Takoma Park MD
6-04-2026 3:45pm

Lift Your Voice, Love Your Neighbor—Claim Your Free Ticket!

First Friday Solidarity Sing. June 5. Church of the Ascension. Silver Spring.

Music Changes Lives

Jen Hayman is an Asian American choral conductor, educator, singer, and pianist who believes in the power of music to change lives and culture.

Not in the abstract. In the actual. In a room with other people who are also nervous about singing in public.

She is the special guest song leader at the First Friday Solidarity Sing on June 5 at 7:00 PM at the Church of the Ascension in Silver Spring. Doors open at 6:30 PM. The event is free. The parking is free. The only thing you need to bring is your voice.

But first, let us understand how we got here.

The Origin

Before the sing-along, there was a pantry. Before the pantry, there was a mutual aid network. Before the network, there were neighbors who refused to let each other go hungry.

Tommy's Pantry provides food to families in Silver Spring and Takoma Park . Silver Spring & Takoma Park Mutual Aid organizes neighbors to support neighbors – no bureaucracy, no applications, just help.

Carpe Diem Arts believes that arts and community are the same thing.

Church of the Ascension opens its doors because that is what churches are supposed to do.

These four organizations came together around a simple idea: what if we sang? What if we lifted our voices – literally – while also lifting up our neighbors?

That is the Solidarity Sing.

Everyone Is Welcome

Here is the thing about community events. You worry they will be awkward. You worry you will not know the songs. You worry you will show up and stand in a corner while everyone else already knows each other.

This is not that event.

The hosts know you are nervous. They do not care if you can sing. They care if you show up.

Bailey Joy Myers is hosting. Jen Hayman – the choral conductor who believes music can change lives – is leading the songs. Connie McKenna and others will be there too.

If you want to lead a song, they would love that. Contact Bailey at baileyjoymyers@gmail.com .

But if you just want to show up and hum along, that is fine too.

More Than a Sing-Along. 

You will leave with something better than a free ticket. You will leave knowing:

  • Where to find Tommy's Pantry if you or someone you know needs food
  • How to connect with Silver Spring & Takoma Park Mutual Aid
  • That there is a church in Silver Spring that opens its doors not just on Sundays, but on Friday nights, for singing

And you will have sung. With other people. In a room where no one cared if you were on key.

That is the reward.

The Details

  • What: First Friday Solidarity Sing
  • When: Friday, June 5, 2026. Doors at 6:30 PM. Singing at 7:00 PM.
  • Where: Church of the Ascension Parish Hall, 633 Sligo Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910
  • Cost: Free
  • Parking: Free
  • Reserve your free ticket: Eventbrite link

If You Go

  • Come at 6:30 PM to connect with neighbors and learn about Tommy's Pantry and Mutual Aid
  • Bring a friend who needs to be around people who are trying
  • Leave your judgment at the door. No one is auditioning.

The Close

Jen Hayman believes in the power of music to change lives and culture.

She is not wrong.

Sing if you want. Hum if you prefer. Clap if that is your speed. Just show up.

Reserve your free ticket here: Eventbrite link

#SolidaritySing #CarpeDiemArts #TommysPantry #MutualAid #SilverSpring #TakomaPark #CulturalDMV

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