Friday night Concert Block

Bread and Roses Feminist Singers really stepped up during their set performing some more complicated pieces. Their first very funny offer was in the style of Sha Na Na – She’s Nobody’s Baby. They were amusingly shameless in their politics during We Want the Vote a diatribe against Washington D.C. citizen’s lack of representation. They commissioned this song from Ysaye Barnwell. The message of “Conscientious Objector” was a subtle poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay. They ended with their signature Bread and Roses.


Central Pennsylvania Womyn’s Chorus performed a set of spiritual pieces from chants to a whimsical Andrews sister style song … the myth of Eve in Genesis. Another Gwyneth Walker piece – So Many Angels – had a lot of the same features that Sit Down has: triplets against 2, altos singing la-la-la, and a bell-like ending building to a luscious chord. Director Giesala Collins is also conducting the Kay Gardner piece in the Orange Mass Chorus. Their Traditional Appalachian spiritual, Guide Me, was positively entrancing. It featured soloist Lee Melchior who led a choralography workshop and opened this concert with a flowing dance to a contemporary chant.

Artemis Singers: Chicago’s Lesbian Feminist Chorus from Chicago started with “Lesbian Nation” using a traditional tune also used by Robert Burn. The chorus showcased talented composers and arrangers in their midst. Karen Mooney – who wrote the Orange Mass Chorus’s “Gather” is a soprano in this chorus, which performed her “Listen.” It was followed nicely by a Peggy Seeger piece, “Song of Choice” enhanced by new verses offered by chorus members. The hilarious “Your Women’s Bookstore” is a place “where you may find someone acute” and “alluring.” Vying for most humorous song was also “The Pretty Lady” a parody of a Thomas Weelkes madrigal: “Oh Where’s the pretty lady that cam with me? I stole him from a big, big strapping boy.”

The Grand Rapids Women’s Chorus – WOW! As if consistently sensitive interpretations weren’t enough to earn a wild standing ovation, the GRWC performed no less than three commissions this evening. If you thought only men’s choruses have the wherewithal to manage commissions year after year, this chorus proves otherwise. The first, Memorial 1 by Ysaye Barnwell with words by Audre Lorde was completely heart-felt. The second, Diane Benjamin’s Miracle was a tender celebration of love. Sung by a small ensemble with gorgeous effect, you could hear some of the same angelic part-writing as in the Breast Cancer Oratorio. The third commission by Libby Larsen, words by Mary Oliver was The Summer Day, a warm and tight mélange of poetry and music. Two pieces in foreign language were playful and precisely performed. Guzophela was accompanied by a ceramic udu and Sansa Kroma, a call and response piece featured sensuous percussion, the West African Dundun, Middle Eastern Dumbek, Latin American Clave, Shaker. The excitement of the piece was heightened midway by a flawless and seemingly effortless key change. A wonderful way to end this first day of concerts.