Windsong Herstory

Our Herstory

		‘79 - June Adams and Betsy Reeves organized and conducted the
		Cleveland’s Women’s Choir, performing in the 1979 Womyn’s Variety Show.

		’79 Spring - Lisa Rainsong and Gayle Pilat conducted. We sang at the
		Kent Tenth Muse Coffeehouse. We performed at Hessler and Coventry street fairs.

		’80 - Penny Guy became the conductor. Highlight was performing
		music by Kay Gardner in her concert in Harkness Chapel. ‘When We Made the Music’ and ‘Twenty-First Century Woman’ featured Gayle Pilat on oboe and Lisa Rainsong on piano. We also sang in the 1980 Variety Show.

		’81 - Nan Gerard succeeded Penny as volunteer conductor for the
		Variety Show when we sang Cris Williamson’s ‘Sister.’ After this, the group disbanded because we did not have a permanent conductor.

		‘81-’90 - A yearly fixture in the Variety Shows, the traditional ‘pick-
		up’ chorus’ most memorable act was the Moral Chorale. Gayle Crawford wrote the words and Gayle Pilat the music to ‘Why Can’t You Girls Be Nice?’ ‘Stay at Home Ladies,’ and ‘Feminists.’ Pilat wrote the words and music to ‘Draw Down the Moon,’ and with Lisa Rainsong, ‘Words of Power.’ We sang both at the CWRU Gay and Lesbian Conference.

		‘87-’91 - Gayle Crawford consistently sought to rebuild a solid women’
		s chorus but lacked a conductor to provide needed cohesiveness. A chorus finally formed to sing in the 1992 Variety Show.

		‘92 - Gayle Pilat conducted the chorus in the Variety Show. We sang
		‘I Am Here.’ After this performance, a committed group formed, naming itself Windsong Womyn’s Ensemble.

		’93 - Diane Hobus became our new conductor, and with Michelle
		Colopy as business manager, stepped in to provide leadership.

		’94 - Conducted by Diane Hobus , we sang ‘Perfect Night’ in the
		Variety Show.

		’95 - A small Windsong group called ‘The Hagettes’ gave a rousing
		performance of Monica Grant’s ‘PMS’ in the 1995 Variety Show. In the fall, Diane and Michelle left to form the Crooked River Women’s Chorale in Akron.

		‘95-’96 - Persistence kept six or seven hardy souls as the Ensemble,
		even without a conductor or accompanist. We sang at the Variety Show and for Women Speak Out’s Beyond Beijing conference. At Cleveland Pride, we sang k.d. lang’s ‘Big-Boned Gal.’

		‘96 October - Sharon Marrell was selected as our conductor. She
		provided new leadership and instilled a new confidence in us. We shortened our name to simply Windsong and thus a rebirth occurred.

		‘97 - The new Windsong performed at the Variety Show to a standing
		ovation and new-found respect from the community. In May we gave our first concert under Sharon Marrell. That summer we sang at Pride; at the WSOFPJ conference; Landfest; at the Garden Party fundraiser; and with Pat Humphries at Crown Point. Aki Kawano became our accompanist. and we sang at Akron’s Take Back the Night.

		’98 - Our first winter concert, A Journey in Song, featured ‘Blue
		(Grey) Skies,’ which we reprised for the Variety Show. In the spring, our Dream Celebration concert featured ‘Something About the Women.’ In June, we sang at the North Coast Men’s Chorus 10th Anniversary concert.

		’99 - Our winter Diversity Concert featured diverse Windsong
		talents. In the spring our concert, Celebration of Life, featured a Betsy Rose song celebrating womyn, ‘Comin’ Into My Years.’ The next day we accepted a grant from the Women’s Community Foundation with a rendition of ‘Now Let Us Sing.’ In the fall, Lauri Mendes became our accompanist.

		‘00 - We presented the Living Free concert in January. At the 25th
		Annual Womyn’s Variety Show, we brought back the Moral Chorale. On Mother’s Day we saluted Mothers and Memories. We sang at the Gay/Lesbian Center’s Garden Party in July and in October at a Women’s Coffeehouse. Ellen Catlin became our business manager.

		‘01 - Our January concert celebrated The Ways of Love. May saw us
		performing for the first time in the Sister Singers Festival, held in Grand Rapids over Memorial Day weekend. In June, we premiered ‘’ WindSong,’ written for us by our special guest Ruth Huber, in our Women: Voices of Conscience concert. Less than a week after 9/11, we sang with Holly Near at the Odeon.

		‘02 - Our January concert viewed Cycles in Song, highlighted by a
		spirited rendition of ‘Hand Me Down My Jogging Shoes.’ In May, we offered There Comes a Time with special guests the Rainbow Wranglers who two-stepped while we sang ‘Down at the Twist and Shout.’ We performed at the regional GALA festival in Cincinnati.

		‘03 - Our Winter Concert featured songs Through the Years and we
		premiered ‘Like a Mountain’ with music by Nancy Lau and the words of Naomi Littlebear. In May, we combined a very successful silent auction with a cabaret, Empowering Women’s Voices, spotlighting several small groups. The fundraiser provided seed money for our 2004 performance of Where I Live.

		‘04 - For the first time, we performed two winter concerts, one east
		and one west. Karin Tooley has rejoined us as pianist, as we sang of Music Flowing Through Our Universe. In May we presented Diane Benjamin’s Where I Live an oratorio about the breast cancer experience to a very moved crowd at the Cleveland Institute of Music. We were joined by six women from Artemis Singers of Chicago. A Windsong ensemble performed at the Montreal International GALA festival in July.

		‘05 - At the beginning of our ‘05 rehearsal season, we hired Karen
		Weaver as our new artistic director and presented Steppin’ Out! to a standing-room only crowd. Our Spring Concert, Hearing Voices, featured a world premiere arrangement of ‘How Can I Keep From Singing.’

		‘06 - Our January concert was dedicated to Rosa Parks, celebrating
		one of the great Voices of Truth, Voices of Freedom. In May, we saluted women who paved the way in The Importance of Being Ernestine and shared the concert with special guests, SheWho of Philadelphia. In June ‘Windsong Lite’ performed at the Sister Singers Festival in San Diego.

		‘07 - We started our year with a very successful breast cancer
		awareness concert funded by The Susan G. Komen Foundation Northeast Ohio Affiliate. Our Winter concert, It Takes A Village, included special guests CWRU’s Solstice women’s a cappella group. The Spring concert was our first appearance in Trinity Cathedral for Home Is Where the Heart Is.

		‘08 - We went back to Trinity Cathedral for our Winter concert,
		Women in Love featuring songs of love for everything from Venus to our dogs. For this Spring concert we have returned to a favorite venue at Archwood UCC to show you the Rhythm of Life with the added backup of Gene Epstein on bass and Janet Pemberton on percussion, plus our friends the Rainbow Wranglers dancing to a k.d. lang tune.

As we continue to write new herstory for Windsong, we realize that
what has evolved is the desire of womyn to sing, and be
heard, and have a good time doing it. Life is good.