Sister Singer Network Festival
More Than Music Here
June 27 – July 1, 2018 at the Amway Grand Plaza
It is an exciting year for GRWC. We are hosting the Sister Singer Network Festival with approximately 600 singers from 20 different choruses from around the country attending and special guests Moira Mmiley & VOCO and Ysaye Barnwell.
Thank you to those who purchased tickets. You can pick up your tickets at the Will Call table just outside of the Ambassador Ballroom in the Amway Grand Plaza. On-line ticket sales are now closed.
All performances will be at the Amway Grand Plaza in the Ambassador Ballroom in downtown Grand Rapids.
Concert Dates, Times and Performers:
Thursday Afternoon, June 28, 2018 from 3:30 – 5:30
Calliope Women’s Chorus, St. Paul, MN
Singing in Sacred Circles Sisters, Cincinnati, OH
Brattleboro Women’s Chorus, Brattleboro, VT
Charlottesville Women’s Choir, Charlottesville, VA
Thursday Evening, June 28, 2018 from 7:30 – 9:30
Bread & Roses Chorus, DeKalb, IL
Common Woman Chorus, Durham, NC
Special Guest Performance by moira smiley & VOCO
Friday Afternoon, June 29, 2018 from 3:30 – 5:30
Amasong, Champaign-Urbana, IL
Indianapolis Women’s’ Chorus, Indianapolis, IN
Women in Harmony, Portland, ME
Voice Rising, Jamaica Plain, MA
Friday Evening, June 29, 2018 from 7:30 – 9:45 **SOLD OUT SHOW!!
Opening by Special Guest Ysaye Barnwell
Windsong, Cleveland’s Feminist Chorus, Cleveland, OH
Artemis Singers, Chicago, IL
Womansong, Ashville, NC
Sistrum, Lansing Women’s Chorus, Lansing, MI
Saturday Afternoon, June 30, 2018 from 3:30 – 5:30
Rochester Women’s Community Chorus, Rochester, NY
Columbus Women’s Chorus, Columbus, OH
ANNA Crusis Women’s Choir, Philadelphia, PA
MUSE, Cincinnati Women’s Chorus, Cincinnati, OH
Saturday Evening, June 30, 2018 from 7:00 – 9:00 **SOLD OUT SHOW!!
San Diego Women’s Chorus, San Diego, CA
Grand Rapids Women’s Chorus, Grand Rapids, MI
Agate Mass Chorus*
Petoskey Mass Chorus*
*the 2 mass choruses are each comprised of singers from 10 different choruses. Each group will be singing 3 different songs and our festival commission piece: Flores y Semilas with lyrics by Aleida Rodriguez and music by Ivette Herryman Rodriguez
SSN 2018 Festival Name: MORE THAN MUSIC HERE
When the Grand Rapids Women’s Chorus began to try to determine a theme/name for the SSN 2018 Festival, lots of ideas came to mind. The current political climate and the distress felt by many of our members brought our focus to the lyrics of a song that our chorus sang in our 2017 spring concert that has fast become a favorite piece of ours – “Always Keep This Close.” The composer captured the warmth, togetherness and love that is felt within a choir.
Feeling the love in this piece and particularly the “You make more than music here” moment/lyric, the GRWC chose “MORE THAN MUSIC HERE” as the name for the SSN 2018 Festival. We feel strongly of the importance of uniting as a group of women with common interests to change the world with more than just music. Many of us marched or watched with admiration as hundreds of thousands of people participated in the Women’s March in January 2017, creating a national movement to unify and empower everyone who stands for women’s rights, human rights, civil liberties, and social justice for all. We will lift our voices in song to celebrate this unity, but we also have the opportunity to come together and work to make great change in our world.
