Shireen Amini

Song Village is held in a beautiful redwood forest in the Santa Cruz mountains. We have three or four song circles each morning afternoon and evening. The circles are lead by guest song leaders or by the participants themselves. Each circle has a theme or genre, like the ones listed below. You choose the circles that interest you the most. Learn and sing new songs, or teach the group some songs you love.

Our gatherings also include fun and rich community building events, including dance, improv theater, heart share circles and delicious meals. Our gatherings are consciously facilitated to help everyone feel included and connected.

REGISTRATION NOW CLOSED.

I have been selected to perform 3 sets at the Oregon Country Fair on the Spoken Word Stage! This will be my first time attending and performing. I hope to see you there!

The Oregon Country Fair (OCF) hosts an annual three-day festival offering the finest in entertainment, hand-made crafts, delectable food and information sharing, with annual attendance of approximately 45,000. We have chosen to have a smaller Fair in 2022 with about 30,000 attendees. We are in a wooded setting located in Veneta, Oregon, about 15 miles west of Eugene, with our own water and communication systems, security team, recycling service and much more. We enjoy a mutually cooperative relationship with our neighbors in the Veneta community.

Artist and song tender Alexandra "ahlay" Blakely has written an album entirely dedicated to grief. Written in the community singing tradition, the intention of the songs is to inspire communities to create their versions of contained circles together to sing + become more agile in their relationship with grief.

The album is inspired by the five gates of grief from Francis Weller’s book The Wild Edge of Sorrow. Ahlay dreamed of recording the songs with a choir and from this vision, WAILS: Songs for Grief - Album Recording + Gathering was born.

The 4 days will be centered around 4 recorded song circles (3 hours each), recording 5 songs (the five gates) with a professional sound engineer. The recordings will happen inside a lodge and will be woven into the album WAILS: Songs for Grief.

I will be assisting with opening / closing circle, singing in the choir, and songleading!