Choir Director “Madi”
Madi, aka Kathleen Hollingsworth is the founder and director of the Playa Choir. The idea began with a small Sunday service in a dank army tent called the Spirit Room. Between the musicians, singers and audience, there was about 15 people in attendance. Over the last 20 years, her idea blossomed into a 70 voice choir with a standing-room-only congregation. Playa Choir is now a registered theme camp at the annual Burning Man Festival.
Madi holds a BM in Choral Music Education and an MM in Choral Conducting and is currently the Vocal Music Director at Clackamas Community College in Oregon. She is a vocalist, pianist, composer, conductor and leads an original music ensemble called Mad Love.
When she’s not leading the choir, you can find her dancing on the bar at Pink Mammoth, on the stage at Distrikt, or hanging off that big LED Heart, way out in the open desert.
Starlight- Crusty Dusty Director of Communications
When one sees a full size, sequin covered grand piano and its’ player is equally decked out, mysteriously moving, ever so slowly, across the weird finely dusted yet hard-like-concrete ground, it’s clear there’s more to explore here. So, too, were my thoughts when “Naked Marvin”, some random nude dude, climbed into my car to help me wrench free gear that had shifted and was, to me, unmovable. That was my take-away from the 2016 Burn, my first, where I was solo-parked between two massive RV’s, gennies running non-stop, pumping out fumes that gave me a weird little toxic headache that I wasn’t aware of until I hit the first food truck, off playa, late Sunday afternoon. Map-less and clueless, I never found the Man that year yet had a Playa-Magic moment at the temple, had a random Burner sit with me and chat about “the small stuff” until a dust storm that I was not prepared for, subsided. I returned in 2018 and found the Playa Choir from the WWW, that essential lil’ book that I did not have access to in 2016 due to my late arrival. Miss Ayme, Madi, Abra and Tori all welcomed me and, although my teensy, tiny computer skills required some in-person tutoring, I took on what started as Mayor of SATB Village in September of 2019, after Miss Ayme’s retirement and has essentially become your newly-dubbed Crusty-Dusty Director of Communications. Still waiting on the tiara, I aim to serve and intermittently please.
Build Director- Guthrie
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Director of Dusty Productions/ Music Librarian- Tori
Burning Man has been a big part of my life since 2007 when I first stepped onto the Playa and realized I had come home. I discovered Playa Choir in 2009- a small group practicing in the Jazz Cafe and was moved to tears knowing I needed to be part of that experience. I joined the choir in 2011 and have grown tremendously since then, both personally and as a musician- inspired by the amazing Madi. Through Playa Choir, I have forged life long friendships with my follow choristers. There is nothing like standing on those risers with my friends. It’s a cathartic, new year, rite of passage, that I look forward to every year. I can’t wait to see you on the Playa! Dusty Hugs.
Preacher Man- Leut
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Playa Swag/ Tech Support/ Bus Support
Hello, I call myself “Honeysuckle Joe”, choir calls me “Nuts & Bolts”. My first year @ BRC was 2016. Every year has been such a unique experience, and I’m looking forward to finding out what the dream will become this year.
Let’s get dusty!
