Peninsula Women's Chorus Explained

The Peninsula Women's Chorus is a women's choir based at Palo Alto, California.

History

In 1966, after a decade of involvement with local musical ensembles, Marjorie Rawlins of Palo Alto founded the American Association of University Women Midpeninsula Chorus, with 17 members. She soon recognized the limitations of working within the AAUW graduates' organization, and abandoned the affiliation; the choir was subsequently renamed the University Women’s Chorus. The principles established from the outset were that, although the choir was informal, its aims would be ambitious. In particular, members were expected to sing all pieces from memory, and the repertoire was to be ambitious, with many pieces sung in foreign languages.

When Mrs. Rawlins left in 1975, the members, by then increased to over 50, appointed 25-year-old Patricia (Patty) Hennings as their new director. Under her leadership the choir, soon rechristened the Peninsula Women's Chorus to emphasize its inclusive recruiting policy (though it maintained an association with Foothill College), continued to increase its standards, and[1] in 1982 was selected by Stanford University for a project to record vocal scores written from memory in a Second World War prison camp on Sumatra by Margaret Dryburgh and Norah Chambers, as recorded in the TV documentary Song of Survival.[2] This was such a success that the Chorus performed in Europe in 1984.

Patricia Hennings, after suffering for several years from cancer, died in December 2001;[3] for a short time her place was taken by Karen Robinson. Between 2003 and 2020 Argentinian-born Dr. Martín Benvenuto served as the Artistic Director until Dr. Anne K. Hege was appointed in 2021 after serving as an interim Artistic Director for 6 months.

Known for its adventuresome programming and recognized as one of the leading women’s choruses in the U.S. and beyond, the PWC is dedicated to commissioning new works, discovering rarely performed works, and keeping classical choral masterpieces for treble voices alive.

In 2008, the PWC was among the founding choirs of the New Music for Treble Voices (NMFTV) festival, which brings together diverse local and national choruses in the study and performance of innovative contemporary works. The PWC has assumed production of the festival in 2013 and in March 2023 the festival celebrates its 10th anniversary.

Commissioned repertoire

The Peninsula Women's Chorus adopted a policy of commissioning new works to suit the Chorus, in addition to scouring the musical histories of cultures throughout the world.[4] In both 1999 and 2003, the Chorus received ASCAP awards for adventurous programming- the first group to receive the award twice,[5] and between 1987 and 2001, they performed three times for the national convention of the American Choral Directors' Association. The Chorus has released 9 CDs, two of which have won the American Prize in the Community Chorus Category.

Grants, honors, and awards

Premieres by Peninsula Women's Chorus

World premieres, unless indicated otherwise.

References

  1. http://www.pwchorus.org/history/nl_fall2006.pdf Peninsula Women's Chorus Turns 40!
  2. Roger Emanuels Song of Survival KUSP Review, vol.4, no.5 (Dec. 1983)
  3. Suzanne Herel Obituary: Patricia Hennings -- Women's Chorus head, San Francisco Chronicle (2002-01-04)
  4. Elaine Larsen Ms. Maestro, San Francisco Examiner (2000-05-19)
  5. Cicero A. Estrella Chorus wins national award San Francisco Chronicle (2003-11-14)
  6. http://www.chorusamerica.org/highnotes/?p=1072 Nature Pictures

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