Welcome — and Welcome Back — Dear Friends!

It is an absolute joy to be able to sing together again, to share song and space with you once more.

It has been more than two years since IWC’s last in-person concert. As I considered all that we — collectively and individually — have experienced, witnessed, and learned during that time, I asked: What can a chorus do? What is the purpose of community singing in a time like this?

Perhaps it’s really that simple: We sing. Together.

After so much isolation, so much upheaval, pain, disruption, grief, and fear, we need singing. Singing as a physiological process helps to settle the nervous system; emotionally, it helps us express and work through complex feelings; as a community system, it helps us connect.

We need music and community to feed our souls, so we chose music that would help us learn the skills of singing together again, to listen to one another after a year of mostly hearing ourselves in isolation. We needed a place to heal our hearts, so we chose texts and melodies that help us tend to our hurt and grief, and offer care and comfort to others. We also needed to think beyond ourselves, so we have music to help us explore what it means to live rightly in this moment, as parts of an interconnected world.

As I dug into the songs and their words, I found the same themes repeated, and they landed in my brain as three verbs: Tend. Turn. Transform.

Tending — to self, to one another, to our communities, our world. To take care of, to nurture, to provide fertile, safe space to grow.

Turning — away from things that cause brokenness, while looking deeply to discover where that brokenness might originate. To turn toward connection, toward reconciliation, toward wholeness.

Transforming — to step into a space of change, to practice the ways of being that create that space for change, to be the change we wish to see in the world.

Tending, turning, and transforming are interconnected, yet often, we try to do them separately. We have sometimes tried to jump to transformation without doing the hard work of turning. Sometimes we are exhausted, and the turning over old ground seems impossible, and for that day, we need to tend, to heal and rebuild our strength and our capacity to love and listen. That tending can transform us, to be able to dig into the turning again.

This is not, as one IWC member wisely pointed out, a linear process — it’s a cycle. You’ll see that reflected in our program order today. This cycle of tending and turning is becoming a foundational part of IWC’s work, as we have dedicated time every rehearsal to transformative community conversations, and extended, focused work throughout the season with the Kindred Collective, helping us to dig deeply, to create space for growth and change. It is our hope that this work will cause IWC to become a more inclusive community for more people.

Our Program

We begin the first half of the program with a clarion call for what it means to be in community — “We shall be known by the company we keep…” to be tended, to tend, to turn, to thrive. We move into a place of deep tending for our “weary souls” in the lush music and words of “O Love,” to the refuge in despair found in “The Peace of Wild Things,” whose text was beloved and relied upon by many in our community through the pandemic, and to “Deep Peace,” which offers us the healing stillness of nature.

In tending, we cultivate the strength to turn. We must address the harm, the brokenness of the world, as evidenced in the story of “The Radium Girl” (performed this weekend as a regional premiere, with IWC as a commissioning partner). We are not powerless in the face of harm, and are invited to step into turning and transformation through the words of “Be the Change” and “Hope,” which encourages us, using active verbs, to do whatever is within our ability: pray, move, march, teach, and sing!

That active work takes energy that can wane, and every one of us experiences times of despair and doubt. “I Wish That I Could Show You” offers a hand of care to one who is “lonely and walking in the dark.” “In the Wistful Heart of Night,” newly composed for IWC by Miho Sasaki on a rich text by Sara Teasdale, uses the image of a tree losing its leaves to express the complex feelings that arise when we feel that our “faiths have forsaken [us].” Yet, hope remains because we now can see the sky above and the ground below, offering a new vista, a new perspective on life. Continuing the tree image, we invite you to join us in singing “Every Part of Me,” calling and strengthening our power as embodied creatures with hearts, roots, and breath. We celebrate and challenge what power is and how it is used in the rousing “What Happens When A Woman,” originally sung by the Chicago trio Artemisia, followed by a song without words, “True Colors” — perhaps the tree/person who has dropped the false leaves hiding their authentic self, and has stepped into their power in full color while lifting others up at the same time.

We honor and acknowledge that change happens both on the micro scale — what each of us does in our daily lives — the macro — our systems and our world — and the cosmic, with the powerful words and music of “Everything She Touches,” based on a traditional Wiccan text. The journey through tending, turning, transforming has led us once again to hope even “in the darkest hour,” as “Hope Lingers On” says, a mystical hope that depends not on the external conditions but on our internal conditions, and which leads us to affirm: I will not hate, and I will not fear. 
With that hope, we come back again to the beginning of our cycle. We tend, we turn, we transform, over, and over, and over again.

We hope that something you hear in today’s concert tends to your life, your heart, your mind, your spirit, and your body. We hope you experience something that inspires you to do some turning of your own. Together — all of us — we can learn to lead in love. That’s where the transformation happens.

Thank you for being part of this with us.

In harmony,
Meagan Johnson
Artistic Director

Sara Allaei    
Sarina Allison    
Emma Anderson    
Reba Baker    
Jodie Barnett    
Sarah Bomberger    
Vanessa Bozzo    
Alicia Burier    
Vicki Bynum    
Mary Beth Carlson    
Faith Carroll    
Jennifer Collins    
Katie Cordell*
SJ Cottrell    
Lauren Day*
McKenzie Day    
Ana Laura de la Cruz*
Mary de Groot*    
Sherry DuBois    
Cara Eastis    
Erica Eugster    
Ren Feller    
Hannah Fenlon    
Erika Fowler    
River Garrett    
Lannae Gordon    
Elizabeth Gorman *
Andrea Groner    
Hannah Hadley-Maxwell    
Christine Hawkins    
Kaelyn Helson    
Kelli Herm    
Eva Hernandez    
Emily Hickman    
Kelly Jacobi    
Robin Jones    
Kris Kauffman    
Jayne Kercheval    
Jane Lang    
Alexandra Leon    
Katrina Livingston    
Kelsey Madill    
Melissa Madill    
Ana Mann    
Janet McCabe
Diana McClure
Sally McSpadden
Amanda Melgarejo
Marty Miles
Alicia Oskay
Divya Pathak
Lauren Peters
Sara Peterson
Karly Robinson
Sarah Rowley
Rose Saurini
Claire Scheele*
Sarah Stentz*
Marilyn Stutzman;
Bonnie Taylor
Lonnie Teeple
Catie Thomas
Jen Schmits Thomas
Katherine Vellenga
Maegan Wendt
Lydia Williams*
Shirah Winicur
Cortnee Yarbrough
Michelle Ziegler*
Jenn Zuckerman
*Leave of absence for this concert

We Shall Be Known
Karisha Longaker and MaMuse

We shall be known by the company we keep
by the ones who circle round to tend these fires
We shall be known by the ones who sow and reap
the seeds of change alive from deep within the earth

It is time now
It is time now that we thrive
It is time we lead ourselves into the well
It is time now, and what a time to be alive

In this great turning we shall learn to lead in love
In this great turning we shall learn to lead in love

O Love
(George Matheson)

O Love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thy ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

O Joy that seeks me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.

The Peace of Wild Things
Wendell Berry

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

Deep Peace
Trad. Gaelic Blessing

Deep peace of the running wave to you
Deep peace of the floating air to you
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you
Deep peace of the shining stars to you
Deep peace of the gentle night to you
Moon and stars pour their healing light on you
Deep peace to you

Radium Girl
Shantel Sellars

I was sheltered in darkness 
Now night’s overtaken by day, 
And I paint it to life ‘til the 
Starlight is scattered like rain. 

You steal my face and settle 
Down deep in my bones. 
Sleeping is restless 
When truth is the bed 
And they unturn the stones. 

Peace isn’t easy to buy
But I’m bargaining piece by piece, 
Tasting the days slip away
In a radiant, bitter retreat. 

You steal my face and settle 
Down deep in my bones. 
Sleeping is restless 
When truth is the bed 
And they unturn the stones. 

I drip from the tip of a brush 
While the hours mark time on a dial, 
Each one the sum of my life 
With nary a lip left to smile. 

You steal my face and settle 
Down deep in my bones. 
Sleeping is restless 
When truth is the bed 
And they unturn the stones. 
When they unturn the stones, 
When they unturn the stones. 

Be the Change
Adapted from words attributed to Ghandi

Be the change you want to see in the world, and change will come to you.
Be the voice you want to hear in the world, and change will come to you.
Be the light you want to shine in the world, and change will come to you. 

Hope
Ysaye M. Barnwell

If we want hope to survive in this world today, 
Then everyday we’ve got to pray on, pray on. 
If we want hope to survive in this world today, 
Then everyday we’ve got to walk on, walk on.
If we want hope to survive in this world today, 
Then everyday we’ve got to work on, work on. 
If we want peace in the world, 
we’ve got to move on, move on. 
If we want peace in the world, 
we’ve got to march on, march on. 
If we want peace in the world, 
we’ve got to teach on, teach on. 
If we want hope to survive in this world today, 
Then everyday we’ve got to sing on, sing on. 

I Wish That I Could Show You
Attributed to Hafez
I wish that I could show you, 
whenever you’re lonely or walking in the dark
the astonishing light of your being. 

In The Wistful Heart of Night
Leaves (Sara Teasdale)

One by one, like leaves from a tree
All my faiths have forsaken me;
But the stars above my head
Burn in white and delicate red,
And beneath my feet the earth
Brings the sturdy grass to birth.
I who was content to be
But a silken-singing tree,
But a rustle of delight
In the wistful heart of night—
I have lost the leaves that knew
Touch of rain and weight of dew.
Blinded by a leafy crown
I looked neither up nor down—
But the little leaves that die
Have left me room to see the sky;
Now for the first time I know
Stars above and earth below.

Everything She Touches
Traditional Wiccan

She is the woman who weaves the night sky.
Watch her go see her fingers fly!
She is the weaver and we are the web
She is the needle and we are the thread.
Watch her go see her fingers fly! 

She changes everything she touches
And everything she touches changes. 

What Happens When A Woman
Alexandra Olsavksy

What happens when a woman takes power?
What happens when she won't back down?
What happens when a woman takes power?
What happens when she wears the crown?
What happens when she rules her own body?
What happens when she sets the beat?
What happens she bows to nobody?
What happens when she stands on her own two feet?
Woah, we rise above.
Woah, we lead with love.
Woah, we have won.
We are one.
We've just begun.

Hope Lingers On
Lissa Schneckenburger

My mother, when love is gone,
In our darkest hour hope lingers on.
My father, when peace is gone,
In our darkest hour hope lingers on.
I will not hate, and I will not fear,
In our darkest hour, hope lingers here.
My sister, when equality’s gone
In our darkest hour hope lingers on.
My brother, with tolerance gone,
In our darkest hour hope lingers on.
I will not hate, and I will not fear,
In our darkest hour, hope lingers here.
My love, when honor is gone,
In our darkest hour hope lingers on.
My country, when justice is gone,
In our darkest hour hope lingers on.
I will not hate, and I will not fear
In our darkest hour, hope lingers here.

 

Meagan Johnson is a dynamic, interdisciplinary artist-educator with more than 15 years experience leading choirs and teaching Alexander Technique and voice to individuals and groups. Meagan’s goal in all settings is to empower people with the skills and tools that support them in doing their best work and living their most whole lives — with ease, with freedom, and with joy. Building on a life-long interest in the intersection of artistry, education, and well-being, Meagan Johnson is a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique, experienced singer and voice educator, and choral conductor. In addition to her studio teaching in Indianapolis and online, she has served on the faculties of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Marian University, and University of Indianapolis. In 2015, she was appointed Artistic Director of Indianapolis Women’s Chorus. Meagan is also a sought-after clinician for choirs, collegiate music departments, and conferences. She holds the Master of Music in Voice Performance and the Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance/Music Education from Ithaca College, and completed her Alexander Technique Teacher Certification (1600 hours, AmSAT) at Alexander Technique Urbana. More information at meaganjohnsonstudio.com.

 

Gisele Dollinger, accompanist, is very happy to be playing for the beautiful voices of the Indianapolis Women’s Choir. She became a professional accompanist in 1990 when she was hired to accompany the choirs at Arsenal Tech High School. Since then she has enjoyed playing piano around her hometown, including for Footlite Musicals, One Voice Community Choir, CAT in Carmel, University High School, and Lawrence Central, to name a few. Her favorite time of year is when she gets to accompany students for ISSMA contest! Gisele is also the organist/accompanist/handbell choir director at Broadway United Methodist Church. Her day job is as the Administrative Associate at IPS George Julian #57 elementary school. She is married to Michael Dollinger and is proud to be a mom to two daughters and her son & daughter-in-law.

 

Board of Directors

Beth Kloote, Co-Chair
Office Manager/Exec. Asst.
Indiana Humanities

Marty Miles, Co-Chair
Senior Policy Associate
Corporation for a Skilled Workforce

Jim Hanna, Secretary
Writer, Editor, Designer

Margaret Gooley, Treasurer
CFP, CDFA
Worley Erhart-Graves Financial Advisors

Erika Fowler, Chorus Representative
Medical Assistant

Breezey Fox
French Teacher, Exchange Program
Director, Perry Meridian High School

Lannae Gordon, Chorus Representative
Retired Teacher

Christine Hawkins, Chorus Leadership Council Chair
Teacher, The Orchard School

Cortnee Yarbrough
Director of Strategic Engagement
Circular Indiana

Meagan Johnson, ex officio
Artistic Director, IWC 

IWC’s Board of Directors and its committees are actively seeking new members with a variety of skills and experience.  If you are interested—or know someone who might be—please contact Marty Miles at chair@indianapoliswomenschorus.org.
 

Chorus Leadership Council

Christine Hawkins, Chair
Robin Jones, Treasurer
Reba Baker
Erica Eugster
Ren Feller
Erika Fowler
Lannae Gordon
Sara Peterson
Sherry DuBois, Artistic Administrative Assistant
Meagan Johnson, Artistic Director
 

Chorus Support

Section Leaders

Sally McSpadden, Soprano 1
Sherry DuBois, Soprano 2
Andrea Groner and Jane Lang, Alto 1
Vicki Bynum, Alto 2
 

Planning Team, Kindred Collective “Hear Me” Sessions 

(racial equity & inclusion work)
Marty Miles, Chair
Sara Allaei
Erika Fowler
Christine Hawkins
Meagan Johnson
Cortnee Yarbrough
 

Additional Health & Safety Support

Sarah Bomberger
Claire Scheele
Cortnee Yarbrough
 

Marketing/Communications 

Jen Thomas, Chair
Sherry DuBois
Hannah Fenlon
Erika Fowler
Kelli Herm
Marty Miles
Rose Saurini
 

Revenue Development

Beth Kloote and Marty Miles, Co-Chairs
Vicky Bynum and Jim Hanna, Auction Co-Chairs
Katie Cordell
Lannae Gordon
Jayne Kercheval
Kaye McSpadden
Divya Pathak
Claire Scheele

IWC remembers the following chorus members, leaders, and supporters who have passed away:

Joey Burt, stage manager & supporter
Sharon Farley, chorus member
Esther Fuller, chorus leader & supporter
Kathleen “Kassie” George, chorus member
Pam Mueller, chorus member
Mary Ellen Reed, chorus member
Christy Lynn Stossmeister, chorus member

If a name has been omitted or listed incorrectly, please accept our apologies and contact us at info@indianapoliswomenschorus.org 

 

We gratefully acknowledge the Hildegard Circle gifts listed here (gifts of $50+) and other special gifts, reflecting donations between 7/1/2021–4/30/2022. If your name was omitted or listed incorrectly, please accept our apologies and contact us at giving@indianapoliswomenschorus.org.

$1000–$1500
Rod Collier & John Strachan
Jim & Helen Johnson

$500–$999
Margaret & Ryan Gooley
Marty Miles

$250–$499
Linda Daley & Paula Susemichel
Linda Gillette
Jeff Jones
Janet McCabe & Jon Laramore
Pamela O’Haver Day
Kaye & Bruce McSpadden

$150–$249
Torrey & Lori Bievenour
Lucy Lehman
Sally McSpadden & Jim Hanna

$50–$149
Kim Allman & Leisa Waggoner
Ruby Jo Barnett
Sue Breiner
Bob & Valerie Brennan
Tricia Clark
Angela Cosentino & Phillis Green
SJ Cottrell
Sam Crimmins & Marty Wood
Wilbur DuBois
Indra & Mark Frank
Marlana Haig
Ruth Hinkle
Stephen & JoAnn Hoskins
Jerry King
Liz Lawson
Mary Liechty
Mike & Tammy Martin
Edith Millikan & Lynne Arrowsmith
Debbie Mitchell
Sherry & Stephen Queener
Edyce B. Reizner
Sue E. Robinson
Robin Sahner
Claire Scheele & Melanie Collins
Bonnie Stahlecker
Marilyn Stutzman
Ray & Cindy Wilson
Judy Wolf

MEMORIAL GIFTS
In Memory of Christy Stossmeister
Hache Stossmeister
 
ANGEL FUND (scholarship help for singers)
Anonymous
Elizabeth Gorman
Janet McCabe & Jon Laramore
Marty Miles

SPECIAL OCCASION GIFTS
In Honor of Marty Miles
George Hanlin

AUCTION GOLD PASS VIP
Special thanks to JEAN PATTERSON, winning donor-bidder of the VIP Gold Pass in our 2022 online auction, “Rhythms of Renewal”