Current workshops and choirs

"Fay White is well-known & loved for the series of recordings she has produced in recent years. She has a truly exceptional voice and her singing workshops have a reputation for being very refreshing & great fun."
- Les Langmead, Wodonga.

Fay White is a singer and facilitator who identifies with the words of poet Adrienne Rich in trying to be "part of an underground stream - of voices that resist the voices that tell us we are nothing." Fay knows that music, especially song, can heal, inspire, encourage, build community and play a role in social change. Her sessions and workshops do this.

Singing workshops, choirs and sessions that Fay is available to run:

Get singing!
Lots of us have been told that we can't sing. "You just mime dear" or "Don't give up your day job" or even "Do you have to?" Everyone has a right to sing. It’s part of being a healthy human being. It’s a way to feel alive and free. This workshop is a safe place to sing. There'll be no criticism, no solos. Easy, beautiful, simple songs. No musical training required, just willingness to have a go. Confident singers welcome too.. Wear comfortable clothes and be prepared for a good time.

Singing from the heart
Lose your inhibitions about singing freely, let your voice fly and sing from your heart with passion and feeling. This will be a refreshing, light-hearted session using rounds, simple part-songs and contemporary songs and ballads in the folk style. There is no need to read music. Confident and closet singers all welcome. Bring a friend, wear comfortable clothes.

Womansong
A session of singing for women to put courage in us, energise us, make amazing harmony, sing up a storm. Easy and simple. Songs that celebrate, make you laugh, make you cry, that protest about bad food and bossy fashion. Easy, unthreatening. Wear comfy clothes. Bring a friend.

Fire and ice
Put the fire in your belly and your inhibitions on ice. Free up and get a chance to belt out a song. Singers and so called "non"-singers all in together. New songs to express joys, sorrows, hopes and dreams. Enjoy the buzz of the group experience.

Sing passionately without blowing your valves
This session explores ways to sing with clarity, passion, strength & authenticity. Learn how to communicate meaning, humour and nuance in songs; and feel confident to sing strongly from your own centre. Includes hints about how to cope with performance nerves.

 

Songs and singing in healing, health and stress management

Singing is one of the most arcane modes of human expression. In ancient cultures it was linked with the sacred, with healing and with all stages of life and death.

Singing promotes health. The body loves it! - the deep breathing, the stimulation to circulation and the rise in energy. Emotions find their catharsis and tension is released. The mind is taken up by the task and given a welcome rest from pain and problems, and the spirit is freed to soar.

Leboyer, who championed gentle birthing, strongly advised mothers to sing to their babies, to strengthen and harmonise the bond between them and to calm and reassure them both.

Singing with others is something again. It softens boundaries, helps us bypass social differences and gets us in touch with our common humanity. It soothes our loneliness. It creates a delight that is energising and refreshing. It feeds the soul with beauty and lifts the spirit, strengthening hope and the will to go on.

Singing is personally empowering too. People who find their voice find confidence. People who find their song together, create social movements for change.

Most importantly, singing is full of joy. It is fun, it is sensuous and deeply pleasurable. And pleasure heals.

Sessions around spirituality, environment, justice and community

Fay’s interactive presentations on justice, spiritualiy and wisdom are an engaging mix of poetry, story and song. She’s led specifically geared sessions for community groups, women’s groups, teachers, nurses, chaplains, theology students and youth workers and has facilitated exploration of environment, spirituality, wisdom and justice themes at conferences and gatherings all over Australia

Fay can offer talks and sessions on the following:
  • singing and community
  • the health benefits of singing
  • the role of the artist in social change
  • the role of the arts in environment education
  • creation spirituality - hope & justice

"Fay White is a poet of our times. For the past 20 years she has written songs that reflect and inform contemporary living. Fay’s singing compels and inspires. She can turn a crowd into a choir in three minutes."
- Therese Virtue, The Boite

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