Occupy Seattle set to music: The Seattle Labor Chorus

The 41st annual Northwest Folklife Festival will take over Seattle Center this weekend. Dozens of performance acts, art exhibits and discussion groups will focus largely on labor and social justice.

I caught up with the Seattle Labor Chorus as they were going through their final rehearsal before Folklife.

Music Director Janet Stecher says labor choruses originated more than a hundred years ago during the height of the American Labor Movement.

“People realized that their welfare really did lie in organizing with each other in order to better their lot. Also, nowadays you consume music. Years ago one made music at home, so singing with each other was much more common,” Stecher says.

The Seattle Labor Chorus got their start 15 years ago. When Bob Seger appeared at the Folklife Festival, he did so only on the condition that a labor chorus would be there to join him.

Lou Truskoff is one of the founding members.

“We started out more exclusively, I think, to give support and provide inspiration, etc., to the labor community. But, pretty soon we started getting requests generally from social justice […] organizations who liked what we did,” says Truskoff.

The group does not shirk from the description of being “Occupy Seattle” set to music.

“I would say that among our members we have people who’ve been occupying for 50 years,” says Stecher.

The chorus has performed at some events with Occupy, but Stecher is quick to point out that they work independently.

“We’ve volunteered to be part of some programs, but in my opinion it’s really important to let youth drive,” Stecher says.

The age of the Seattle Labor Chorus tends to be a bit more senior than that of the Occupiers, although several of their 45 members belong to both groups, like Bob Barnes.

“I think as entities for social change, we are kindred spirits,” says Barnes.

They call themselves a community chorus meaning they hold no auditions and welcome anyone who would like to join them.

“I don’t know that a Mitt Romney supporter would probably even want to come hang out with us […] I would be amused if they came in. I would not chase them out,” says Barnes.

Stecher notes that with their current focus on social justice, their group probably wouldn’t appeal to those on the right anyhow.

The Seattle Labor Chorus will be joined by their sister group the Solidarity Notes out of Vancouver, British Colombia when they take the stage at Folklife this weekend.

Occupy Seattle will have their own stage at Folklife. They have more than a dozen hours of programming planned that will include an excerpt from a play, music and (of course) mic checks.