In Song

   Singing is for everyone. For all of human history, across every culture and land, people have sung together; sung for joy, for creating and preserving culture, to tell important stories, to enliven social movements, to remember, to grieve, to celebrate, to share. Something inexplicable happens when we weave ourselves together in sound. Something powerful and stirring enough to break down walls, open the way for wonder, understanding, trust, and solidarity between those who sing. In a world of failing empires, we sing as a way to see what is possible when people come together to create. We sing to create generative culture that uplifts and does not perpetuate the cycle harms done to land and people by unchecked colonial capitalism. We sing as a response to the systemic oppressions we seek to bring to an end. In a world so hungry for collective experiences of joy and belonging, we have never needed the ancient community art of voice and heart more than today. 

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Based in the vibrant Driftless region of the Upper Midwest < on occupied Ho-Chunk, Ojibwe, Sauk, Potawatomi, and Menominee lands > Heartland Harmony is a hub for thoughtful and joyous singing that seeks to bring folks closer with one another and the land. Our oral tradition choirs and roving workshops are run by community organizer and song sharer Annie Zylstra, a queer, plant loving, basket weaving Midwesterner of Frisian and Scottish heritage (she/her). Annie has taught workshops around the country and UK, and worked in collaboration with the National Prison Doula Project, Joanna Macy's Work that Reconnects, churches, high schools, nature connection programs, and a variety of choir organizations and networks. Annie currently leads four community choirs in southwest Wisconsin and studies Balkan and Georgian music whenever possible. You can hear some original songs for groups in our song library, contact us to book a choir or workshop, or find an upcoming event here!