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 Host
The December Chantey Sing will be hosted by Deirdre Murtha.
Deirdre Murtha grew up with Irish traditional music, but found her way to chanteys in her 20s after singing in New York City Irish sessions for five years and participating in the New York Revels for two years. A fellow Reveler told her about the monthly Chantey Sings at South Street and Deirdre fell in love with the robust choruses and harmonies, history, and the community. She has been a member of both The New York Packet and The Johnson Girls for 25 years and has led a monthly Chantey Sing in Rowayton, Connecticut for many years.
Extend Your Visit
Looking to explore more that the Seaport Museum has to offer? In-person attendees are invited to 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.