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Women's
Voices Chorus was founded by Mary Lycan.
During a year's stay in Palo Alto, California, Mary sang with
the Peninsula Women's Chorus.
Returning to Chapel Hill, she missed the opportunity to sing
in a classical-repertoire women's chorus. In the spring of 1993,
she posted an announcement about a group singing session for
women, in order to gauge community interest in a women's chorus.
The response was good, and in the fall of 1993 rehearsals for
Women's Voices began.
That
first year, the group consisted of 30 members and rehearsed
in the basement of University United Methodist Church in Chapel
Hill. The chorus operated on a shoestring budget: Mary was unpaid
and covered many expenses out of pocket, there was a student
accompanist, and most of that semester's music was borrowed
or in the public domain to keep costs down. Our premiere concert
in January 1994 had the theme "Images of Women in Music."
Over
the next decade, Women's Voices grew in membership, budget,
and musical reputation. The chorus commissioned musical works,
and performed world premieres and North American premieres of
others. There were distinguished guest vocalists and instrumentalists,
and joint concerts with Bennett
College Choir, UNC
Women's Glee Club, Washington
Women's Chorus, and the Capital
City Girls Choir Cantabile. In addition to our regular concert
schedule, Women's Voices have performed at the North Carolina
Museum of History, the North
Carolina ACDA convention in Greensboro, weddings, and special
events at local churches
and businesses.
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