Hi! I’m Emily Joy Sullivan, a musician and educator based in New York. 

I'm committed to music's potential to change the world, and especially the possibility of communal creation to make us stronger, happier, and better-connected.

I have a BA in Music from Amherst College and an MS in Education from the Bank Street College of Education. For the last eight years, I have led a variety of choirs while also becoming a classroom teacher, researching education and the arts, and developing new ways of teaching music. I have consistently returned to group singing as a fundamental part of our humanity—a birthright many of us have lost touch with, even as we eagerly consume the music we love. 

To this end, three years ago I started Ubuntu, a community choir for international graduate students from a diversity of backgrounds, including many who had never sung in a choir before—but had always longed to. It has become a site of cross-cultural interaction, musical exploration, and joy.

Most recently, in South Africa on a Davis Projects for Peace grant, I brought youths together across various perceived boundaries to learn and teach one another songs. Through this project, "Common Chords," kids from different backgrounds came together to find their individual voices while also connecting to one another through teaching, learning, and writing music.

Now, I'm back in New York, and I would like to take this initiative even further. I am in the early stages of starting a new youth choir in Queens, in affiliation with Queens Community House. This new choir will build upon the work I did this summer, using song to cultivate a strong sense of community while also honoring kids’ individuality and agency. Eventually, this new choir will link up to Ubuntu, thereby enabling interaction between different age groups and creating an informal mentorship element. Though the youth choir would meet on its own once a week, it would have a joint rehearsal with Ubuntu at least once a month, in order for the groups to teach one another songs, and eventually work on writing original music! The project would thus be an extension of both Ubuntu and Common Chords, but it would also be something totally new that, to my knowledge, has never been done before.

I am uniquely positioned to facilitate this project, given my extensive background in both education and the arts, and my track record of successfully launching original projects. I don't just follow what others are doing—I create something new. At the same time, I go to great lengths to suss out what people need and want, in order to truly serve the community. All this makes my work both unusual and valuable. 

What We Need & What You Get

Starting a new choir from scratch will require a great deal of time and hard work. Furthermore, in order to give the kids the attention, resources, and commitment they deserve, the project will last for a full school year. In that time, they will develop confidence and familiarity with one another. This foundation of trust will enable us to create musical experiences that are empowering, inspiring, and a source of pride for all involved. 

Why $12,000, and where is the money going? Well, if we meet our goal, a quarter of the funds will go toward direct costs such as transportation, copies, venue rental, and recording the CD. Another quarter will go toward bringing in other musical leaders (from New York and beyond!) who can help expose kids to a variety of music and support them in raising their voices. And finally, about half of the money will go towards enabling me to subsist in one of the most expensive cities in the world as I put my heart and soul into making this project the best it can be!

In return, depending on the size of your contribution, you could receive a digital download of our CD, free entrance to our concerts, or even more special perks, such as a customized voicemail message. (See the sidebar for the variety of options.)

The Impact

By contributing to this campaign, you will help create a safe space where youths can come together to interact, express themselves, and release the musicians that already exist within them. You will facilitate the creation of dozens of connections where none existed before. You will enable the existence of a unique project in which adults from countries all around the world will connect with these youths, providing casual, warm mentorship and a broader sense of community and belonging. You will contribute to original songs being born—songs made by and for the people! You will help create access to Japanese, Hebrew, South African, Bulgarian, English, American, and many more types of music, enabling youths to learn it, and many more people to hear it. This is an amazing way of honoring our diverse and increasingly interconnected world.

But most of all, by investing in this campaign you will support the conviction that singing is a right, not a privilege—that the arts are not "extra," but are a fundamental human birthright. If music has touched you for the better—and I'll bet it has!—please help provide this opportunity to others!

Other Ways You Can Help

Please spread the word about this campaign by linking to it on Facebook, sending it around in emails, etc.! Also, if you are interested in joining Ubuntu, or participating in or volunteering with this project in another capacity, contact me at emilyjoysullivan@gmail.com!

Sala kahle! ("Stay well" in Xhosa),

Emily Joy