Registration is now open for our winter session of the Freight Singers!
The Freight Singers will rehearse Mondays from 6:30-8:00pm, January 23rd through May 22nd. PLEASE NOTE: There is no rehearsal on Monday, February 20th, in observance of President’s Day.
Contact education@freightandsalvage.org to be placed on the waiting list
FREIGHT SINGERS COMMUNITY CHORUS
The Freight Singers is a new community chorus based at the Freight and Salvage, founded and led by Zoe Ellis and Bryan Dyer. The chorus will introduce singers to music from a variety of cultures inside the U.S. and around the world with an emphasis on traditional/roots music. Participants will learn about the historical and cultural context of the music, as well as the style and technique, including basic body music techniques.
Freight Singers meet weekly IN PERSON on Mondays from 6:30 – 8:00 PM. Please note that Freight Singers meet at East Bay School for Boys, NOT at the Freight & Salvage (registrants will receive the address via email). Masks are strongly recommended.
TEACHER BIOS
Bryan Dyer
Bryan S. Dyer is a multi-talented musician who not only sings but plays and teaches several instruments including bass guitar, percussion and piano; writes and arranges music, conducts choirs and groups, and works in television, radio and film. A veteran of some of the Bay Area’s top vocal groups including Street Sounds, SoVoSo, Slammin All Body Band, Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir and CHELLE! and Friends, he also performs with The Funk Revival Orchestra, Rankin Scroo and Ginger, Juke Joint, and the percussion and dance ensemble Crosspulse. For several years, Bryan led the gospel choir at Camp Cazadero, and was also a choir director at Beebe Memorial Cathedral in Oakland for nine years. His musical experiences have him taken around the globe and to many legendary stages including the Montreaux Jazz Festival, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and Lincoln Center in New York. Bryan’s talents have landed him alongside such artist as Al Green, Bobby McFerrin, Michael McDonald, and Ladysmith Black Mambazo, to name a few. He is also a member of The Recording Academy and a voting member of The Grammy Awards.
Zoe Ellis
Zoe Ellis has been singing all her life. Starting in elementary school with light opera, she moved on to gospel, R & B, soul, hip-hop, and house music. She added a capella improvisation to her repertoire when she joined SoVoSo and Keith Terry’s Slammin All-Body Band. Alongside her brother, jazz saxophonist Dave Ellis, she leads Zadell (Zoe and Dave Ellis), which showcases her original compositions, highlighting both the power and emotion of her voice, and its softer, soul-stirring side. Together they recorded Zoe Ellis: Live at Anna’s Jazz Island. She is currently co-lead of Darryl Anders’ AgapéSoul and holds a chair with Linda Tillery’s Cultural Heritage Choir (culturalheritagechoir.com)