The Right To Sing Award
Donation protected
My name is Renée Yoxon and I’m a singer, songwriter, and voice teacher, living in Montreal and working in Montreal and Ottawa. I am also disabled, I’ve had chronic pain for a very long time, and I am non-binary transgender.
I have been teaching voice for over ten years and in that time I’ve had the privilege of meeting a LOT of different students, each with their own unique challenges. And what I’ve learned from them is that singing is a birthright. Nobody, regardless of gender, disability, race, religion, or income should be prevented from having the opportunity to learn to sing, if that’s what they want to do.
In the last few years I’ve focused my attention on disabled and transgender singers because I felt like there weren’t many voice teachers who were sensitive to the needs of the people in those groups, and I, as both disabled and trans, had a unique opportunity to cater to them.
What I have found is that, unfortunately, voice lessons are often prohibitively expensive for marginalized folks. In the past, I’ve used bartering and sliding scales to help mitigate the costs but now I want to do something bigger, something that will help even more people access voice lessons
I’m excited to finally launch The Right To Sing Award. This award is a needs-based scholarship program for trans and disabled singers. But I need your help to do it.
Through the month of September, I will be running a GoFundMe campaign to raise $2000 towards this scholarship. This money will directly provide 40 lessons to trans and disabled singers. Any contribution, big or small, would be greatly appreciated. If you want to make an on-going, or monthly contribution, visit reneeyoxon.com/righttosing .
If you are trans and/or disabled and you are interested in applying for a Right To Sing Award, click here to access the application form . There are no deadlines, I will always be accepting applications, year-round.
I have been teaching voice for over ten years and in that time I’ve had the privilege of meeting a LOT of different students, each with their own unique challenges. And what I’ve learned from them is that singing is a birthright. Nobody, regardless of gender, disability, race, religion, or income should be prevented from having the opportunity to learn to sing, if that’s what they want to do.
In the last few years I’ve focused my attention on disabled and transgender singers because I felt like there weren’t many voice teachers who were sensitive to the needs of the people in those groups, and I, as both disabled and trans, had a unique opportunity to cater to them.
What I have found is that, unfortunately, voice lessons are often prohibitively expensive for marginalized folks. In the past, I’ve used bartering and sliding scales to help mitigate the costs but now I want to do something bigger, something that will help even more people access voice lessons
I’m excited to finally launch The Right To Sing Award. This award is a needs-based scholarship program for trans and disabled singers. But I need your help to do it.
Through the month of September, I will be running a GoFundMe campaign to raise $2000 towards this scholarship. This money will directly provide 40 lessons to trans and disabled singers. Any contribution, big or small, would be greatly appreciated. If you want to make an on-going, or monthly contribution, visit reneeyoxon.com/righttosing .
If you are trans and/or disabled and you are interested in applying for a Right To Sing Award, click here to access the application form . There are no deadlines, I will always be accepting applications, year-round.
Organizer
Renée Yoxon
Organizer
Montreal, QC
