NYC Labor Chorus with Reggie Bennet NYC Labor Chorus with Reggie Bennet

Organized labor, united with its community allies, is an irrepressible social force. This is the message of the New York City Labor Chorus. The Chorus, with 75 members representing over 20 local unions and District Councils, was founded in 1991 for the purpose of bringing the message of workers’ history and struggles for social and economic justice through song to people everywhere.
 
The Chorus has a national and international reputation as the premier multi-cultural and multi-generational labor chorus in the United States. It is a powerful cultural tool in the arsenal of workers. Wherever the struggle for people’s rights is being waged, the Chorus will be there.
 
We stand ready to perform on picket lines, at union conventions, union rallies and shop steward meetings, as well as at community events, churches, colleges, and schools.
 
Our repertoire represents the great legacy of U.S. labor music. The repertoire includes songs of labor struggles, protest, and social significance. It also includes a rich diversity of music from the cultures of all working people: songs in the gospel, jazz, classical and folk traditions.
 
In 1997, we travelled throughout Sweden. We were hosted by two Swedish unions, LO, a union of several million blue collar workers, and SAS, the Scandinavian Workers Song Association. The Chorus performed at a five day festival in Uddevalla, along with thousands of chorus members from throughout Scandinavia. The Chorus also sang at Carnegie Hall in 1998 as part of a Tribute to Paul Robeson; in 1992 at Lincoln Center’s Damrosch Park at the Roots of American Music festival, and is featured on the 1998 Peter, Paul and Mary album, “Around the Campfire.” Other performances include the 1992 Democratic Party National Convention, South Africa Solidarity Day and the International Workers Memorial Day at the United Nations, and annual performances in New York City’s Labor Day Parade.

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