Jayanthi Kyle - Hand In Hand

This song is such an uplifting delight! It's an easy one to get going with any group and can be simplified by teaching just 2 or 3 of the parts. NOTE: This recording has been updated as of mid-June 2018 with personally corrected parts by Sarah and a new arrangement for Wholehearted Chorus. 

Original song and copyright by Sarah Nutting of MaMuse.  Work to Be Done is included in this song library with permission for the purposes of oral tradition singing and teaching. If singing this song for performance or recording for profit, you must get permission from and pay royalties to the composer.

For more information, including individual part tracks, lyrics and more, visit: http://thebirdsings.com/work-to-be-done

Work to Be Done by Sarah Nutting of MaMuse

Kent Trittle plays the ca. 1830 pipe organ by Thomas Appleton at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. September, 2017.

Sonata No. 1 In F Minor, Op 65 By Mendelssohn

Song/prayer/meditation to heal personal and societal grief. For ordinary grief, extraordinary grief, the unbearable kind and the unseen kind and the enduring kind, in service of exhales and letting go of what is ours and not ours, of compassion, lightness, & becoming who we are after and through it all.

Aly Halpert's Album

Loosen Loosen

written from the words of adrienne marie brown out of emergent strategy "change is coming, what do we need to imagine to be prepared?" an imagination exercise that she proposes we do to prepare for a world post and/or amidst capitalism. what can we imagine??

change is coming

the last couple of years at the Fairy Congress, we've had a ritual called the Angel Wash. I'm not sure of its origins, however Saphir Lewis and Rafe Pearlman crafted the tune and lyrics. Here it is performed by Aimee Kelley and Aimee Ringle

“I behold you Beautiful One,
I behold you Child of the Earth and Sun.
Let my Love wash over You.
Let my Love watch over You”
 
- Saphir Lewis & Rafe Pearlman (from the Angel Wash Ceremony)

Aimee Ringle & Aimee Kelly - Angel Wash Song

Evening Sky

stone by stone
tear by tear
we release
& create right here

what is gone we build upon

credits
this is a rough cut / pre-master recorded with R. Micah Shapiro (on engineering, djembe & harmony vox) in west philly.

Stone by Stone by Taya Mâ

I have a deeply reverent relationship with Birkas Kohanim and it feels *very* edgy for me to even make, let alone share a recording of it. This prayer feels too potent, too powerful, too real for internet listening. It's meant to be done in ritual, in person, in community, with deep attention and channeling. And yet... with yirah(reverence/fear/awe) & emunah(faith) I'm choosing to share this recording - knowing that so many don't or haven't had access to this ritual - with the intention of it being a tool for learning, a healing salve, and a small taste of this ritual - especially in these times when we can't gather as we used to. 
In this recording I sing the "call" of the prayer, as if I am the shaliach tzibur (prayer leader) and I do not do the "answer" which would be done by the Kohanim in the congregation. I also say "ado-shem" instead of "adonai" to avoid saying the name of G!d in this recording. The melody is a traditional Ashkenazi melody I grew up with. 

Birkas Kohanim, The Priestly Blessing, is a ritual that goes back to Temple times when Kohanim (priests) would use this ritual to bless the people. In many Jewish communities today it is still practiced - traditionally by those with Kohen lineage for the congregation. It is often referred to as “nesiat kapayim,” meaning the raising of hands or as “duchenen,” a Yiddish word, referring to the platform Kohanim often stand on when they bless the congregation.  Birkas Kohanim is (I believe)one of the only rituals left from temple times that we still practice today as it was done then.

Every yuntif, my mom and I would make sure to get to shul in time for Birkas Kohanim, no matter what. Her father, my Zaydie, was a Kohen, and on Pesach, he would walk around to the various shuls in town to make sure they had a Kohen to do Birkas Kohanim. If they didn’t, he would stay and do Birkas Kohanim with them. He wanted everyone to get those potent blessings. I have vivid memories of being blessed by my Zayde, my uncle, and all the Kohanim at shul each year. In Ashkenazi tradition, it is only done on the shalosh regalim (three pilgrimiage holidays) and the yamim noraim (high holidays). From a young age I could feel the immense spiritual power of this ritual as it reverberated through my body and soul, and I still do...every time. 

Text from Shmot/Numbers 6:23-17
Traditional Ashkenazi melody
The words used are from the Torah, they are the words Hashem/Spirit/Godexx commanded the Kohanim to use to bless Bnai Yisrael.

יְבָרֶכְךָ ה' וְיִשְׁמְרֶךָ
Yivarechicha adonai v’yishmirecha
May G!d bless you and protect you

יָאֵר ה' פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ וִיחֻנֶּךָּ
Ya’er adonai panav eilecha vi’chuneka
May G!d illuminate their face for you and be gracious to you

יִשּא ה' פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ וְיָשם לְךָ שָׁלום
Yisah adonai panav eilecha v’yasem licha shalom
May G!d turn their face towards you and establish peace for you

Birkas Kohanim // The Priestly Blessing - Traditional Ashkenazi Melody & Nusach

This song was written by Paul Vasile in August 2020, as part of MMC's ongoing reflection on the formative power of singing. Inspired by the book "My Grandmother's Hands" by Resmaa Menakem, it's also an invitation into wondering how embodied, communal practices like movement/dance, breathing, and singing help settle our bodies and invite us into new connection with others.

"Who are we becoming? Who are we becoming together
as we move, as we breath, as we sing together?

Copyright ©2020 Paul Vasile/LovedintoBeing Music

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Who Are We Becoming?

Music that Makes Community is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to help people connect and learn through singing. We do that by developing and teaching a practice of paperless song leading grounded in a theology of welcome and generosity for the benefit of musicians, clergy, congregants, students and lay leaders who want to use the practice to enrich and enliven their worship and community life.

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Who Are We Becoming?

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