Get ready for Queer Joy Chorus ‘25-26
The Queer Joy Chorus is about inclusion, community, and making beautiful music together. Anyone is welcome to join—no previous singing experience or audition necessary.
Our next session starts in August 2025 and goes until December 2025.
***THERE IS A SMALL CHANCE WE WILL BE MOVING OUR REHEARSAL DAY FROM MONDAY TO TUESDAY! Chorus has typically met Monday nights from 7-8:30pm in Northampton - registered members will receive detailed location information, and we will update rehearsal DAY information as soon as we have secured a space.
Registration is on a sliding scale above and below $250 (the cost of the program) with many sliding scale options per semester (18 weeks, 90 min/week on Monday nights).
NO ONE TURNED AWAY FOR LACK OF FUNDS. For more information on what to pay, please scroll down.
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This will be our 7th year as a chorus, but our first official year as the Queer Joy Chorus!
We run largely democratically, focusing on community consensus over top-down decision-making. We choose our music together, learn it collaboratively, and perform in the community as much as possible. We are open to anyone who wants to sing with us regardless of experience or ability.
Our biggest rules are KINDNESS and CONSIDERATION for the other people in the room.
While advance registrations help us figure out the needs of the group before our first rehearsal, we invite new members to check out an OPEN REHEARSAL the first week of the semester (TBD in late August) before registering to make sure that this group is what you’re hoping it will be. Stay tuned here for updates on the open rehearsal date. -
When: ***THERE IS A SMALL CHANCE WE WILL BE MOVING OUR REHEARSAL DAY FROM MONDAY TO TUESDAY! Chorus has typically met Monday nights from 7-8:30pm in Northampton - registered members will receive detailed location information, and we will update rehearsal DAY information as soon as we have secured a space.
Where: Northampton, registered members will get exact location
First Rehearsal currently expected to be: Monday, August 25, 2025
Sessions: coming soon
Performances: Winter Ball, Spring Fair, and many more
All are welcome
Experience/audition: None necessary - only requirement is that you WANT to be there
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Mara Levi is a dynamic musical leader, merging roles as an arranger, composer, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and educator with a spirit deeply rooted in community-building. Serving as the director of the Pride Chorus for all of its five years, Mara has helped shape it into a beacon of inclusivity and musical excellence. With academic backgrounds in jazz composition, music education, and UX, they apply a multifaceted skill set to various creative and educational endeavors. Mara was a high school music teacher for the last 12 years, and was a touring singer-songwriter in the decade before that.
Outside the chorus, Mara's days are filled with teaching voice and piano, UX Research, arranging music, building tree houses, and front-yard gardening. Mara’s dedication to fostering learning, creativity, and community engagement is foundational to their work and home life. See and hear more at www.maralevi.com.
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Registrations are not complete without the form posted below!
You cannot can’t participate in rehearsals (except the Open Rehearsal) until you have filled out the medical form.
MEDICAL AND OTHER CONSENT FORMS
Registration Information + Financial Accessibility
NOTE: Our goal at Queer Joy Collaborative is to make all programming accessible and affordable. All proceeds go directly into programming.
We ask that you honestly assess your capacity to pay the fee (cost is $250 for 18 rehearsals and all performances, about $14 per week) and make a choice that will allow you to participate without financial strain, but will also allow our program to operate at full capacity
Step 1: Select your registration level based on financial experience
Use the “Which Price Should I Select” table below.
This is based on the honor system. You will add it to the cart on the next page
Which Price Should I Select?
Pricing Options
If you need a bigger discount, please contact us and we will work with you. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Scroll Down for Registration and Payment Information
Musical Director Mara Levi
Mara Levi is a dynamic musical leader, merging roles as an arranger, composer, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and educator with a spirit deeply rooted in community-building. Serving as the director of the Pride Chorus for all of its five years, Mara has helped shape it into a beacon of inclusivity and musical excellence. With academic backgrounds in jazz composition, music education, and UX, they apply a multifaceted skill set to various creative and educational endeavors. Mara was a high school music teacher for the last 12 years, and was a touring singer-songwriter in the decade before that.
Outside the chorus, Mara's days are filled with teaching voice and piano, UX Research, arranging music, building tree houses, and front-yard gardening. Mara’s dedication to fostering learning, creativity, and community engagement is foundational to their work and home life. See and hear more at www.maralevi.com.
What keeps you coming back to Chorus?
“A community that not only accepts me at my skill level but celebrates me.”
“The vibe in the room, the knowledge that I can show up how ever I am and folks will be happy to see me, that if I'm not there folks notice and express concern, the music that we pick, Mara's goofy, playful energy, the way this swiftly growing community already cares so much about each other...like clearly there are some folks who know each other better than they know other folks but it doesn't feel clicky which is such a f*cking relief for someone with pretty intense social anxiety.”
“I love how fun and low pressure it is, I love the community atmosphere, and it's an easy way to keep art in my life! I've never been confident singing before and this has been an amazing way to do it more.”
“It was everything that drew me to the chorus and more than I could have ever thought. I have family now. Didn't think I'd ever want to be in a chorus, but now I'm obsessed.”
*The Queer Joy Chorus grew out of NCMC Pride Chorus members who share a dream to bring more Queer Joy to Western Mass and beyond through partnerships, performances, and mutual aid. The Queer Joy Chorus exists as an example of NCMC’s accomplished incubation of important and timely community programming. In a material demonstration of our support for NCMC’s programming, the QJC will be donating a percentage of the proceeds from performance and merchandise sales to help support other NCMC programming this year in a show of both material and symbolic gratitude.