Leading Community Singing for Facilitators! A WTR Network Webinar with Lydia Harutoonian
October 25, 2026 @ 10:00 am - 12:00 pm PDT
Event Overview
Whether you’re a seasoned facilitator looking to add music to your toolkit or someone brand-new to leading groups in song, this interactive workshop offers a warm and practical introduction to the art of community singing. In just two hours, you’ll explore how simple, accessible music-making can deepen connection, build trust, and create memorable shared experiences in any group setting.
Through live demonstration, guided practice, and supportive discussion, you’ll learn:
- Core pillars of community singing
- How to teach a song through real-time singing methods
- How to teach a song using pre-recorded track methods
- breath and tempo, your facilitation friends
- Song choice for different groups and contexts
- Strategies to reduce participant self-consciousness and cultivate a playful, welcoming atmosphere
- Songs for each part of the WTR spiral
This workshop is aimed at empowering facilitators, educators, community organizers, youth workers, therapists, and anyone curious about weaving song into their work.
No musical training is required; all voices and experience levels are welcome.
Sunday, October 25, 2026
10am – 12pm PDT (UTC-7)
**Check your time zone here.**
REGISTER HERE
In advance of this webinar, it is recommended to watch the recording of Lydia’s recent webinar, Turning to Our Roots: A Framework for Cultural Integrity.
Event logistics
Translated subtitles will be available for this event
This event will be recorded. The recording will be available three days after the live event and will be sent by email to all those who are registered.
If you are in China and having difficulty registering for this event, please contact Helen Sui 海静.
A portion of the donations for this event will go to the facilitators of the event to honor their work and contribute to their livelihood. Donations also cover the tools, resources and staff hours each event requires. Whatever is donated above and beyond these expenses will go to the general operating fund of the Work That Reconnects Network so it can continue to provide support, networking and programing for our global WTR community.
The suggested requested donation for this webinar is between $25-$35USD
However, no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Please donate generously within your means and feel free and welcomed to join us even without a donation.
About the Presenter
Lydia Violet Harutoonian is an Iranian-Armenian-American facilitator, speaker, and musician dedicated to ecological renewal and cultural healing. A longtime collaborator of Joanna Macy, she has over 17 years of experience facilitating The Work That Reconnects, integrating systems thinking, deep ecology, and emotional resilience. Lydia is the founder of the School for The Great Turning, a learning community where activism and spiritual practice meet. Trained in community organizing and trauma-informed facilitation, she supports individuals and groups navigating burnout, grief, and the emotional weight of socio-ecological crisis.
As a folk-soul musician, Lydia brings song and story into her teaching, using music as a vessel for grief, joy, and emergence. She has collaborated with artists and thought leaders including Leah Song of Rising Appalachia and Dr. Lyla June Johnston. Her performances weave original songwriting, folk traditions, Iranian ballads, harmonies, fiddle, banjo, and collective singing into spaces of belonging.