Ep. 41 - Creating Spaces of Safety and Belonging - Erin Guinup

"It is important for our members to be seen in spaces that they've traditionally not been welcome to. When you feel that you belong in a space, it changes something inside of you... You learn to use your voice by singing, and then you have the confidence to go use it in ways that dramatically impact your life and the lives of others."Erin Guinup’s pursuit of creative, uplifting, and service-oriented work is the driving force behind her varied career. She is the founding Executive and Artistic Director of the Tacoma Refugee Choir which has included singers from 66 countries and performed for over 40,000 people. With the choir, she has spoken at TEDxSeattle, been featured on PBS, and presented on hope in diverse communities for Starbucks and the Global Migrant Festival in Singapore. She has led national community singing events, spoken at national conferences for NATS, ACDA, and Chorus America, and presented workshops on the voice of leadership for Amazon and small business groups. Erin is a classically-trained soprano and has been featured with groups including Symphony Tacoma, Ensign Symphony and Tacoma Concert Band singing Puccini’s La Bohème, Handel’s Messiah, Carmina Burana, Disney’s Frozen, and her own original songs. Her internationally performed one-woman show about female composers was praised as “an amazing tour-de-force” and another show was described as “life-changing”.  A sought-after teacher in classical and contemporary vocal technique and contributing author for three books, Erin’s voice students have found success on Broadway, operatic stages, radio and television. Other career highlights include directing the world premiere of Orson Scott Card and Mark Mitchell’s He is There; performing as Mary Poppins; conducting Rob Gardner’s Lamb of God; hearing her choral works performed by other choirs; and singing with Israeli-Palestinian choir Common Ground Voices in Jerusalem and Germany. Erin was recently recognized as an American Leadership Forum fellow, OL Reign Legend, one of Tacoma’s Most Inspiring Women and one of five Women to Watch by South Sound Magazine. She became a Senior Fellow of the Tacoma/Pierce County chapter of the American Leadership Forum in 2022.To get in touch with Erin, you can find her on Facebook (@erin.guinup) or visit the Tacoma Refugee Choir website, https://www.refugeechoir.org/ .Choir Fam wants to hear from you! Check out the Minisode Intro episode from September 16, 2022, to hear how to share your story with us. Email choirfampodcast@gmail.com to contact our hosts.Podcast music from Podcast.coPhoto in episode artwork by Trace Hudson from Pexels