Joanne Talks About Con Tutti!

With Con Tutti! I hope to create a comfortable atmosphere where men and women can express themselves with singing and celebrate the seasons with multicultural music and myth.

Con Tutti! is an alternative chorus for men and women. There are no auditions, and music reading is not required - just a desire to sing. We sing a range of seasonal multicultural music from many traditions. I have been thinking about forming this group for a few years. I attended Village Harmony Camp in Burke, Vermont in 1998. After a week of singing together we shared in a closing circle what music meant to us. On the drive home, I was filled with emotion and song from a wonderful week of singing. I was listening to my favorite opera arias and surrounded by the amazing Green Mountains and knew then that I would start the group when I returned and call it " Con Tutti!" I wanted a name that would mean including everyone, men and women, young and old, with mixed abilities. It is wonderful that in our group we have people who have never sung outside their showers or cars, as well as seasoned professionals.

I started my women's chorus, "Voices from the Heart" nine years ago.We are now two hundred strong with a waiting list. Since the beginning of "Voices", men have been asking me when it will be their turn to sing. The time seemed right. Robert Frost once said that the real reason he taught was to find like souls. I feel at home with both my groups because I have found so many like souls!