the heARTbeat Collective
Healing and Expressive ARTists for Balance, Ecology, Awareness and Transformation. A forming 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to supporting an existing community of artists, activists and others who identify their life work as social, environmental or individual healing (or creating balance). The Collective will be an official and intentional support structure to strengthen the community, as well as to support the work of the members in the community (which includes the projects listed below).
The Loose Canon Chorale
Founded by conductor Joel Sindelar in 2003, the Loose Canon Chorale is now transitioning from its initial formation as a 16-25 voice intermediate/advanced amateur chorus, to being a 12 voice professional chamber ensemble. The group is currently on haiatus as Sindelar reorganizes and works to incorporate the heARTbeat collective, a non-profit arts organization (and umbrella organization for the LCC) in Jamaica Plain.
As an amateur community group, the Chorale's 2005-2006 season was a tremendous success. In October, the group took a trip to the Capital Center for the Arts in Concord, NH, to perform in a Hurricane Katrina relief concert. In December, the group was hired by the Jamaica Plain Main Streets professional organization to sing at the town's Christmas Tree lighting. In the spring of 2006, the group co-hosted a sold-out April Fool's Day show- "Song Foolery"- at the Tribe Comedy club in Downtown Boston. The group finished its season in June by performing a set of Balkan pieces at the Cambridge Summer Revels, in front of the Boston Children's Museum.
Among the innovative ideas that Sindelar has brought to the group:
- Performing shorter "sets" with other groups sharing the bill, instead of the traditional 1-2 hour choral program. This not only has allowed the group to concentrate on better preparing a difficult (but smaller) repertoire, but also has served to increase the audience base exponentially.
- Bringing choral music out of the concert hall, to expose a wider population to the beauty of choral singing. From outdoor festivals like Wake Up the Earth, to touring the shops of downtown Jamaica Plain, to performing at a comedy club, Sindelar has made audience outreach a major part of the Chorale's mission.
The Loose Canon Chorale has its origins in the summer of 2003, when Joel invited choir singers to sight-read music together at his home during the choral off-season. In January, 2004, they started rehearsing at St. John's Church in JP for their first concert: A Musical Smorgasbord, which featured violinist Elizabeth Hinkle and the Balmus Ensemble as musical guests. Since then the Loose Canon has performed with a diverse array of artists, including: guitarist and composer Ro'i Raz, singer/pianist/songwriter Dreea Pauta, guitarist Paul Ehrlich, belly dance company OmBellyCo., singer Wil Darcangelo, singer/songwriter Miss Tess, and flautist and conductor Orlando Cela.
Click here for concert programs and mp3 recordings of the LCC 
The Boston Merry Christmas Caroling Mob
The Caroling Mob is an annual mass caroling event open to all Boston area singers, amateur and professional. Sindelar founded the event five years ago as the logical extension of his annual Christmas Caroling parties; it has grown from 30 singers in 2003 to over 85 participants in two different states. The main goal of the Caroling Mob is to build community and good-will, while de-emphasizing the commercial aspects of the holidays. In 2006, the Mob was featured in the Boston Globe article A 'caroling mob' takes to city streets.
The Churchless Church Choir
The Churchless Choir was formed as an opportunity for non-churchgoers to sing as a spiritual activity on Sunday mornings. Joel started this group at Spontaneous Celebrations in the spring of 2004, and continued until the fall of 2006, when he took a musicological sabbatical to travel gather music in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, and co-found the heARTbeat Collective. This harmony circle met weekly to sing folk songs from around the world, and from many ethnic and spiritual backgrounds.