Our mission
Womansong - Singing together for joy, social justice, and community!
OUR 30+ YEAR HISTORY
Womansong was founded in 1987 by Linda Metzner, and is Asheville's longest-running and largest women's community chorus, a welcoming seventy-five member choir and village. We are women of diverse ages, musical abilities, backgrounds, and perspectives who sing together to nurture and uplift ourselves and our community.
Lively accompaniment is provided by a variety of instrumentalists, sometimes along with dancing, drumming and poetry. Through both its music and community efforts, Womansong brings women together to nurture our community and our world. The chorus promotes unity and honors cultural diversity with songs that celebrate many themes in women’s lives, including empowerment, spirituality, healing and humor.
From 1994 - 2017 Womansong was directed by Debbie Nordeen, who led the chorus through it's 30th Anniversary season in 2017. Over the years, Womansong has performed for a variety of community events and at concert venues all over Asheville, and is proud to support local causes, such as Homeward Bound, Helpmate, Our Voice, Planned Parenthood, and Habitat for Humanity. We also support our own charity, the New Start Fund.
Althea Gonzalez served as Artistic Director from 2018-2020, as Womansong continued to partner with local organizations to support and celebrate women's issues. Assistant Directors Sarah Rubin and Martha Burrows stepped up as Acting Co-Directors as led Womansong through the pandemic's second year. Through flexibility, resilience, dedicated sisterhood, and the support of our fans, Womansong has survived! We keep on singing, and we continue to evolve.
We will be searching for our next Artistic Director in 2022, and we plan to present concerts in May and November. It will feel SO good to sing live again!
Womansong is proud to be a member of both the Sister Singers Network and GALA Choruses movement. We have attended and performed at numerous SSN national conferences.
Come check us out at our upcoming events, donate to our New Start Fund, Sponsor Us, Join Us, Contact Us!
Lively accompaniment is provided by a variety of instrumentalists, sometimes along with dancing, drumming and poetry. Through both its music and community efforts, Womansong brings women together to nurture our community and our world. The chorus promotes unity and honors cultural diversity with songs that celebrate many themes in women’s lives, including empowerment, spirituality, healing and humor.
From 1994 - 2017 Womansong was directed by Debbie Nordeen, who led the chorus through it's 30th Anniversary season in 2017. Over the years, Womansong has performed for a variety of community events and at concert venues all over Asheville, and is proud to support local causes, such as Homeward Bound, Helpmate, Our Voice, Planned Parenthood, and Habitat for Humanity. We also support our own charity, the New Start Fund.
Althea Gonzalez served as Artistic Director from 2018-2020, as Womansong continued to partner with local organizations to support and celebrate women's issues. Assistant Directors Sarah Rubin and Martha Burrows stepped up as Acting Co-Directors as led Womansong through the pandemic's second year. Through flexibility, resilience, dedicated sisterhood, and the support of our fans, Womansong has survived! We keep on singing, and we continue to evolve.
We will be searching for our next Artistic Director in 2022, and we plan to present concerts in May and November. It will feel SO good to sing live again!
Womansong is proud to be a member of both the Sister Singers Network and GALA Choruses movement. We have attended and performed at numerous SSN national conferences.
Come check us out at our upcoming events, donate to our New Start Fund, Sponsor Us, Join Us, Contact Us!
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
We value Womansong as a nurturing village and a high-quality performance group and we cultivate both.
We value the power of music and believe that our singing uplifts, inspires, unites, and heals.
We value community and believe that care and respect for each other are key ingredients of our work.
We value the empowerment of women, and we support women in improving their lives.
We value joy and believe that laughter heals and fosters spiritual connections.
We value excellence and believe that each member’s efforts and dedication are essential to Womansong’s success.
Because we believe that accepting and respecting individual differences enriches us, our music and our community, we actively embrace and encourage a diverse membership within Womansong. We affirm and support diversity with regards to age, race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, ability, and spiritual beliefs.
Love is the heartbeat of our music and our Womansong community.
We value Womansong as a nurturing village and a high-quality performance group and we cultivate both.
We value the power of music and believe that our singing uplifts, inspires, unites, and heals.
We value community and believe that care and respect for each other are key ingredients of our work.
We value the empowerment of women, and we support women in improving their lives.
We value joy and believe that laughter heals and fosters spiritual connections.
We value excellence and believe that each member’s efforts and dedication are essential to Womansong’s success.
Because we believe that accepting and respecting individual differences enriches us, our music and our community, we actively embrace and encourage a diverse membership within Womansong. We affirm and support diversity with regards to age, race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, ability, and spiritual beliefs.
Love is the heartbeat of our music and our Womansong community.