PORT TOWNSEND — However young or old you might be, wherever and whatever you’ve been in this life, you can yet have a song in your heart — and throat.
That’s the bell-clear message from Songwriting Works, host of the second annual Community SongFest at the Northwest Maritime Center on Sunday.
The SongFest will start at 3 p.m. and carry on until 8:45 p.m.; patrons can come in anytime to the center at 431 Water St.
Advance tickets are $15 at www.BrownPaperTickets.com. At the door Sunday, admission will be a suggested $12 to $25, while no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Throughout the afternoon, music from the worlds of rock, pop, folk, Americana, bluegrass and country will flow from the PT Songlines Choir, Jim Valley’s Rainbow Planet, Matt Sircely, the Harmonica Pocket duo and others.
And while this event salutes veterans on Veterans Day, it also is billed as a celebration of “youth, aging and creativity across the generations,” as proclaimed by the SongFest invitation.
The event also promises plenty of interactive singing plus video and songs composed in Port Townsend, Sequim, Port Angeles and Quilcene.
Community potluck
At 5:30 p.m. Sunday, a community potluck dinner will begin. Then comes the West Coast premiere of local filmmaker-songwriter Aba Kiser’s “World War II Homecoming Song” video and a rare performance by Songwriting Works founder-director Judith-Kate Friedman, Daniel Deardorff of the Mythsinger Foundation and guitarist Joe Breskin.
“We have much to celebrate,” Friedman said.
“Back in 2009, we launched Olympic Peninsula programs and started training songwriters with a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
“Now, more than 300 people have been involved in Jefferson and Clallam counties.”
She noted that the WWII video “tells the poignant story of how writing a song to honor veterans inspired a family to reunite twin brothers.
“The song, composed by veterans, their neighbors and families, has been getting great response on YouTube,” Friedman said, “and we’re excited to show it on the big screen” at the maritime center.
Softer voices
Deardorff, a songwriter, mythologist and Songwriting Works board member, added that the organization celebrates the softer voices.
Songwriting Works highlights “the beauty and brilliance of those overlooked,” he said.
These songwriters include people with disabilities, illnesses such as Alzheimer’s disease and those whose lives have been shaped by war.
Schedule
Here is the schedule at performers in Sunday’s SongFest:
■ 3 p.m.: The Harmonica Pocket, featuring Keeth and Nala, Parents’ Choice Award winning singing duo, and Jim Valley’s Rainbow Planet.
■ 4:15 p.m.: PT Songlines Choir.
■ 5 p.m.: Songwriting Works’ Touring SongTeam with the Musical Instigators.
■ 5:30 p.m.: Community potluck.
■ 7 p.m.: West Coast premiere of the “WWII Homecoming Song” video, plus more local songs with the SongTeam.
■ 8 p.m.: Singers Friedman and Deardorff, with Breskin and guests.
■ 8:30 p.m.: SongFest finale.
Much more information is available at www.SongwritingWorks.org.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
