK's new national security act. 01:38 - Source: CNN Mexicans protest immigrants from US Residents of Mexico City are protesting against gentrification that is forcing some people out, and they partially blame the United States. More than 1.6 million US citizens already reside in Mexico, according to the US State department. 01:30 - Source: CNN Drone shows rare site: Greece's Acropolis with no tourists Authorities in Athens, Greece closed the country's most popular tourist destination for several hours on Tuesday, sighting scorching temperatures nearing 108˚ Fahrenheit (42˚C) as a health concern. Drone video by Reuters captured the rare instance of the site being empty of visitors. 00:41 - Source: CNN
Asharq Al-Awsat
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Thousands of Voices Unite in Song at Traditional Choir Festival Celebrating Estonia's Culture
The voices of more than 21,000 choir singers rang out in the rain in Estonia, and a huge crowd of spectators erupted in applause, unfazed by the gloomy weather. The Song Festival Grounds, a massive outdoor venue in the Estonian capital, Tallinn, was packed on Saturday evening despite the downpour. The traditional Song and Dance Celebration, that decades ago inspired resistance to Soviet control and was later recognized by the UN's cultural agency, attracted tens of thousands of performers and spectators alike, many in national costume. The four-day choir-singing and dancing event centers around Estonian folk songs and patriotic anthems and is held roughly every five years. The tradition dates back to the 19th century. In the late 1980s, it inspired the defiant Singing Revolution, helping Estonia and other Baltic nations break free from the Soviet occupation. To this day, it remains a major point of national pride for a country of about 1.3 million. This year, tickets to the main event -– a seven-hour concert on Sunday featuring choirs of all ages -– sold out weeks in advance. Rasmus Puur, a conductor at the song festival and assistant to the artistic director, ascribes the spike in popularity to Estonians longing for a sense of unity in the wake of the global turmoil, especially Russia's war in Ukraine. 'We want to feel as one today more than six years ago (when the celebration was last held), and we want to feel that we are part of Estonia,' Puur told The Associated Press on Friday. Soviet occupation The tradition to hold massive first song-only, then song and dance festivals dates back to the time when Estonia was part of the Russian Empire. The first song celebration was held in 1869 in the southern city of Tartu. It heralded a period of national awakening for Estonians, when Estonian-language press, theater and other things emerged, says Elo-Hanna Seljamaa, associate professor at the University of Tartu. The festivals continued throughout a period of Estonia's independence between the two world wars and then during the nearly 50 years of Soviet occupation. The Soviet rulers were into 'mass spectacles of all kinds, so in a way it was very logical for the Soviet regime to tap into this tradition and to try to co-opt it,' Seljamaa said in an interview. Estonians had to sing Soviet propaganda songs in Russian during that time, but they were also able to sing their own songs in their own language, which was both an act of defiance and an act of therapy for them, she said. At the same time, the complicated logistics of putting together a mass event like that taught Estonians to organize, Seljamaa said, so when the political climate changed in the 1980s, the protest against the Soviet rule naturally came in the form of coming together and singing. The unity extended beyond Estonia's borders. During the Singing Revolution, 2 million people in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania joined hands to form a 600-kilometer (370-mile) human chain that protested Soviet occupation of the Baltics with a song. In 2003, the United Nations' cultural body, UNESCO, recognized Estonia's folk song festival and similar events in Latvia and Lithuania for showcasing the 'intangible cultural heritage of humanity.' 'We sang ourselves free' Marina Nurming recalls attending the Singing Revolution gatherings in the 1980s as a teenager. This year she travelled to Tallinn from Luxembourg, where she currently lives, to take part in the Song and Dance Celebration as a choir singer –- her longtime hobby. The Singing Revolution is a time 'when we sang ourselves free,' she told AP. Seljamaa says the song and dance celebration may have suffered a drop in popularity in the 1990s, a somewhat difficult time for Estonia as it was emerging as an independent country after the Soviet Union collapsed, but has since bounced back. There is a tremendous interest in it among young people, she says, and always more performers willing to take part than the venue can fit in, and there are people who had left Estonia to live abroad, but travel back to take part. Nurming is one example. She is part of the European Choir of Estonians – a singing group that unites Estonians from more than a dozen countries. Many opportunities to sing This year's four-day celebration, which started on Thursday, included several stadium dancing performances by over 10,000 dancers from all around the country and a folk music instrument concert. It culminates over the weekend with the song festival featuring some 32,000 choir singers, preceded by a large procession, in which all participants -– singers, dancers, musicians, clad in traditional costumes and waving Estonian flags –- march from the city center to the Song Festival Grounds by the Baltic Sea. Those taking part come from all corners of Estonia, and there are collectives from abroad, as well. It's a mix of men, women and children, with participants aged from six to 93. For most, singing and dancing is a hobby on top of their day jobs or studies. But to take part in the celebration, collectives had to go through a rigorous selection process, and months worth of rehearsals. For Karl Kesküla, an electrical engineer from Estonia's western island of Saaremaa, this is the first time taking part in the song celebration as a singer -– but he attended it before as a spectator. 'I got the feeling that what they did was really special and almost, like, every person you meet has gone to it or been a part of it at least once. So I just wanted that feeling too,' Kesküla, 30, told the AP at the procession on Saturday. High emotional point The theme of the song festival this year is dialects and regional languages, and the repertoire is a mix of folk songs, well-known patriotic anthems that are traditionally sung at these celebrations and new pieces written specifically for the occasion. The festival's artistic director, Heli Jürgenson, says that although the audience won't know all the songs -– especially those sung in dialects -– there will be many opportunities to sing along. The main concert on Sunday will end with a song called 'My Fatherland is My Love' –- a patriotic song Estonians spontaneously sang at the 1960 festival in protest against the Soviet regime. Every song celebration since 1965 has concluded with this anthem in what both performers and spectators describe as the highest emotional point of the whole event. An emotional Jürgenson, who this year will conduct a combined choir of about 19,000 people singing it, said: 'This is a very special moment.' She believes that what drove the tradition more than 150 years ago still drives it today. 'There have been different turning points, there have been a lot of historical twists, but the need for singing, songs and people have remained the same,' she said. 'There are certain songs that we always sing, that we want to sing. This is what keeps this tradition going for over 150 years.' 'We forget our troubles' Participants described the celebrations as being an important part of their national identity. 'Estonians are always getting through the hard times through songs, through songs and dances. If it's hard, we sing together and that brings everything back together and then we forget our troubles,' singer Piret Jakobson said. 'It's really good with all Estonian people to do the same thing,' said engineer Taavi Pentma, who took part in the dance performances. 'So we are, like, breathing in one and the heart is beating (as one).' Some 100 members of the European Choir of Estonians came to the Song Celebration this year from various corners of Europe. Among them is Kaja Kriis, who traveled from Germany, where she's been living for the last 25 years. 'Estonia is my home,' she said, adding that it's important for her 'to be together with my friends, to keep my Estonian language, to maintain the Estonian language and Estonian culture.'
