December 2025–April 2026 | 2–4pm ET | Hybrid | Free
The Seaport Museum’s beloved chantey sing, held on the first Sunday of every month, is now taking place in the hybrid format, inviting you to gather with fellow music lovers both in person at 12 Fulton Street and online via Zoom.
Sign up today to join a joyful community keeping centuries of seafaring music alive. Each session fills the Museum’s Schermerhorn Row galleries with the rhythm of traditional maritime work songs and ballads. Whether you’re singing along, leading a tune, or just soaking in the sound, you’ll be part of a warm and welcoming tradition that connects voices across the waves.
In-Person Registration
Preregistration is encouraged to join the event at 12 Fulton Street. Walkups will be accommodated as possible. Any in-person attendee is welcome to lead a song during the round-robin. If you have a specific song that you would like to sing in mind, please inform us of the song title when you register.
Zoom Registration
For all Zoom attendees, advanced registration is required. Please note that due to capacity limitations, only a limited number of online participants will be able to lead a song during the event. If you wish to lead a song on Zoom, please provide the song title when you register. You can register to join the Zoom event until the start of the program, but registration for leading a song on Zoom closes one week in advance.
Can’t decide whether to join in-person or via Zoom?
All registrants will receive the Zoom link in their confirmation email, regardless of their registration choice. If there’s a chance you might attend in-person, please sign up for an in-person ticket to help us with our planning.
Enjoy More That the Museum Offers
Access to the historic ships and exhibitions on view is not included with your ticket to this event. If you would like to explore more that the Museum has to offer, book in advance or ask Museum staff about General Admission tickets when you check in.
General Admission is available Friday through Sunday, from 11am to 5pm and brings you aboard the 1885 tall ship Wavertree and 1908 lightship Ambrose at Pier 16, and into all current exhibitions on view in the first-floor Schermerhorn Row galleries at 12 Fulton Street. Your ticket also sets you on course to explore Maritime City, the Seaport Museum’s immersive, three-floor exhibition at A.A. Thomson & Co., located at 213 Water Street.
What is a Chantey Sing?
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. 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.
“Sea chanteys fit in beautifully with the New York tradition,” says Laura Norwitz, Seaport Museum Senior Director of Program 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 by enjoying home-made music together.”
More About Schermerhorn Row
Built as a real estate investment for captain, shipchandler, and merchant Peter Schermerhorn (1749–1826), Schermerhorn Row was designed with the bustling 19th century East River waterfront in mind. Each address in this block of buildings offered a storefront, an office, and ample warehouse space on upper floors for the goods flowing into the port city. The Row’s location proved excellent for business; the Fulton Ferry conveniently connected Manhattan to Brooklyn in 1814 and the Fulton Market opened across the street in 1822. Today, Schermerhorn Row is part of the South Street Seaport Museum and holds two galleries on the first floor that give an introduction to the history of New York and its growth as a port city.
Sea Songs, Sea Lives
Join us for a webinar series that explores the lives of diverse groups of sailors today and in history through conversations with singers, sailors, historians, and more.