Our Mission
To build community through song
Our Vision
Voices Rising is a feminist chorus of women and members of other gender minorities, such as trans, gender non-conforming, and non-binary people. We were founded upon — and continue to strive toward — a living practice of the feminist principles of community and belonging, activism and education. We sing together to give voice to our lives, identities, and beliefs, and to celebrate the diverse LGBTQIA+ and women’s communities in and around Boston. Raising our voices in joy and solidarity, we contribute to the tradition of the women’s choral movement and participate in its evolution as we intentionally create space for diverse gender identities and expressions. Through our music, we strengthen ourselves and serve our communities’ history, present needs, and future possibilities.
(Re)Vision
During our fall 2022 season, Voices Rising’s Equity, Access, and Belonging working group began to seriously consider what it means to be a women’s chorus in the current, expanding context of gender. We asked: How do we honor our roots and identity within the women’s choral movement and remain a welcoming LGBTQIA+ community? In our conversations, we kept returning to the metaphor of a tent that we strive to expand to reflect our membership. Caring for this tent is an ongoing process requiring the frequent revisitation of our mission, vision, and values.
Read more about Voices Rising’s revision of mission and vision statements and our creation of our values statements.
Our Values
As we practice our core feminist principles of community, belonging, activism, and education, Voices Rising aims to:
- Create high quality musical experiences that connect singers with each other and our audiences
- Highlight music by contemporary women, LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, and other underrepresented composers
- Celebrate, learn from, and foster intergenerational, intersectional community
- Provide an LGBTQIA+, trans-affirming safe space
- Commit to allyship across all identities
- Grow through conversation and education toward an anti-racist environment that rejects a white-centric feminist lens
- Design social and physical spaces that are accessible to all members
Accessibility
As a grantee of the Massachusetts Cultural Council (MCC), Voices Rising is contractually committed to abide by state and federal regulations which bar discrimination on the basis of race, gender, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, disability, age, or sexual orientation, and which require accessibility for persons with disabilities. The MCC and its grantees are expected to be in compliance with:
- The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)
- Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504)
- Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI)
- Other applicable state and local laws
Voices Rising is committed to rehearsing and performing in spaces that meet these accessibility requirements.