Spain Tour 2023
Peninsula Women’s Chorus traveled to Spain (June 18-28, 2023) to participate in the Festival for Women’s and Treble Voices in San Sebastián (Basque Country), led by Dr. Andrea Ramsey (US) and composer Ms. Eva Ugalde (Spain), and PWC’s pianist Margaret Fondbertasse was the festival pianist. PWC performed two solo concerts before the festival began, the first at Parròquia Mare de Déu de Betlem in Barcelona, and the second at Iglesia de San Paolo in Zaragoza to standing-room-only audiences. 7 US choirs and 1 Spanish choir participated in the festival with the closing concert on June 27 at Santa María del Coro in San Sebastián.
¡Buen Viaje! Pre-Tour Concert
Friday, June 16, 2023 @ 7:00pm
Valley Presbyterian Church, Portola Valley
Peninsula Women’s Chorus and Peninsula Girls Chorus are on our way to Spain! Come for an evening of incredible music and send us off with good wishes for a wonderful tour. Each choir will perform a set of music chosen for our travels, and the combined choir will share some of the music we’ve prepared to perform at the Festival for Women’s and Treble Voices. This festival will feature youth and women’s choirs from Spain and the United States, under the direction of Dr. Andrea Ramsey and Spanish composer Ms. Eva Ugalde.
Closing Concert of Chorus America 2023 Conference
Friday, June 2, 2023 @ 7PM
Grace Cathedral, San Francisco
Join us at Grace Cathedral for the Closing Concert of the 2023 Conference. Experience an array of choral talent from Northern California with performances from Kitka, Peninsula Women’s Chorus, Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir, San Francisco Choral Artists, The Choral Project, Volti, and the San Francisco Girls Chorus.
Valérie Sainte-Agathe, artistic director of the San Francisco Girls Chorus, will lead the ensembles in a group performance at the end of the Closing Concert.
Speakers / Performers:
Kitka
Peninsula Women’s Chorus
Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir
San Francisco Choral Artists
The Choral Project
Volti
San Francisco Girls Chorus
Introducing Virtual Voices Program (ViVo)!
August 2022
The Virtual Voices Program (previously the Affiliate/Remote Program) is a program geared to support participation in PWC at a lower commitment level. Whether you are a new mother, balancing complicated work and family schedules, need to visit a new grandchild, or living too far to commute to regular rehearsals, this program might be the right fit for you. ViVo participants perform a limited selection of our repertoire in our final season concerts. Come join the ViVo and become a part of our wonderful PWC community!
Click here for more information.
First Annual PWC at the Park (Free Outreach Concert)
Sat, April 2, 2022 @ 4:00pm
Leo J. Ryan Park Amphitheater, Foster City
The Peninsula Women’s Chorus is pleased to celebrate the springtime beauty of the Bay Area with a free concert in the amphitheater at Foster City’s Leo J. Ryan Park. In this first annual PWC at the Park concert, we’ll share selections from our upcoming spring repertoire against the backdrop of Foster City’s beautiful lagoon while audience members relax in the fresh air and lovely park setting.
This ~30 minute program led by the PWC’s Artistic Director Dr. Anne K. Hege will be an interactive exploration of choral music celebrating nature: water, earth, and the cosmos. From the rhythmic vocals accompanying Estévez’s “Mata del Anima Sola” (Tree of the Lonely Soul) to the clear, ringing sound of tuned water glasses in Ešenvalds’ “Stars,” each piece of music will spark wonder in listeners of all ages and sow the seeds of a love of choral music in our youngest audiences.
The PWC hopes this unique outdoor concert experience will provide everyone, including families with children under 5, an opportunity to hear live choral music in a safe, comfortable, and inspiring environment.
Introducing PWC’s New Artistic Director Anne K. Hege (July 2021)
After a year of learning and adapting to rehearsing and performing virtually with interim artistic directors, we would like to warmly welcome our new permanent Artistic Director, Dr. Anne K. Hege as we return to being an in-person chorus. Anne strives to create music that “keeps us human” by supporting listening, attention, presence, and awareness of the body in her work as a conductor, composer, singer, performer, instrument builder, and scholar. She is currently on the voice faculty of Mills College and is the director of Level IV of the San Francisco Girls Chorus. We loved working with Anne in the virtual setting and can’t wait to get started in person this coming August!
From Anne:
I am honored to begin my tenure as the Artistic Director of the Peninsula Women’s Chorus. I had a magical experience leading PWC this past fall, creating our radio play together and finding space to be creative, musical, and thoughtful amidst the chaos of a worldwide pandemic, presidential election, historic wildfires, and many unknowns. PWC’s commitment to music making and their vision of the power of women together that unfolded through the creation of “Singing a Path to Dawn: A Radio Play” was profoundly inspiring. It is a privilege to have the opportunity to continue to lead PWC and work with an organization dedicated to things that I have spent my career supporting and creating – new music, women in music, and community. I am eager to share my vision of all that choral music can be as we re-enter a world with live rehearsal and live performance this fall.
Virtual Concert: “We Have a Voice” (May 2021)
“I have a voice—it trembles and it shakes like thunder.” – Moira Smiley
The past year has forced us to endure hardships and isolation, and the pandemic has magnified deeply rooted inequality and injustice. We have sung for more than a year, together, yet separated by screens. As we carry on boldly into the spring of 2021, the Peninsula Women’s Chorus offers a message of resilience: we are stronger when we march together, and when we continue to join our voices with those around us.
Under the leadership of Interim Artistic Director Corie Brown, the PWC voices our response to crisis and our emergence into hope through the music of six North American composers. From Randall Thompson’s deeply poignant setting of the Frost poem “Come In” that explores humanity at the crossroads of grief and hope, to the ethereal “Dolce Cantavi” by Caroline Shaw, we reflect on themes of isolation, fear, and light. Spoken poetry written in response to our time is woven together with “We Shall Be Known” by Mamuse and the vivacious and fierce “I Have a Voice” by Moira Smiley, who adapted the piece for our virtual choir. Both offer a bold declaration of what we can do through embodied singing, and through the return to and reaffirmation of our core values of connection and community.
Sing with us, move with us, shout with us from all corners of the world — we DO have a voice!
Join us for our post-concert backstage reception! Interim Artistic Director Corie Brown, composer (and body percussion master) Moira Smiley, and members of our virtual production team will offer an inside look at the making of We Have A Voice! Bring a beverage of choice to celebrate with us directly following the program! The concert will be available to view on-demand thru June 30, 2021.
Introducing our new Interim Artistic Director for Spring 2021!
Dear PWC Community,
With a new year comes fresh perspectives, a brighter light at the end of a long tunnel, and a new season with another amazing Interim Artistic Director! We are excited to welcome Dr. Corie Brown, who is also currently Assistant Professor of Choral Music Education at San Jose State University. She brings an impressive array of experience from her work as a clinician and guest conductor nationally and internationally, to her diverse conducting experience working with treble ensembles. You can learn more about Corie here.
Here are some words from Corie:
“It is with enthusiasm that I join the talented singers of the Peninsula Women’s Chorus this spring as Interim Artistic Director! I am honored to be a part of such a strong representation of the dedication and determination found in the marrow of this ensemble. Now, more than ever, focusing on the vision of creating transcendent musical experiences resonates with me, as we continue to raise (and record) our voices amidst uncertainty. To get to do this with a group of women who are equally committed to both the musical and the community is an absolute joy!
This season, we have the chance to do what creatives have done throughout the ages: to respond to our current time through our art. We weave together music from six quintessential American composers, including Caroline Shaw, Randall Thompson, and Moira Smiley, so that we might respond to and heal from our isolation, and reaffirm our value of community. I very much look forward to our upcoming rehearsals, with the goal of not only honing our recording skills, opening up our vocal potential, and diving into exciting music together, but more importantly finding solace and respite in the process of singing alone, together each week!”
Welcome to the PWC, Corie! We can’t wait to see what we’ll accomplish together.
With gratitude,
All of us at the Peninsula Women’s Chorus
Virtual Concert: “Singing a Path to Dawn: A Radio Play” (December 2020)
Rotterdam, 1940. A city and a people, bustling with life. But the atmosphere is rife with a sinister undercurrent that grips the residents in fear. Who can stand up to a force seemingly too powerful to be reckoned with?
Join us in an exciting “radio play,” our first performance with Fall 2020 Interim Artistic Director Dr. Anne K. Hege! After the performance, we will host a “fireside chat” with Anne, members of the radio play narrative team, video director, and PWC singers.
More details:
Through the dialog and narrative of a radio play, the Peninsula Women’s Chorus invites you to come with us on a journey—from loss and uncertainty to the formation of a community, from confronting our deepest fears to forging the will to rebuild—as we explore the courageous path of a woman who holds the promise of new beginnings.
Woven into our play are the bluesy PWC audience favorite Faith is the bird that feels the light by Elizabeth Alexander with poetry by Tagore, the startling shouts and spells of Arne Mellnäs’ Aglepta, Gustav Holst’s ecstatic Hymn to the Dawn, and the sublime setting by Pekka Kostiainen of Veni, amica mea that is also featured on our upcoming CD, Women Making Waves. “Tune in” to hear and see more… including a hurdy-gurdy!
Full details here.
Available on-demand until January 12, 2021.
Teaser video:
PWC On-Demand
Thank you for all your support and enthusiasm at our “Hands upon the Plow” concert on October 3, 2020!
We’re very excited to offer on-demand the concert recording as well as the post-concert panel discussion with our new commission’s composer, poet, and Alice Paul experts, moderated by PWC Artistic Director emeritus Martín Benvenuto. Relive the memories and inspiration of our musical journey celebrating the 100th anniversary of women attaining the right to vote in the U.S.!
Purchase your ticket here!
Video available until December 31, 2020.
Happening TOMORROW: PWC’s First Virtual Concert Celebrating Trailblazing Women! (October 2020)
We can’t wait to see you tomorrow at our virtual concert! Grab your front row tickets now!
- We’re celebrating the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment and the accomplishments of women’s suffrage champion Alice Paul, with the virtual choir world premiere of Jocelyn Hagen’s Hands upon the Plow
- Other works from the 3-year Trailblazers Project honoring pioneering women, as well as highlights from recent PWC performances
- A sing-along of Gwyneth Walker’s I Thank You God
- A post-concert backstage interactive panel discussion about Alice Paul and the artistic process that brought Hands upon the Plow to life
PANELISTS
- Martín Benvenuto, PWC Artistic Director & Panel Moderator
- Jocelyn Hagen, Composer
- Barbara Saxton, PWC Singer and Poet
- Jill Zahniser, Author of “Alice Paul: Claiming Power”
- Petra Dierkes-Thrun, PWC Singer and Stanford University Lecturer
You will receive a ticket confirmation from [email protected] once your ticket order goes through.
Please check your spam folder if it doesn’t come to your inbox.
The concert performance will be recorded for ticket holders, and the recording will be available for 24 hours using the same link in your ticket confirmation email. Please contact us for details about on-demand viewing for the concert and panel discussion after 24 hours.
For questions regarding ticket purchase, please contact [email protected] and [email protected].
Introducing our new Artistic Director (22 September 2020)
Dear PWC family,
We would like to warmly welcome our new interim Artistic Director for the Fall 2020 season, which just kicked off earlier this week with our first virtual rehearsal. Dr. Anne K. Hege strives to create music that “keeps us human” by supporting listening, attention, presence, and awareness of the body in her work as a composer, singer, performer, conductor, instrument builder, and scholar. She is currently on the voice faculty of Mills College and is the director of Level IV of the San Francisco Girls Chorus.
Here are some words from Anne:
I am thrilled to be leading the Peninsula Women’s Chorus as Interim Artistic Director this fall. It is a historic moment for all of us as we try to recognize what we love about choral music and attempt to find ways to make “the music” happen virtually. It is a time of change, deep introspection, and renewal and a unique moment to be making music together in this new form. It is a privilege to have this opportunity to work with an organization dedicated to things that I have spent my career supporting and creating — new music, women in music, and community. I am eager to share my skills and talents, combining the choral arts with technology through the collaborative creation of a radio play, where we can learn and record beautiful music together and playfully build a story in response to this moment in time. It is the perfect opportunity for a project I have wanted to try for a long time. I can’t wait to see where this leads!
Thank you for a great first virtual rehearsal earlier this week, and we’re excited to build our story together with you, which will be premiered at our virtual concert in December.
Welcome, Anne!
Thank you for the memories, Martín! (2 August 2020)
Dear PWC Friends and Family,
When Dr. Martín Benvenuto, Artistic Director of the Peninsula Women’s Chorus since 2003, informed us in February that the 2019-2020 season will mark the end of his tenure as Artistic Director of the PWC, we had hoped to bid him a fond farewell at the conclusion of PWC’s May 2020 Spring Concerts. Although these concerts were cancelled due to COVID-19, Martín continued to conduct us in virtual rehearsals and directed our virtual choir version of the third and final piece of PWC’s iconic Trailblazers Project, Hands upon the Plow, which will be premiered at our online concert on October 3, 2020.
Martín’s most significant contributions to PWC over the past sixteen years have included the commissioning and performance of outstanding new repertoire for treble voices, often by female composers and centered on socially relevant themes. In his time with us, Martín has planned and directed many memorable PWC performances, hosted the New Music for Treble Voices festivals featuring some of the Bay Area’s finest treble choirs, led numerous successful domestic and international tours, and led the PWC in achieving multiple prizes and honors, including First Place for the American Prize in Choral Performance in 2015, as well as the selection of the PWC to perform at the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) Western Division Conference in 2016.
Most recently, Martín has been instrumental in orchestrating PWC’s upcoming inaugural live-streamed concert on October 3, featuring all three amazing Trailblazers Project pieces honoring women who championed significant social progress, as well as other recent performances. Before his departure, Martín will also complete the production of PWC’s newest CD, Women Making Waves, to be released at the end of 2020.
Beyond the awards and recognition that made us proud, Martín comments that “the most cherished moments have been the musical ones, particularly when we’ve attained our highest level of performance. The ACDA performance in February 2016 of the ‘Gloria Kajoniensis’, the sound of the music of Veljo Tormis at Bing Concert Hall, and the feeling of exhilaration when we nailed Alberto Grau’s ‘Como tú’ come to mind.”
One of Martín’s favorite phrases, when describing upcoming seasons or events, is “Who’s excited?” For Martín, “A very exciting moment was to find out, just before a rehearsal was starting, that Harriet Tubman’s great-great-grandniece Judith Bryant would be joining us for the world premiere of ‘Child of Impossibles’. Real-life connections such as this always immeasurably enhance our music making.”
Martín shares some of his future plans by saying: “I’m on a path of exploration, musically and otherwise, including the development of 21V, a project-based, select ensemble of soprano and alto voices with a focus on music of the 21st century of the Americas. Stay tuned!”
We will certainly miss Martín and are grateful for the many beautiful concerts PWC performed under his direction. Here are a few comments from singers and Board members expressing our appreciation:
“Personally, my favorite memory of our time together in PWC is of our 2015 tour of Argentina under his leadership. Performing in an international festival choir under one of Martín’s musical mentors and getting to meet Martín’s parents were treasured highlights of a fabulous tour.”
“Martín’s rehearsals were a joy — a magical marvel of meticulous, masterly methodology!”
“I enjoyed working with Martín to secure funding for many of his innovative PWC endeavors, including the Silicon Valley Creates’ $10,000 “X Factor Grant” competition in 2018, supporting a new work in honor of transgender rights advocate Miss Major Griffin-Gracy. For this and so many other reasons, I will miss Martín’s talents and personal warmth.”
“I am most grateful for the memories of the everyday — the meticulous rehearsal notes, the thoroughly researched backstories behind the music, the name cards on our chairs waiting for us every Monday, the gentle guidance at voice checks, the thoughtful care packages at our year-end potlucks. These everyday moments — during and between rehearsals — are the mosaic tiles that shape us as singers and as a PWC community.”
“Martín, thank you for making us better. I hope you will always know and take with you the knowledge of how much you have expanded our horizons and inspired us to build the world you envision. Thank you for your years of helping us grow, trusting us, conspiring with us to cast a spell on our audience, and enabling us to finish each other’s thoughts with song. We miss you now, and will miss you in the years to come.”
Please stay tuned for information on our upcoming seasons’ plans with our new Interim Artistic Directors. We hope that you will join us at our virtual concert on October 3 to bid Martín a fond farewell.
In harmony,
PWC Board of Directors
SAVE THE DATE: “Hands upon the Plow” Livestream Concert (16 July 2020)
- Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment and the accomplishments of women’s suffrage champion Alice Paul, we present the virtual choir world premiere of Jocelyn Hagen’s Hands upon the Plow
- Other works from the 3-year Trailblazers Project honoring pioneering women, as well as highlights from recent PWC performances
- A sing-along of Gwyneth Walker’s I Thank You God
- A post-concert backstage discussion interactive panel discussion about the artistic process that brought Hands upon the Plow to life
PANELISTS:
- Martín Benvenuto, PWC Artistic Director & Panel Moderator
Jocelyn Hagen, Composer - Barbara Saxton, PWC Singer and Poet
- Jill Zahniser, Author of “Alice Paul: Claiming Power”
Looking back on 2019-2020 (30 May 2020)
What a year! Although our 2019-2020 season brought a number of surprises including the postponement of our spring performances, we are so grateful to have each other and all of you with us.
We want to let you know that you are in our thoughts in these turbulent times. As eager as we are to perform our music and share it with you in person, we fully recognize that helping to minimize the impact of COVID-19 on our greater community takes precedence.
Please check back soon for updates on our performances and follow us on Facebook for announcements. If you have any questions in the meantime, please contact us at [email protected].
We hope you enjoy these memories we made together, both in person as well as virtually. Looking forward to singing for you soon!
With love and gratitude,
All of us at the Peninsula Women’s Chorus
Letter from the Artistic Director (20 May 2020)
Dear PWC community,
We want to let you know that you all continue to be in our thoughts during these turbulent times. As you know, we postponed our May 3 and May 9, 2020 concerts, “For Crying Out Loud,” and cancelled our June tour to Spain. In the meantime, we’ve enjoyed staying in touch with you on Facebook. You can also listen to our music wherever you are on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music and of course, our CDs!
Since the end of March, it has been heartwarming to continue making music together weekly at our virtual rehearsals via Zoom. Thanks to technology we’ve been able to:
- Hold sectionals in Zoom’s breakout rooms
- Invite guests to lead us in warm-ups
- Sing along to tracks created by our accompanist Margaret Fondbertasse, and sing along to our own (previously recorded) awesome performances 🙂
- Screen-share YouTube performances of other choirs and background info on our repertoire (sharing images of Susan B. Anthony’s shawl and gavel from the Smithsonian!)
- Meet virtually with composer Michael Bussewitz-Quarm, poet Chantal Sellers and the singers of Alla Breve to discuss the nuances of their piece “The Radium Girl”
We even had a warm-hearted and spirited virtual potluck to close the season on 5/18 with singers, alumnae and volunteers. I was honored and surprised to receive the Anne Cover Anderson Distinguished Service Award, given each spring to a member of the PWC community whose long-term service to the chorus is deemed to have significantly furthered the organization’s mission. I am in distinguished company indeed along with past recipients Andra Marynowski, Ruthellen Dickinson and of course, the inaugural recipient, founding member Anne Anderson.
In the months ahead, we will continue to work on our ninth CD, Women Making Waves (release planned for December 2020), which celebrates the momentous 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment that gave women the right to vote. A planned highlight of the CD is sharing the world premiere of “Hands Upon the Plow” by composer Jocelyn Hagen and our own poet Barbara Saxton. We intended to present the world premiere live in May, so now we are moving to a virtual choir project in order to be able to present this piece this year. We don’t panic, we pivot! The CD will also feature works by the PWC through our Trailblazers Project. Stay tuned as we develop this and other virtual projects.
The question looms large—how will we, and groups like ours, fulfill our mission to “inspire and enrich our singers and audiences through the creation and performance of diverse and adventurous music” in a socially-distanced world? The answers are not obvious, but be assured that we are focused on what we can do now, and will keep the lights on bringing beauty to the world through our singing. As we continue to grapple with the “what ifs,” please consider making a donation to the PWC.
We eagerly anticipate visiting with you in the near future. In the meantime, stay safe and healthy, and be well.
With love and gratitude from all of us,
Dr. Martín Benvenuto
Artistic Director
In the spirit of hopefulness, we share this lovely arrangement of “Healing River” by British composer and PWC alumna Sheena Phillips, performed at the 2016 ACDA Western Division Conference.
A message to our community in response to COVID-19 (24 March 2020)
We want to let you know that you are all in our thoughts in these turbulent times. Due to our concerns about the health of our singers and staff, audiences, and the broader community, we are postponing our May 3 and May 9, 2020 Concerts, “For Crying Out Loud.” As eager as we are to sing this music and share it with all of you, we fully recognize that helping to minimize the impact of COVID-19 on our greater community takes precedence.
Please check back soon for updates and follow us on Facebook for announcements. If you have any questions in the meantime, please contact us at [email protected].
With love and gratitude,
All of us at the Peninsula Women’s Chorus
PWC New Music for Treble Voices – CANCELLED (10 March 2020)
In the wake of the most recent guidelines issued by the Santa Clara County’s public health officials, we have decided to cancel the 10th New Music for Treble Voices Festival (NMFTV) on Saturday, March 14, 2020. The PWC is committed to the health, safety, and well-being of our audience and we are closely monitoring the evolving local and global COVID-19 (coronavirus) situation. As we and our guest choirs have prepared so much wonderful new music to share with you at this Festival, we will keep you informed if we decide to reschedule the Festival to a later date.