South Street Seaport Museum Announces Virtual Sea Chanteys and Maritime Music

South Street Seaport Museum’s monthly sea-music  Sea Chanteys and Maritime Music continues virtually on Sunday, November 1, from 2-4pm ET. From our living rooms and kitchens, and even from the deck of  Wavertree, join our round-robin of shared songs, featuring members of   The New York Packet and friends. Listen in, lead or request a song, and belt out the choruses for your neighbors to hear on the first Sunday of every month. The event is FREE. Sign up here to receive the Zoom link 24 hours prior .http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07ehc8py7q7c73c9d5&llr=4pcqx8iab

The Sunday, November 1 iteration will be broadcast from atop the foredeck of Wavertree, including a trip down into the hold, and will be moderated by Deirdre Murtha of The Johnson Girls and The New York Packet, a collection of traditional chantey singers in the New York area.

Old-time sailors on long voyages spent months living together in close quarters with no outside entertainment, no new people to interact with, a monotonous diet, and each day pretty much just like the day before. Sound familiar?  How did they keep their spirits up? Singing together! Work songs and fun songs, story songs and nonsense songs, songs of nostalgia and songs of up-to-the-moment news – all were part of the repertoire onboard. At South Street Seaport Museum, the Chantey tradition lives on, and Virtual Chantey Sings have been a resounding success, with attendees from around the globe sharing that the event was:

“One of the best moderated virtual gatherings I’ve been in.  Not only was it as smooth as it could be, given the vagaries of the internet, but the variety of songs, locations, on-the-spot reports, who is in the queue, a few words from our hosts, made it engaging and memorable.”

“As someone who lives far enough away from NYC that I can rarely make it to South Street Seaport (or anywhere in NYC) in person, I absolutely loved this, thanks so much for putting it on!!  I gave a donation to the museum in thanks.”

“Seeing and hearing people both in New York and in other parts of the world. It is very valuable to hear music during this time of confinement.”

“Being able to hear singers from so many places. Somehow I never connected singers from the Netherlands with sea chanteys. But it just goes to show us how interconnected we all are no matter where we are from!”

“Seeing so many young, also the short view of
Wavertree. Congratulations on doing a great job on her deck. Have not toured her since the 1980s.”

“The feeling that we were all together even across oceans.”

“Loved it all! Including the beautiful views from the ship.”

“Sea chanteys fit in beautifully with the New York tradition,” said Laura Norwitz, Senior Director for Programs and Education. “Sailing ships were a melting pot of languages and cultures, and chanteys and forecastle songs, along with hard work and shared challenges, helped sailors merge into one community. When we sing these songs today – some old, and some updated with up-to-the-moment lyrics – we celebrate our connection with our maritime heritage and also with the community we create enjoying home-made music together.”

The New York Packet 
was established over 30 years ago as the official maritime singing group of the South Street Seaport Museum. First singing on the iconic vessel Peking, they have endeavored since to keep chantey singing alive in lower Manhattan. Even when the Seaport encountered “heavy weather” during and after hurricane Sandy, the Packet found places to fill with sound while awaiting a return to their beloved ships at the Seaport. In May of 2019, the moment came when the Packet could return and sing aboard Wavertree. It was a magical and welcome moment.

About the South Street Seaport Museum
The South Street Seaport Museum, located in the heart of the historic seaport district in New York City, preserves and interprets the history of New York as a great port city. Founded in 1967, the Museum houses an extensive collection of works of art and artifacts, a maritime reference library, exhibition galleries and education spaces, working nineteenth century print shops, and an active fleet of historic vessels that all work to tell the story of “Where New York Begins.” www.southstreetseaportmuseum.org #SouthStreetSeaportMuseum #WhereNewYorkBegins
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