Style

We strive for musical excellence in a wide range of styles, including classical, folk, jazz, a cappella, chants and rounds, show tunes and popular songs of most decades of the twentieth century, and music recently composed.

We perform these with our own unique style and humor, always keeping our mission statement in mind. Our audiences especially love our production numbers.

Repertoire

The History section lists tunes we have performed.

Music In My Mother's House, by Stuart Stott, arranged by J. David Moore, is our signature tune. This page has the lyrics.

Copyright Issues

There's a great primer on choral copyright on the Sister Singers website,

Performing Rights Organizations

• ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) -- "ASCAP's function is to protect the rights of its members by licensing and paying royalties for the public performances of their copyrighted works." We report to ASCAP the songs we perform in concert, and pay a fee based on number and price of tickets.
• BMI -- "a music performing rights organization, a company that represents songwriters (even when they happen also to be performers), as well as film, television, musical theatre and classical music composers and, of course, music publishers"Sources and Links

Networking (Email Lists, etc.)

Although there may be web-based archives of the discussions that occur on these lists, to take maximum advantage of an email list (often called a listserv), you need to subscribe to it. Once subscribed, every message sent to the list goes to everyone on the list. It's a great way to get answers to questions. (Our own chorus yahoogroup is an example; info about our list is on our Members page)

• Choruswomen -- Our current favorite. "This list will allow members of women's choruses to freely discuss chorus-related topics (e.g. music selection, outfits, staging, repetoire, etc.)"
  • Group Moderator: choruswomen-owner@egroups.com
  • To subscribe, send an email message to choruswomen-subscribe@yahoo.com
  • or go to this group's home page (NOTE: You will probably be required to register with Yahoo before being given access to the home page. In order simply to subscribe and participate by email, you need not register with Yahoo.)
• Gay and lesbian chorus discussion elist -- this link will take you to a page on the GALA Choruses web site that describes this and other email lists, with information about subscribing.
• IAWM (International Association of Women in Music) -- this link describes the list and enables you to subscribe.
• General choral music lists:
  • Choralist is "a communication mechanism for the exchange of information and ideas between practicing choral conductors. Choralist is open to anyone but is specifically oriented towards information dissemination for the choral conducting professional."
  • ChoralTalk is "intended to be a forum for more informal and extended discussion of choral music topics than that which is permitted/allowed on Choralist. Discussion topics might originate on any of the related lists, and be moved to ChoralTalk for a more complete treatment. It is open to conductors, singers, administrators, and students, but the primary rule is that the topics relate to choral music and musicians."

New Sept 2006 Practice CDs and Files

See Members page.

Web Sites

General Feminist, Gay, and Lesbian Chorus Sites

Each of these also has email discussion lists, described in Networking above

• GALA Choruses (Gay and Lesbian Alliance of Choruses)
  • Links to Performing Arts resources
• International Alliance for Women in Music (IAWM)
• Sister Singers Network

General Choral Web Sites

• American Choral Directors Association (ACDA)
• ChoralNet -- "ChoralNet's purpose is to be the one place on the Internet where choral musicians can go to begin any of their activity. There are well over 1000 links from the ChoralNet Web Site to other web pages on the Internet having to do with choral music and related fields. It is an officially sanctioned activity of the International Federation for Choral Music and so attempts to encompass more than regional or national efforts."
  • Their page of links to repertoire resources
• Chorus America

Composers

• Dr. Ysaye Maria Barnwell (of Sweet Honey in the Rock)
• Bill Douglas
• Ruth Huber (email link to the composer of Joan of Arc and Big Dogs, Music, and Wild Wild Women, and lots more)
• J. David Moore (composer of Music In My Mother's House)

Publishers and Distributors

• Choral Net's links to hundreds of publishers
• Earthsongs
• Handlo -- Email delivery of public domain choral music. "The future of music publishing." We're pleased to be on their list of choruses of the world.
• Goldenrod -- Like Ladyslipper, but not as well known: women's music distributor (recordings, songbooks, etc.)
• Hildegard Publishing -- Founded in 1988 by Sylvia Glickman to promote and preserve the music of women composers of te past and present (not exclusively choral)
• Ladyslipper -- Primarily recordings by women (including many choruses), but also songbooks
• Morton Music -- Exclusively choral music, well categorized, with specific recommendations for women's choruses, and an informative periodic email newsletter
• Primarily A Capella
  • Includes a female vocal harmony home page
• Treble Clef Music Press -- Choral music for sopranos and altos, with an emphasis on women composers. Source of some of the most beautiful and challenging music we have sung
• Yelton Rhodes Music -- Focusing on gay and lesbian choral music

Other Choruses and Singing Groups

• General Lists
  • GALA member choruses
  • Sister Singers' list of women's choruses
• Specific Links
  • Libana -- we have several of their songbooks of rounds and chants
  • MUSE Cincinnati Women's Choir
  • arrangements and commissions
  • Sweet Honey in the Rock -- we have their songbook (somewhere!)