About SingPositive
Founded in 2012, SingPositive, Inc. is a Boston-based non-profit whose mission is to create and support local, inter-generational choral and instrumental performing groups as a means to provide music education and cross-cultural learning opportunities, and to promote music appreciation, community building, and inter-generational harmony for its members and local communities.
SingPositive, JP!
Our flagship chorus, “SingPositive, JP!” (based in the neighborhood of Jamaica Plain), is in its second semester, with a current membership of 33 adults and 22 children, ranging in age from 1 to 81. We have banjo and accordion players, guitarists, pianists, bassists, and fiddlers in addition to singers; our kids practice and perform right alongside the adults. We have babysitters in the back of the room for when a child needs a break or when we work on one of the adult pieces; we also have a children's director who teaches the kids music games and their own pieces to perform at the concert.
“SingPositive, JP!” rehearses weekly, with 14-15 rehearsals per semester and two semesters per academic year: Fall (September - January) and Spring (February - May). We perform 2-3 concerts per semester and create additional opportunities for smaller break-out units within the ensemble to perform throughout the year. Our repertoire is eclectic: each semester's musical selections are based on a theme, and pieces are chosen from multiple genres, including folk, pop, rock, and world music. Themes thus far have been "Family" and "Hope in Hard Times."
We actively recruit members from Jamaica Plain and surrounding neighborhoods, but any interested individuals and families are welcome, regardless of where they live. No prior musical experience is required for singers: all that's needed is the ability to sing in tune. Singers with experience singing in 4-part harmony are especially welcome. Instrumentalists are expected to have a basic to intermediate proficiency on their instrument. Sponsorships are available for members undergoing financial hardship.
In addition to weekly rehearsals, “SingPositive, JP!” offers classes to its members and community members. During our first semester, we offered “Sight Reading for Beginners,” and in the future plan to offer classes about music theory, voice technique, beginning guitar, and drum circles.
SingPositive in Your Neighborhood
While we are committed to nurturing and developing an incredibly rich, fulfilling, and adaptive musical experience for community members in our hometown of Jamaica Plain, SingPositive has a vision for the future that includes local, family-friendly musical experiences in every neighborhood and town in Greater Boston and beyond! We’re working to create new choirs in other Greater Boston communities as early as 2013. If you’re interested in bringing SingPositive to your neighborhood, please contact us.
Leadership Team
Joel Sindelar, Artistic Director and Conductor, is a musician, conductor, and teacher living in Roslindale, Massachusetts (www.joelsindelar.com). In addition to SingPositive, Mr. Sindelar is the music director at First Parish UU in Malden, director of the Suffolk University contemporary music ensemble Rhythm (which he created in 2008), and founder and organizer of the Boston Christmas Caroling Mob, a mass choral event that brings 70-100+ carolers into the streets every Christmas season (www.carolingmob.org). Previous to SingPositive, he founded and conducted two other JP choruses: the Loose Canon Chorale and the Churchless Church Choir, and taught music to public elementary school students in JP and the South End. In 2010, he conducted the New England premiere of Elizabeth Swados’s choral work Missionaries, In Concert, commemorating the 30th anniversary of the death of Jean Donovan and three American nuns in El Salvador.
As a singer, Sindelar is a member of the virtuoso vocal ensemble The Other Georgia, and has performed at Balkan festivals and concerts across New England (www.theothergeorgia.us). Mr. Sindelar is a third generation teacher, musician and scientist; he graduated from MIT with a Bachelor’s degree in Molecular Biology, and from New England Conservatory with a Master’s degree in Choral Conducting. His primary conducting teachers and mentors were Tamara Brooks and Lorna Cooke deVaron.
Krissy Skare, Executive Director and Children's Director, is a singer, voice coach, music director, pianist, teacher, and non-profit director. In addition to her role as Executive Director of SingPositive, Krissy currently conducts a local church choir, teaches music to students ages 3-13 at Boston Latvian Saturday School (where she also serves as Principal), directs the professional caroling troupe Beantown Carolers, and performs in several vocal ensembles, including A Joyful Noyse and Labyrinth Choir. She is also the President of the Board of the Boston Latvian Association. In the past, Krissy has taught music at the elementary, high school, and collegiate levels, in both private and public school settings, and is a former faculty member of Brookline Music School and Jackson School. Krissy holds an Ed.M. in Arts in Education from Harvard University Graduate School of Education, an M.M. in Jazz Performance from New England Conservatory of Music, and a B.M. from UMass Amherst. She is also a certified life coach.
Michael Glashow, Operations Director and Accompanist/Band Director, is a guitarist and singer who teaches Music Together® classes and private guitar lessons in Brookline and Boston. He sings in A Joyful Noyse, Beantown Carolers, and other choirs, and has performed with Brendan Burns, Mary Dolan, the Dark Cloud Trio, and the a cappella group Inner D. Michael is also a certified Reiki Master, and works with musicians to reduce strain, avoid injury, and improve performance. His healing practice is based at The Meeting Point in JP.