empower (education + music = power)

empower brings Seattle Men’s Chorus into middle schools and high schools across the Pacific Northwest for a bold, interactive program built on one idea: music has the power to change hearts and minds, including how young people see each other. The empower program gives students the tools and the courage to stand up for their LGBTQ+ classmates, and for themselves. 

The program centers on a school assembly where Men’s Chorus members perform songs featuring inspiring messages and share their personal stories, followed by casual, unscripted conversations between singers and students.  From there, select students then participate in a deeper dialogue about the assembly and the issues raised, the music and the real impact on their school and community. Those student voices become the heart of everything that follows, shaping podcasts, videos and other media that carry the program’s message far beyond the auditorium. 

empower builds on the momentum of last year’s pilot program with Mercer Island High School, the first assembly of its kind for Seattle Men’s Chorus. That single visit sparked real conversations among students about identity, acceptance and respect, and it proved what’s possible when music and honest storytelling share a stage. This year, empower extends that model to new schools across the Pacific Northwest, carrying the spirit of that first assembly forward while sharpening its focus on empowering every student, especially LGBTQ+ students, to find and use their voice. 

At the center of empower’s media outreach is its companion podcast. Through real conversations between queer students and their straight and cisgender classmates, the podcast keeps it honest: what it’s like to deal with bullying, how to support your friends, and why your voice matters more than you think. The podcast carries the assembly’s impact, giving schools, families and communities something to listen to long after Men’s Chorus leaves the building.