OL Reign Legend: Erin Guinup – Founding Executive and Artistic Director of the Tacoma Refugee Choir

The Legends Campaign, a partnership between OL Reign and Starbucks, honors women for their extraordinary contributions to our community in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Prior to the August 7th match against the Houston Dash, OL Reign recognized Erin Guinup, the Founding Executive and Artistic Director of the Tacoma Refugee Choir for her extraordinary work in the community.

Guinup is a lifelong musician, performer and teacher, as well as a composer and author. In 2016, she was moved by the refugee crisis and decided to use the gifts she had as a musician to help bring people together and offer a sense of belonging to those who had lost so much and were trying to rebuild their lives. As the Executive and Artistic Director of the Tacoma Refugee Choir, Guinup is a passionate advocate of community singing and the power of music to heal and unite communities, and an avid supporter of the Tacoma Refugee Choir’s mission to create space where meaningful relationships can develop, and members can uplift one another.

“I felt like I wanted to do something and felt drawn to use the gifts I have as a musician to bring people together and offer some sense of belonging to those that had lost so much and were trying to rebuild their lives,” said Guinup.

Though she had no prior experience in nonprofit organization or management, the community motivated her to push on. In fact, Guinup is grateful for the number of learning opportunities that have come up along the way.

“I was pretty naïve of the challenges refugees face in our country when we first started the choir. I had zero experience with this population. I’ve had a lot of humbling experiences in learning what people have gone through. Not only the challenges they face with basic things like transportation and access to resources, but also the incredible resilience and potential of people who can do some much if just given a little opportunity.”

In addition to her work with the choir, Guinup has led numerous community singing events and spoken at national conferences for Chorus America, National Association of Teachers of Singing, American Choral Director’s Association, the International Congress of Voice Teachers in Stockholm, Sweden and TEDxSeattle. In addition, she was part of the world premiere of Orson Scott Card and Mark Mitchell’s “He is There,” the Israeli-Palestinian choir Common Ground Voices in Jerusalem and Europe, and vocal workshops with Fortune 100 companies including Amazon. For her incredible work in the community, she was named one of five Women to Watch by South Sound Magazine.

When asked about which accomplishment she is most proud of in her career, Guinup shared that there isn’t one tangible accomplishment that comes to mind. Rather, she’s proud of the community that has been built.

“We are just a community that helps one another. I’m not doing something grand for someone. We do great things together. I am really most proud of the people in the choir. They’ve stepped forward into spaces that they previously didn’t see themselves stepping into. To take that step outside of your comfort zone is so admirable.”

She continued, “Through this experience, I’ve learned so much and yet I feel like I still don’t know anything. The most important thing to remember is that everyone is an individual with their own perspectives and experiences. When we stop and see people as individuals, then our perspective can be so much richer. It’s a blessing to be constantly humbled and constantly learning in the work I do. Realize that you have something to offer, but so does everyone else. It’s incredibly powerful.”

Throughout her work, Guinup has acknowledged the importance of doing what you love and she would encourage young women to do just that.

“Find the thing you love. Find the thing you are most passionate about and make it really clear to yourself why you want to do it. When that why is grounded in love, then it becomes easier to push through the things that are hard and to learn what you need to know.”

Working with the refugee community in Washington, Guinup has learned that there is a lot to do be done, but even the smallest actions matter. Though she is grateful to be honored as an OL Reign Legend, she hopes that this honor will encourage others to get involved in their communities.

“There’s so much need among the refugee population,” said Guinup. “Washington is the fourth largest resettlement state. We have a lot of refugees coming through our community who need a friend and that is incredibly powerful.”

She concluded,”It’s been a hard year. Sometimes this work feels fairly anonymous. It is nice that people find hope from this work. I would hope that maybe someone decides to reach outside their comfort zone and do something for someone else, after hearing about the choir. I would want fans to know there’s such a richness of experience to be gained from hearing someone else’s story. Especially someone who is dramatically different from yours.”

Learn more about the Tacoma Refugee Choir HERE.