First Sunday of the Month | November–April | 2–4pm ET | Hybrid | Free
South Street Seaport Museum’s monthly Sea Chanteys and Maritime Music—the original NYC Chantey Sing—continues on the first Sunday of every month presented in the hybrid format throughout the cooler months, both in-doors at the Museum and online.
Through April 2024, you are invited to join the lively chantey experience either in-person at the Seaport Museum’s introduction galleries or virtually via Zoom, allowing you to join from anywhere. Each sing will be hosted by a local artist who will lead the sea-song sing-along, featuring a variety of traditional maritime work songs and ballads. Attendees are encouraged to sing along with the chorus or just sit back and enjoy their performance. Throughout the event, both in-person and virtual attendees are welcome to take the stage for this round-robin where you can sing and share the chantey of your choice.
Singers of all levels, as well as listeners, are welcome to participate in this free event. You can lead or request a song during the round-robin or simply listen.
In-Person Registration
Advanced in-person registration to join the event in the 12 Fulton Street introduction galleries, is encouraged for this event but 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 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. Click here to see a selection of custom Zoom backgrounds that you can download and use during the chantey programs.
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.
About the Upcoming Hosts
The January 7, 2024 hybrid Chantey Sing will be hosted by Hannah Livant.
Hannah Livant is a songwriter, composer, pianist, and vocalist from Brooklyn, NY. Graduating from Bard College in 2017 with a BA in both music and literature, she wrote a large body of work: including a thesis piece, an original small chamber orchestra children’s piece “Gabriel and the Cave of Dreams.” With over 20 years of classical training, Hannah’s compositions span across genres, blending nontraditional instrumentation into many of her pieces. Hannah recently composed music for a series of South Street Seaport Museum educational videos and taught chanteys for Grays Harbor Historical Seaport where she practiced chanteys as a living tradition. In addition, she operates her own piano studio both online and in-person.
Extend Your Visit
Access to the introduction galleries at 12 Fulton Street is included with your free event ticket. To extend your in-person visit and see more that the Museum has to offer, ask Museum staff about our Pay What You Wish General Admission tickets when you check in.
Before or after your event, anytime between 11am–5pm, get Pay What You Wish General Admission tickets to see more of the Museum. General Admission includes access to all current exhibitions on view in the introduction gallery space at 12 Fulton Street and access to the 1885 tall ship Wavertree. Free timed tickets for a tour of the 1908 lightship Ambrose are available separately at no additional cost.
New to the 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.”
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.