Our Hurricane Choir is made up of both singers and non-singers from all walks of life. Just as the storms moved indiscriminately into The Gulf Coast communities, touching everyone’s lives to greater or lesser degree, the choir moves through the same communities inviting all people to participate. Although our purpose is to sing and help with harmony, we also like to show our wares. We put on a number of shows, the biggies are our Concert Series, followed by Performances & then weekly Gig's.

Concert Series:

This is a major 2 hour multi media cultural extraveganza that includes a wide range of songs, film, sound recordings, video and still photography performed over two or more consecutive days. These major concerts also include a number of Hurricane singers coming out to the front at individual times between songs to tell an amazing story of hardship, harmony and healing. The Hurricane Choir is backed up with a full compliment of musicians, many of whom were also seriously affected by the Storms.

Our inaugural performance was given with an amazing and fantastic sound of 251 voices and musicians creating a musical smorgasboard over 3 days in 2 evenings and one matinee concert held at the Jefferson Baptist Church in June 2006. All this, just 10 months after the devastating storms. In these Concert Series events, our choir is supported other great choirs, in this case it was the McKinley Senior High School Choir with Conductor Cathy McManus and the Livingston Parish Children's Chorale conducted by Barbara Walker (and Melanie Rushing). The concerts series are also filmed with multiple cameras and the audio is digitally recorded for future CD & DVD archival and documentary purposes, as was done by our celtic Australian Producer/Director. Motivating and often moving samples of our concert series will be available on our website soon.

Approximately $20,000+ was raised from this concert through donations and tickets sales and this remains a remarkable achievement by members. We are hoping Danielle Price and Leon Stewart of Golden Heart Productions can provide us the exact figures in the very near future.

Performances:

Every so often the Hurricane Choir will give an inspiring major performance. This is a special 60 to 90min single event that may not include the additional multimedia dimension and multicamera filming, but the voices of those in the choir truly shine loudly without the need of extra bells and whistles. They are usually enthuiastically supported by other choirs wanting to join us in singing.

Our first inaugural performance was in November, 2006 and was directed by Baton Rouge conductor, Cathy McManus. Once again, the McKinley Senior School Choir joined us on this occassion. Two thousand dollars was provided to the Volunteers of America from this entertaining week-night performance. On behalf of the choir, the money was presented to the Volunteers of America early the following week by John Wilkinson, Cathy McManus, Jeff & Holly Cashio. All serving members of the Temporary Board of Sing for Humanity, they have become the first formal not for profit organisation to properly manage the Hurricane Choir.

Gigs:

By popular request, the Hurricane Choir accepts engagements from charitable organizations, commercial businesses and event managers. Wholefoods Baton Rouge is one our most popular supporting venues and we have been known to sing there weekly for almost months at a time.

One of the first more formal engagements was a very special charity event of the Lemmie & Mable Andrews Charitable Foundation hosted by Diane Andrews at the Camelot Club. Thru The Eyes Of A Child, which was an art exhibition of drawings painted by young children who are survivors of the Hurricanes in the New Orleans district. [Click here to see pictures from this awesome exhibition http://www.gumbofortheheart.net/teaocgallery.html]. The Hurricane Choir has had many dozens of gigs since it conception in late 2005. We raise smaller amounts, if any, for the VoA from these concerts because we support local charitable events, specially if they are for other Hurricane related projects.

Outreaches:

Outreaches form one of the most exciting and engaging activities the choir members can do. We do outreaches to the worst hit area's of New Orlean's in the Lower Ninth Ward where the death toll was significant and colaterol damage was extreme. We also do outreaches in FEMA park's such as Renaissance Village, the largest FEMA Park in the United States. Many of the people at these FEMA Parks came from all over Southern Louisiana, including the Lower Ninth Ward. We have also done smaller outreaches to survivors in Hammond, Laffeyette and Covington to name just a few. Outreaches are a way for us to bring some joy and encouragement to the people rebuilding in these area's. It enables counsellors and mental health services attached to the Hurricane Choir to better reach out in a very direct and, almost spiritual way to the people in need. Although the Hurricane Choir is not affilated with any particular religion or religious group, all of us believe there is a definate higher grace driving us.