Keynote Address by Melanie DeMore - Song as Food and Nourishment in Trying Times
Recorded at OLOC (Old Lesbians Organizing for Change; An International Community of Lesbian Elders) International Gathering, Ocotber 27, 2022. Melanie DeMore is a 3-time Grammy nominated singer/composer, choral conductor, music director and vocal activist who believes in the power of voices raised together. In her presentations, DeMore beautifully brings her participants together through her music and commentary. DeMore facilitates vocal and stick pounding workshops for professional choirs, community groups as well as directing numerous choral organizations across the U.S., Canada and beyond. She is a featured presenter of SpeakOut!-The Institute for Social and Cultural Change and was a founding member of the Grammy nominated ensemble, Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir. She became Music Director for Obeah Opera by Nicole Brooks as part of the Luminato Festival in 2019. She is a charter member of Kate Munger’s Threshold Choirs and conducts song circles with an emphasis on the voice as a vessel for healing. In her own words: “A song can hold you up when there seems to be no ground beneath you.”
Recorded at the OLOC International Gathering via Zoom - October 29, 2022. OLOC is Old Lesbians Organizing for Change: An International Community of Lesbian Elders.