“I will sit right down, waiting for the gift of sound and vision.”
David Bowie
After an extended period of addiction and isolation, rock icon David Bowie lived in Berlin in a single-room apartment painted electric blue for several months. “Sound and Vision,” a song that emerged from this period, is known as one of his most significant if not popular songs. It was Bowie’s admission that his creative inspiration had disappeared: cunningly, he used a confession of artistic bankruptcy to spark his muse back to life. The rest, as we know, is history: a career steeped in reinvention, innovation, and beautiful collaboration.
New in 2025, the Sound and Vision Youth Chorus meets our region and our nation in a time of isolation, uncertainty, and new challenges. We seek to empower youth ages 8-15 to find their voice through music and advocacy, and strengthen ties to their community through live performance and acts of service. We hope that if our youth can learn to sing together, maybe they will also learn how to better work together, and eventually dream a better world into being, together.
Meet Our Director
Jen Hayman is an accomplished Asian American choral conductor, educator, singer, and pianist who believes in the power of music to change lives and culture. Jen led a successful flash mob for voting rights on the steps of the Supreme Court, created a spontaneous 700-voice choir for a Solidarity Sing on the evening of the Women’s March in 2017, and continues to create beauty in unexpected places. Her work has been featured on the Huffington Post, Upworthy.com, the Rachel Maddow Show and National Public Radio. She has performed for two Supreme Court justices and alongside countless civil rights and social justice leaders, including Rev. Dr. William Barber, Dr. Melissa Harris Perry, and the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) Freedom Singers.
Jen has been a music leader in progressive religious spaces for over 17 years, serving congregations in Philadelphia (PA), Washington (DC), Arlington (VA), and Cambridge (MA). She is currently the President of the Association for Unitarian Universalist Music Ministries (AUUMM). She has also worked in the pop music industry as booking agent for a concert venue, a tour manager for a hard core band, and as a public school music teacher.
Equally passionate about both classical and popular music, Jen has collaborated with various rock and pop musicians and has been featured on numerous recordings as a pianist and vocalist. In her spare time, Jen can be found thrift shopping for retro home goods, trying to coordinate red, orange, and turquoise in the same outfit, and having dance parties with her husband, Rob, and son, Simon. She is also director of women’s vocal group, bēheld.
“If people can learn to sing together, they can learn to live together.”
Pete Seeger
Singer/songwriter/activist Pete Seeger believed that by singing together, people are engaging in an activity that transcends individual differences. This shared experience can foster empathy and understanding, leading to greater cooperation and a more inclusive society.
Sound and Vision choristers will learn:
Basic fundamentals of singing: breath support, pitch matching, rhythm and notation reading
What it means to be part of a choir: singing together, singing solo, singing in harmony, expression, choreography and cooperativity
The history and context of the music we sing, and the stories of the people and cultures where they originated
The feeling of performing with a live rock band of renowned professional musicians!
The joy of service and its direct impact on our local community
New Content Coming Soon!
