Anna Crusis Women's Choir
 Anna Crusis Women's Choir, I Sing the Body Electric, 2015
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Anna Crusis Women's Choir, The Anna Crusis Women's Choir: A Feminist Choir, MIND TV |
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Catherine Roma, Anna Crusis in Philadelphia is where all the sparks began to happen, GALA Choruses
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Jacqueline Coren, The Anna Crusis Women's Choir: Directing a Choir , MIND TV |
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Miriam Davidson, Women feel like Anna gives them a place to be strong, to have a voice, to have a sense of sisterhood, GALA Choruses
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The Anna Crusis Women's Choir is the oldest existing feminist choir in the United States, and is considered to be a founder of the North American LGBT choral movement. It was established by Catherine Roma in 1975 in Philadelphia, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Including both lesbian and straight women, Anna Crusis is the earliest formed of the Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses (GALA) and the first women's chorus to become a member of GALA.
The choir is named, not for a person, but for anacrusis, a musical term for "the unaccented – or 'feminine' – upbeat that sets the stage for a downbeat." The choir focuses on music by, for and about women, and has commissioned pieces from a variety of composers. It also recovers and performs historical pieces by women composers.
Anna Crusis has a strong educational and social mission, performing music from all over the world and addressing issues of peace, justice and equality both on stage and off. They have a long history of supporting LGBT issues, frequently performing with other groups at events such as International Women's Day and Philly Pride.
An amateur community choir, performing a cappella, Anna Crusis places a strong emphasis on inclusiveness, welcoming female singers of all ages and sexual orientations. The choir has included both physically impaired and hearing impaired singers, and traditionally includes a sign language interpreter at its concerts. Although singers must audition, the choir includes singers of all levels of musical training ranging from those who do not read music, to those with professional training.
Catherine Roma was born in Philadelphia, and attended Germantown Friends School, a Quaker School. Roma earned a degrees in music and choral conducting at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and became involved in lesbian and feminist politics while studying there. While in Wisconsin she worked with historian Ann D. Gordon to identify music by and about women throughout history, creating the folk opera American Women: A Choral History for the United States Bicentennial. After returning to Philadelphia in 1975 to teach music at Abington Friends School, she formed the Anna Crusis Women's Choir, which performed American Women: A Choral History at a number of colleges throughout the northeast.
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Wikipedia