Windsong sings with other Ohio GALA choruses at Gubernatorial Inauguration Event

On Sunday, January 14, the Ohio GALA mass chorus - 150 voices strong - performed during the governor's inauguration weekend festivities.

Listen to Cathy Roma's "Audacity of Hope" speech delivered at the Equality Wins brunch sponsored by Equality Ohio, National Stonewall Democrats, and Human Rights Campaign.

Cathy and Karen

Cathy Roma & Karen Weaver: GALA chorus directors.

Windsong Light in Columbus

Mary Francis snapped this version of Windsong Light at the Ohio Statehouse. L to R: Carol, Bunny, Holly, Argerie, Lona, Karen, Kat, Sue.

Carol & Bunny take a break before the show.

Lona & Kat help themselves to lunch.

Performers Hailed during "Equality Wins" Brunch

Soloist John Wright performed I'll Make the Difference.

Rachael Kramer from Muse accompanied the mass chorus.

Preparing to Perform in Columbus

Inaugural chorusters. Sue's in the background.

Practicing with Cathy Roma.

Windsong and Other Ohio Choruses Perform for Strickland/Fisher Inaugural Brunch

Although the actual swearing in and public ceremonies will be on Saturday, January 13, a brunch for donors on the next day will feature Muse, Windsong, and other Ohio GALA choruses. Sen John Glenn and his wife Annie, co-chairs of the inaugural festivities, are committed to a celebration that "celebrates the diversity of our state and our united efforts to turn around Ohio," according to the inauguration website. Stay tuned for photos and more!

Ann E. DeChant Performs at Windsong Awareness Concert

On Saturday, February 6, about 150 people turned out for Windsong's Awareness Concert raising awareness on what women can do to reduce our controllable risk factors for breast cancer. Along the way Windsong sang -- and enjoyed a spontaneous standing ovation! And then Ann E. DeChant brought the house down.

O Mama Baku!

On Saturday, January 6, we invoked the spirits of our matriarchal ancestors -- as women have done forever. We sang. We shouted. We laughed. According to the South African chant, Babethandaza, "we are like this because of prayer."

This was our set of songs:
1. Babethandaza
2. Gather
3. Turn the World Around
4. Imani
5. Mahk jchi
6. On Children
7. Everything Possible
8. Seasons of Love
9. Shine On Me

Official Festival Photos

The members of "Windsong Light"
Front Row L to R: Holly, Jill, Sue, Karen, Ginger, Veronica.

Back Row L to R: Kathryn, Rose, Argerie, Kathleen, Karin, Kathryn.

Beach Party

The Sunday afternoon Beach Party was delightful. Weather perfect. Food kind of like dinner around the pool the night before but freshly grilled. On the way our shuttle driver asked if it would be okay if we stopped at her house in Normal Heights (!) so that she could pick up a hat. No problem. We admired her lemon tree (on the tree lawn) and artichoke and other plantings, plus her resident tortoise. She took us to a nearby hill overlooking the valley; then to see a eucalyptus tree. With our enthusiastic agreement, we then went to Hillcrest (the gay area) and then Balboa Park to see museums, etc., AND the huge pipe organ concert which only happens once a week. Then on to Mission Bay to enjoy spontaneous performances by the Grand Rapids and Sound Circle choruses, plus a drum circle joined by Ubaka Hill and our own Rose and Kathleen. Highlight for me was having time with composer Josefina Punceles de Benedetti talk about life in Venezuela now. A very scary place.

--Kathryn Kay

Sue's photos from Sister Singers Festival, San Diego 2006

Finally, Saturday, June 17 arrived and it was our turn to sing.

After a tech rehearsal we all wanted to forget, we bounded onto stage with the certainty that we would sing our hearts out to a very appreciative audience. And we did!

Karin is behind the piano to the left out of this picture, but otherwise - you can see most of us here under Karen's vigorous direction!

Braid the Raven Hair brought the house down. Jessica, from the Columbus chorus, was our kimono-clad long-hair, and subjected herself dutifully to the beauticians, Sue and Rose, while Holly sang on.

No one doubted that Kathleen was indeed the most Popular.

The audience applauded and cheered us. Lots of people told us later that we were funny and entertaining. You can hear a clip of our concert below.

Someone's tee-shirt summed up what we all felt.

And speaking of clothes, some choruses were very well coutured. Each member of the Central Pennsylvania Women's Chorus made her own stole. For their set, they walked on with drums, drumming in the spirit of sister song.

Grand Rapids was not only breathtakingly fantastic to look at, but they sounded great and had an unforgettable set featuring no less than 3 commissioned pieces. Read a report about their concert below.

Once our set was done, we still had a Mass Chorus performance to rehearse for. We performed on Sunday morning. A highlight was singing the world premiere of "Ode to Women" under the direction of the composer Josefina Benedetti.

Read Karin's story below about how she was beseeched to step in at the last minute to accompany "Song of the Dying Amazon." For compensation she asked for chocolate and got it!

Here are some of us enjoying one of many concerts. They were all great to hear. We made lots of friends to boot, and came away with some wonderful memories to tide us over until the next festival.

Last Day

I can't believe how few pictures I took, but I finally got a few yesterday. Tech rehearsal started at 9 am yesterday morning. We all were wearing our concert dress. As soon as I walked in, Midge found me and presented me with my payment for saving The Song of the Dying Amazon, a large bar of Ghiradelli Intense Dark Twilight Delight, with 72% Cacao! I thought the awesomeness of the occasion merited a photo.

Yes, it's blurry-- I had the camera on the wrong setting--oh well. At least you get an idea.

The fact that I was not singing in the Orange chorus with the rest of Windsong was an advantage from a photographic standpoint. Here is a panoramic of the ensemble. There were at least 100 singers. See if you can pick out the Windsingers! (Hint: click on the photo for a larger image.)

The performances went stunningly well, I thought, especially considering that many singers had never seen the music before Friday afternoon. I did get to sing with the Purple chorus. Afterwards, Ubaka and her San Diego drummers had most of us dancing in the aisles until lunch time.

Then it was off to the beach BBQ party! We had a BBQ pavillion, a drumming circle, brilliantly sunny weather with a coastal breeze, and much enjoyable socializing. Groups that had memorized their songs even sang them, much to the delight and pride of all of us. Here's a pic of the drumming circle:

Windsong Performance Amuses

Hi, Argerie here. Our concert was this afternoon, and many a singer from other choruses said later how funny they thought it was! Not a description I expected to hear, but you've got to admit there were lots of funny bits. I'm attaching our actual performance of Bloomer's Complaint here.

The rest of the concert was this:
Three Little Maids (with Jill, Veronica, and me as the unlikely maids)
Braid the Raven Hair (Holly's solo elicited very funny stage business from Sue and Rose. Also Jessica from the Columbus choir dressed in a kimono and submitted to having her hair done)
Bloomer's Complaint

Never Sit Down
And Ain't I a Woman (Holly's bit was very moving -- we have all been thrown down so low, etc.)
Mrs. Harold Righteousbomber (yes, I attempted an all-too convincing phobe)
Let Us Love In Peace
Popular (featuring the ever-popular Kathleen)
It Don't Mean a Thing (Rose sang like a Mean Thing and got encouraging hoots from the audience)