By Gina Yarbrough
San Diego, CA–Wholehearted Chorus has opened registration for its 2026 San Diego season, inviting singers of all ages and experience levels to join a unique community-based singing experience that requires no auditions and no sheet music.
Rehearsals are held Wednesday evenings at the First United Methodist Church Music Center in Mission Valley. While rehearsals take place in a church facility, organizers emphasize that Wholehearted Chorus is non-religious and non-dogmatic, welcoming participants from all backgrounds, beliefs and levels of musical experience.
Founded in 2014 by singer, songwriter and community song leader Lisa Littlebird, Wholehearted Chorus has grown from informal song circles she began leading in Big Sur and Monterey in 2008 into a thriving organization with more than 250 singers across chapters in San Diego and California’s Central Coast.
Unlike traditional choirs, Wholehearted Chorus teaches songs by ear through repetition rather than sheet music. Participants learn with the help of lyric sheets, recorded practice tracks and support from fellow singers. The organization describes its repertoire as “sacred technologies of the heart,” intended to foster healing, connection and belonging.
“Singers of all ages and experience are wholeheartedly welcome here, and there is no audition,” said Littlebird, founder and artistic director of the chorus. “We learn the old way, by heart, and together we do what none of us could do alone.”
The chorus drew more than 1,400 audience members to its 2025 concerts, where attendees were invited to sing alongside performers.
The 2026 San Diego season will be led by Littlebird, with support from Maddie Hamann, director of San Diego’s One Voice Choir. The season will also feature guest leadership from acclaimed songleader Lyndsey Scott.
Prospective singers may attend one of the season’s free introductory rehearsals before committing to registration. The final free drop-in rehearsal will be held June 10.
This year’s season centers on the theme, “What is mine to do?” According to Littlebird, the inquiry is designed to help participants navigate uncertainty and cultivate resilience through song.
“In a complex and challenging world, it’s tempting to give in to overwhelm, confusion, reactivity, or numbness,” Littlebird said. “Together we will explore and embody a playlist of songs that broadens our bandwidth for thriving aliveness in these wild times — to become the Love that is the balm. We’ll sing to resource ourselves, we’ll sing to attune to our souls’ deepest wisdom, and we’ll sing to build capacity for powerful, strategic action that mends this sacred web of life.”
Littlebird is recognized as a pioneering figure in the international community-singing movement, which promotes collective singing as a means of strengthening individuals and communities. She has facilitated community singing programs worldwide for more than two decades and founded Littlebird Flight School, an online training program for emerging songleaders that has graduated more than 1,000 participants.
The organization also produces the podcast A Song for All of Us, featuring conversations with composers and guests about the music and themes explored during each season.
Wholehearted Chorus operates as a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a nonprofit arts service organization. Donations supporting the chorus are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law when made payable to Fractured Atlas.
The Oct. 11 concert will be open to the public and will take place at The Magnolia, located at 210 E. Main St. in El Cajon.
The mission of Wholehearted Chorus is to create a more harmonious world through singing together. The organization remains unaffiliated with any religious or political group and welcomes singers of all ages, backgrounds and experience levels.
Registration and full season details are available here.
