P R O J E C T S

To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the publication of Voices Found, the Women’s Sacred Music Project commissioned a new anthem from Philadelphia-based composer Andrea Clearfield.  The Song of Hannah is a choral setting of the Biblical passage from 1 Samuel chapter 2, in which Hannah praises God for giving her a son, Samuel. Read more.

Commissioned by WSMP, the premiere of a new chamber composition “Mothers of Moses” was presented at Rosemont College. Music by Rene Orth, libretto by Ellen Frankel, Set for three singers and two instruments, the performance featured students of the  Curtis Institute led by the composer.  An interfaith symposium with panelists commenting on the libretto text preceded the musical performance.

Browse the program for details of performers, panelists, and sponsors.

A second performance was heard at the Germantown Jewish Center on April 2nd, 2017.  It was followed by an interfaith panel discussion and Seder.

A Multifaith Gathering in Song

Alice Parker, a well-known American composer and choral director, has commented that, “Music is, for me, the most potent means of communicating that exists to unite people.” In that spirit, The Women’s Sacred Music Project and Rosemont College presented “Sharing our Voices,” on Sunday, October 26, 2014  in the Chapel on the Rosemont College campus in Rosemont, PA.

With the goal of bringing people together and making friends through sacred song, five area choral groups representing Jewish, Christian, Islamic faiths and Sufi traditions, gathered to share music from their own traditions. Each group performed and then taught one song to the chorus members and the gathered community, giving all participants the opportunity to enrich and expand their spiritual and musical horizons.

Participating groups:

MIRAJ (Margot Stein, Rayzel Raphael, and Juliet Spitzer). MIRAJ is a Jewish feminist a cappella trio blending their names, visions, and voices to offer richly harmonic, original compositions performed with soul and spirit.  MIRAJ offers music for rituals, offerings for Shabbat and holidays, and new   interpretations of traditional liturgies.

The Rosemont College Chapel Choir, directed by Mary S. Callaghan. The R C Choir consists of a generous group of volunteers who enjoy singing and praising God through their voices. These are College students who manage to attend practices in the midst of busy days on campus.

The St. Mark’s Choir of Boys and Girls directed by Darryl Roland, with Erika Takacs, mezzo-soprano. The newly formed Boys and Girls Choir of Saint Mark’s Church builds on the English cathedral tradition of training young voices to provide liturgical leadership in song.

The Sufi Singers, directed by Jeanne Hockenberry. The Sufi Singers is an ad hoc group made of members of the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship. Their repertoire is gathered almost exclusively from countless songs sung earlier by M. R. Bawa Muhayaddeen, a Sufi Saint and Qutb of the present era, who came to the United States in 1971 and founded this Fellowship for the guidance of all those who are on the path of Truth and Light regardless of race, color, religious affiliation, gender, caste, or ethnic background.

SheWho, directed by Karen Escovitz. SheWho is Philadelphia’s feminist women’s vocal ensemble dedicated to the beauty, power, and importance of women’s voices.  They sing to celebrate their diverse experiences of Spirit, and to promote social change and justice.

March 16th, 2014

Church of the Holy Trinity, Rittenhouse Square

Program

Kun fa ya Kun, God says Be and it Is (Islamic text set to medieval conductus)

“Esther” from Women of Valor by Andrea Clearfield, soprano duet with instruments

O frondens Virga, Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) soprano solo

Ave Regina Caelorum, Isabella Leonarda (1620-1704) SATB

Abendfeier in Venedig, Clara Schuman (1819-1896) SATB

Mein Stern, Clara Schumann, soprano solo

Esther (1718) Act III by George Frederic Handel (1685-1756)

Further information

Isabella Leonarda
Clara Schumann
Hildegard of Bingen