Voices Rock Opens Community Rock Choir in Portland
Denver, April 16, 2025 – Voices Rock, the non-audition community rock choir, today announced it is opening its first choir outside the Denver metro area. Voices Rock Portland will launch with a seven-week session starting June 12. Registration is now open to everyone who loves to sing.
“In our first ten years, we’ve built something special in Denver, providing a musical outlet that gives everyone the chance to be part of an extraordinary experience,” said Jill Teas, Voices Rock’s founder and artistic director. “An opportunity arose to work with an amazing choir director in Portland, and we can’t wait to build a new community of Voices Rock singers there.”
Voices Rock Portland will be directed by Caley Barstow, a lifelong musician who directs choirs with two area churches. In the first session, Barstow will lead the group for seven weeks as they learn a number of familiar rock and pop songs in three-part harmony. No experience is necessary to join Voices Rock choirs, which are welcoming to people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds.
“We have people in our choirs who can’t read music sitting next to someone with a master’s degree in vocal performance,” Teas said. “The beauty of what we’re doing is that people of all different skillsets sing songs they know and love together in harmony – all while having fun and building community.”
A typical Voices Rock session is ten weeks, culminating in a performance accompanied by a rock band. For this first run in Portland, the session is shorter, with a lower registration fee, to fit into people’s busy summer schedules. This fall, Voices Rock Portland will follow the same ten-week schedule as the Denver-area choirs, and will rehearse the same set of music.
The announcement of a new choir in Portland follows the launch of three more new Voices Rock choirs in the Denver metro area, in Lakewood, Englewood and Louisville, Colorado. These choirs join the existing group of four choirs in Denver proper, as well as one youth choir. Voices Rock’s Denver groups will perform their spring 2025 music on April 27 at Mapleton Arts Center. Two days later, Voices Rock will take the stage at Red Rocks to open for Amy Schumer as part of SeriesFest.
“With over 400 adult singers in our four Denver choirs, we are bursting at the seams,” said Clara Shelton, executive director of Voices Rock. “We hate to turn people away, and there’s a real hunger right now for activities like this that bring people out of their homes and into community with each other, in a low-pressure, fun environment. Plus, the music is always a blast to sing!”
More information on how to join a Voices Rock choir is available on its website. Members pay dues per session, and scholarships are available for anyone who expresses a need. Follow Voices Rock on Instagram to stay connected.
Questions: info@voicesrock.com
###
About Voices Rock
Voices Rock is Denver’s original adult rock choir, welcoming everyone of all ages and musical abilities into its groups – no auditions required. Voices Rock features four choirs in Denver with 400+ singers, as well as groups in Louisville, Lakewood and Englewood, Colorado, and Portland, Oregon. Additionally, Voices Rock has a youth choir in Denver for kids in grades 3-8, and an adult ensemble, Reverb, for community outreach performances. Voices Rock choirs rehearse a set of rock, pop and musical theater songs over 10 weeks, culminating in an unforgettable performance. Voices Rock was founded in 2015 by Jill Teas and Betsy Marino Leighton. Learn more at voicesrock.com.