Herstory
The Denver Women's Chorus Herstory
The Denver Women's Chorus was founded in 1984. Its first director, Carol White, was inspired to return to choral conducting by the festival chorus formed to sing at the national PFLAG conference held in Denver that year. Since that time, the DWC has continued to meet and sing, striving to achieve the goal of its mission statement, "building community through musical excellence."
Currently under the direction of Mark Zwilling, DWC performs two to three concerts annually as well as participate in many local community outreach events. The DWC's activities have included a performance at the Centura Women's Wellness Festival, appearances at athletic events in the Denver and Boulder metro areas, and concerts at the Shwayder Theater, Temple Events Center, Auraria Campus' King Center, Lakewood Cultural Center, DCPA's Stage Theater, and the Arvada Center for the Performing Arts. Click here to view previous directors.
The DWC also has enjoyed many trips, both local and out of state. A 1991 summer tour of Boston and New York saw the Chorus singing with the New York Gay Men's Chorus in Lincoln Center. Closer to home, "run-out" concerts nearly every season give the DWC a chance to perform in Boulder, Colorado Springs and Fort Collins.
The DWC's membership in the Gay and Lesbian Association (GALA) of Choruses has also led to many exciting travel opportunities. The DWC received its GALA charter in 1985 and has been an enthusiastic GALA member ever since. In 1986, DWC traveled to Minneapolis to perform in GALA Festival II, one of the very first all-women choruses to do so. The DWC went to Seattle in 1989 for GALA Festival III, to Tampa in 1996 for GALA V, and to San Jose in 2000 for GALA VI. In 1992, the DWC was a local co-host of the GALA IV Festival with DGMC in Denver. GALA has given DWC members a chance to work with famous composers and arrangers, and meet other choral musicians from around the world. At last count, there are over 200 GALA choruses world-wide, from Australia to Italy. We are proud to belong to this thriving organization.
Commissioning works by or about women has been a continuing goal of the DWC, from the competitions for short works that have been held since 1987 to more ambitious projects. In June, 1996, the DWC performed a women's oratorio by noted feminist author and composer, Kay Gardner. The piece entitled Ouroboros, Seasons of a Woman's Life, was performed with many accolades with guest conductor Dr. Antonia Joy Wilson of the Jefferson Symphony Orchestra. Ouroboros was commissioned by a DWC member, although the DWC was not the first chorus to perform the work. More recently, DWC commissioned an oratorio on the subject of breast cancer by composer Diane Benjamin to texts by breast cancer survivors. This work, titled Where I Live, was premiered in the Denver Metro area in May of 2000, and was enthusiastically received at GALA 2000 in San Jose.
The DWC has preserved many of its best performances on recordings. In 1993, it recorded and produced its first CD, The First Ten Years: A Decade of Daring, and performed works from that CD at its 10th Anniversary celebration in Boettcher Concert Hall, with special guest artist Margie Adam. The breast cancer oratorio Where I Live was also recorded on CD in March of 2000, before its live premiere. Like The First Ten Years, the CD of Where I Live can be ordered though this website or is available from Ladyslipper Music. (A portion of the proceeds from sales of the first edition of the CD is donated to local cancer support organizations.)
Come take a look at us in our photo gallery, and help us remember loved ones now gone.