Author: Mallory G

The rehearsal room is alive. Singers are chatting, laughing, and hugging. The instrumental team’s drumming rat-a-tats, fluting whistles and harmonious chords fill the air. The directors glide about organizing and leading. This is what anticipation for a coming concert feels like. We’re getting ready and the energy is palpable.

The rehearsal room is alive. Singers are chatting, laughing, and hugging. The instrumental team’s drumming rat-a-tats, fluting whistles and harmonious chords fill the air. The directors glide about organizing and leading. This is what anticipation for a coming concert feels like. We’re getting ready and the energy is palpable. 

And you know what? We sound amazing. We now have over 50 singing members, up from our low of just around 30 during the pandemic downtime. As one of our members called out a couple of weeks ago, “We’re back!” Of course, we have always been here, but as happened with many, we pulled in to navigate the uncertainties of the pandemic. We have survived and now we thrive.

Over the past 18 months, we have hired a new Artistic Director and Assistant Artistic Director. Allison Thorp and Claire Lemke have brought energy, vision and musical expertise to us and we are thankful. Under their leadership, we have been able to once again extend ourselves into the community. Since April we have sung at numerous events: we performed our spring concert repertoire in Hendersonville and at Deerfield Retirement Community; we sang at an Earth Day Party, Asheville’s segment of the 24-hour Global Peace Wave, the dedication of the Karen Cragnolin Park, the Women to the Front festival, and a service of the UU Congregation of Asheville, our rehearsal home. That is all in addition to our May concerts! 

All of this is possible because you love us (we love you too!) and support us through our concert attendance and donations. We hope you will consider continuing your financial support by donating to Womansong as part of your holiday giving. We also hope to see you at our November concerts. The music of “Healing Hearts” will soothe your spirit and revive your soul.

With heartfelt gratitude,

The Womansong Village

Womansong celebrates its 36th anniversary with the Fall concert series, “Healing Hearts”, on November 10 & 11. This concert features music encouraging self-care as well as celebrating the healing powers of being together in community. From choral anthems to contemporary pop tunes, there’s something for everyone – music to make you laugh, cry, and dance!

Please note, masks will be optional at this performance.

Lytingale (Lois Henrickson) joined Womansong in 2003 as a singer but soon added her talents on piano, flute, and hand percussion, becoming our official accompanist in 2011.

Lyte earned her B.S. in Music Education (Voice) at University of Connecticut, and has used her strong soprano voice for all kinds of music, from rock to Broadway, classical to jazz. She taught Voice and served as Music Director and leader of The Unitic Band at Unity Center from 1983-2015.  

Lyte has composed over 400 songs, including “With Great Love” performed by Womansong and by the mass choir at the 2010 Sister Singers Network Festival; “I Will Carry You” (title song of Womansong CD); “My Sisters” and “Dinner” (on our “Turn the World Around” CD), “Me, Too”, “Doin’ the Best We Can,” “Pizza Round”  and more. A new piece, “Together We Can Change the World,” will be performed by a mass choir at the 2023 Sister Singers Network festival in Cleveland.
Lyte is the proud parent of singer-songwriter/voice teacher Kathryn O’Shea and   drummer/mixing-mastering engineer/politician Michael O’Shea.