We hosted the first Carpe Diem Community Sing on June 21, 2012 at the Historic Silver Spring B&O Train Station, which was once the home of Class Acts Arts (now Artivate).
We later moved the Sings to the Silver Spring Civic Building, soon after it opened, since we were also holding our monthly Community Dances there in the Great Hall.
In July 2013, Carpe Diem Arts partnered with Washington Revels and began presenting the Community Family Sings at Revels.
As of January 2018, we moved the Carpe Diem-Revels Community Family Sings to our new location, Seekers Church (across from the Takoma Metro) -- for the sake of easier parking and access via public transportation.
The monthly Sings take place on the 21st of each month -- to coincide with the Solstices and Equinoxes, and to make the dates easy to remember! Also so as to have the day of the week rove around to accommodate everyone's busy schedule, at least from time to time.
We celebrate the cultural heritage months (i.e. February: Black History Month; March: Irish Heritage and Women's History; April: Arab-American Heritage; May: Asian Pacific Heritage, Jewish Heritage and Women's History; September/October: Hispanic Heritage; November: Native American Heritage -- plus special holidays (Martin Luther King Day, Valentine's Day and Mardi Gras, St. Patrick's Day, Earth Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Independence Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and the December holidays.
We almost always have a special guest artist and song leader by way of celebrating the cultural heritage month.
We also celebrate birthdays each month, complete with candles and cake.
The Sings are welcoming of all ages, and children and adults alike will come with songs to share.
We ask for a donation of $5 or more at the door to help offset the cost of renting the space, refreshments and paper goods, and to provide an honorarium for our guest artists and song leaders.
CELEBRATE YOUR BIRTHDAY OR YOUR CHILD'S BIRTHDAY, AN ANNIVERSARY, GRADUATION, OR OTHER SPECIAL OCCASIONS AT THE SING!
We provide the entertainment and refreshments, and all you have to do is invite your friends and family to join you in a memorable shared experience!
Some families have caught on to the fact that the Carpe Diem-Revels Sing is a perfect platform for the celebration of special occasions -- like birthdays, anniversaries -- or just a great excuse to gather together a bunch of friends with whom we never find time enough to get together and enjoy a shared experience. Carpe Diem Arts (with some help from our regular attendees and occasional birthday celebrants) provides the entertainment and refreshments.
The Carpe Diem-Revels Family Community Sing is an opportunity for singers of all ages and backgrounds to participate in the experience of singing together in harmony, celebrating diverse cultures and traditions of song.
Sign up in advance to lead a song by contacting Busy Graham: BusyGraham@CarpeDiemArts.org (301-466-0183) or Jo Rasi: jrasi@revelsdc.org (301-587-3835). Or just come to sing.
Caribbean American Heritage Month and National Accordion Month!
The Carpe Diem! Women's Song Circle is the sometimes monthly, other time occasional gathering for the pleasure of singing and sharing diverse cultures and traditions of song. We usually meet in Silver Spring or Takoma Park on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday in private homes with large living rooms.
We have enjoyed working with many wonderful song leaders including Alison Crockett, Christina Muir, Corinne Ducey and Molly Hickman, Lea Morris, Mairi Rothman, Mary Amato, Monique Griffiths, Riki Schneyer, and Wendy Lanxner.
Our wish list for the future includes: Andrea Jones Blackford, Cate Frazier-Neely, Cathy Fink and/or Marcy Marxer, Chris Noyes, Dawn Avery, Diana Saez, Elise Bryant, Elise Witt, Emma Rothman, Jennifer Armstrong, Joy Ike, Lea Gilmore, Linda Price, Mary Ann Ryan, Maureen Andary and Sara Curtin (Sweater Set), Michele Valeri, Moira Smiley, Peter & Mary Alice Amidon, Rachel Cross, Robin McGalliard Nelson, Suzanna Armstrong Park, the Partridge-Ravitz family, and more. If you would like to receive information about future Women's Song Circles, please email BusyGraham@carpediemarts.org -- or if you could consider volunteering to help schedule monthly gatherings again, we would love to hear from you!