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Tucson, AZ – A trio of women’s choruses will gather in Tucson April 18 through 20 for the Women in Song Festival hosted by the Southern Arizona Women’s Chorus.
The weekend includes two concerts – one free program featuring Con Brio from Seattle, Wash. and the Southwest Women’s Chorus from Temecula, Ca. on April 19 and a second concert with all three choruses on April 20.
This festival is a three-day concentration of female vocalists rehearsing, participating in clinics on vocal techniques and roundtable discussions about their choirs and activities, plus sharing and making new friends, according to Terrie Ashbaugh. She’s co-founder of this festival, first held in April of 2010 with choirs from Arizona, Washington, Alaska and Canada attending. She’s also music director of SAWC, the 90-voice women’s chorus founded in 1981.
Admission to the 7 p.m. Friday concert is free, with food and monetary donations welcomed to benefit Interfaith Community Services. The festival’s two guest choirs will perform at Ascension Lutheran Church, 1220 W. Magee Rd.
Con Brio is a community-based women’s choir for experienced singers who are college age and above. The chorus tours regionally, nationally and soon, internationally. Con Brio was founded by artistic director Steve Stevens in 1989 as part of a family of choirs known as the Columbia Choirs of Metropolitan Seattle.
The Southwest Women’s Chorus was founded in 2000 to provide a quality opportunity for choral singers to learn or improve their craft. The chorus, directed by Bill Paisner, sings a wide variety of music, including classical, spiritual, folk, Broadway and old standards. The chorus is one of the resident companies performing at the Old Town Temecula Community Theater.
The Southern Arizona Women’s Chorus will present the first half of the Saturday concert, followed by a massed choir of SAWC, Con Brio and the Southwest Women’s Chorus. SAWC performs an ever-expanding repertoire written specifically for women’s or treble voices. This concert is at 7 p.m. at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, 7575 N. Paseo del Norte. Tickets are $18 in advance or $20 at the door. Children age 10 and under are admitted free. Discounts are available for groups of 8 or more.
For details, visit www.southernarizonawomenschorus.org or contact Ashbaugh at 404-3148 orta2sings@gmail.com.
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