Warsaw: Calling Spring — white-voice singing workshop

Once people believed that spring does not arrive on its own, but must be summoned with song and rituals. Winter was symbolically led out beyond the village boundaries and the old was closed off.

The first day of spring was not just a date but a moment of transition. That was when the new year truly began — everything awakened to life. Even in pre-Christian times people celebrated the feast of Jare Gody, a time of awakening life, stirring the earth and increasingly brighter days.

An important ritual was burning and drowning Marzanna as a rite to close the winter. She was taken out of the village, given to the elements of fire and water, which carried what was old to the afterlife, and ritual songs were sung. On the way back home one should not look back, similarly to funeral rites, so as not to attract anything bad.

During the workshop we will sing several spring songs that call the spring and carols that wish for spring. The words of the songs were a kind of good spells calling for abundance, fertility and light.

This is a very important part of our heritage that has been preserved and is worth supporting and passing on. With these songs you can later join a Marzanna ritual and complete it so that winter does not return.

• you are looking for old traditional songs for Slavic rituals
• you want to sing ancient songs in a natural way, without stress or tension
• you wish to feel community, a deep grounding in yourself and the trace of the past that resonates in the voice
• you are interested in folk culture and ritual practice
• you want to spend time creatively and mindfully - without judgement, with attentiveness and lightness
• you are looking for something more - a meeting with yourself, with tradition and with the inner strength that sings in you

What will happen during the meeting?

• you will learn a few songs for calling spring and carols wishing for spring
• I will tell you about the context of these songs - their symbolism, ritual practice and role in community life
• you will have space to sing, listen and experience the songs as they might be sung by the bonfire, in a meadow, in a circle or in a cottage
• you will experience a moment of calm and immersion in the voice

Host:

Aleksandra Suchowiecka comes from Sandomierz, with roots in Podkarpacie and Lubelszczyzna. She is a singer, researcher and enthusiast of Polish traditional music. During field research she documents songs from the oldest generations and passes them on during singing workshops. She studies with Masters of traditional music. She received a scholarship from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage twice: in 2016 (research project 'Pieśni przekazane – pieśni niezapomniane') and in 2022 (e-book project 'Rośliny w dawnych zabawach'). In 2025 she was a scholarship holder of the National Institute of Culture and Rural Heritage in the Master-Pupil project, as a pupil of Master Zofia Dąbrowska, from whom she learns songs and folk handicrafts. She arranges traditional songs in her folk project Olica and in the band Kwiotki.

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REGISTRATION: registration form

After submitting the form you will receive an email with further instructions.

Location: Varsztatovnia, Dzielna 5, Warszawa

Time: March 14, 11:00–12:45

Cost: 150 zł until March 10, later 170 zł

If you have questions: przyspiewka@gmail.com

Places are limited, registration is on a first-come, first-served basis!

Welcome!