New Members Invited to Open Sing for Songweavers

Concord, New Hampshire - Songweavers™, the popular a cappella women’s chorus at Concord Community Music School, invites new members to an Open Sing on Tuesday, January 8 from 7:30 to 9 p.m. or Wednesday, January 9 from 9:30 to 11 a.m. There are no auditions to join; women of all ages and musical experience are welcome.

Based on the belief that everyone can (and should) sing, the members of this chorus learn songs by ear in the African-American tradition; music-reading skills are not expected or required. Songweavers rehearse in two groups (Tuesday evenings and Wednesday mornings) and present an annual spring concert. Singers with young children are welcome to bring them to the Wednesday morning sessions. This year’s theme is “The Rhythm of Life.”

Peggo Horstmann Hodes (soprano), Songweavers director, holds master’s degrees in elementary education from Lesley College and vocal pedagogy from the New England Conservatory. Horstmann Hodes has been
a soloist with the New Hampshire Symphony, the Granite State Symphony, the Boston Civic Symphony, the Concord Chorale and the Musicians of Wall Street. In recital, she has premiered works written for her by William Fletcher and Thomas Oboe Lee. Horstmann Hodes is a founding member of femme m’amie, the seven-woman a cappella ensemble, which has recorded two highly acclaimed CDs. She is also half of the duo Peggo & Paul, the New Hampshire recording artists who have gained an international reputation for their original family recordings, two of which won Parents’ Choice Awards. Horstmann Hodes teaches a workshop called Vibrant Voice, which combines creative singing and writing to free the voice and soul. She has led workshops in Hawaii, California, New York, Maine and New Hampshire.

Located between Wall and Fayette streets in downtown Concord, the Music School employs 55 faculty musicians who teach 1,400 students from more than 100 communities each week. In keeping with the School’s goal to provide access for all, 48 percent of its students will receive free instruction or financial aid this year. Students of all ages come together each week for individual instruction, workshops, classes, choruses, ensembles and recitals.

The cost to register for Songweavers is $105. For more information about Concord Community Music School or to register to join Songweavers, visit www.ccmusicschool.org.

Concord Community Music School is a full member of the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts and is recognized nationally for program innovation and management excellence. Welcoming adults, teens and children of all musical abilities, 55 artist teachers reach more than 33,000 people in four states with educational programs, concerts, workshops and community partnerships. CCMS has received major funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Hearst Foundation, New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, Jane’s Trust, and the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, and is the 2005 recipient of the NH Governor’s Arts Award for Cultural Access Leadership.