SongShop is a place to explore character and truth-telling in song. More than that, it has become home to a community of singers who, in seeking to connect to their songs and their audience, have become connective tissue for each other.

Ours is an ongoing collective process. We use a toolkit of musical and theatrical techniques to enhance each singer’s ability to communicate character, emotion and story in song, and to make each song their own.

Our work culminates regularly in group and salon concerts. The best way to test and prod the work is to put it in front of a broader audience.

Claudia Hommel leads SongShop sessions at the Community Music Division of DePaul University School of Music in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood, in private residences from Hyde Park to Wrigleyville, and on tour.