Director's Letter

“It’s been a long, dark night, and I’ve been waitin’ for the morning.” These are the opening lyrics of Light of a Clear Blue Morning, which the Chorus will present at our 5th Women Against Violence (WAV) benefit concert. The theme of the concert is “Brand New Day,” taken from the song, and if you’re like me, you could use this song of hope and promise at this time. I’m so proud of the Vduz for the amazing work they’ve continued to do during this pandemic and so happy we’re able to present our 5th annual WAV concert.

Another song on our WAV concert is the collaboration with our alumnae on How Can I Keep From Singing. It was wonderful to have singers spanning 46 years participate, and we thank them! (See roster below). Singing alone in your house/room to a guide track is not what choral singing is all about, yet we’ve adapted to be able to share our songs during this trying time when music is so important. Please join me in applauding the Chorus for having submitted 9 (!) of these during this past year.

The WAV concert will feature a wide variety of music – Jazz, Pop, Country, Classical, and more – shared by musicians near and far. Some of the finest a cappella groups at UVA and in the community will be participating, and a new special guest, the William and Mary Women’s Chorus, will be sharing a classical selection. Familiar songs include Here Comes the Sun and Stand by Me so tune in on Saturday, April 17 at 7 PM EST to see your fellow Vdubz and hear some new groups bring you a night of uplifting music. Go ahead and subscribe to our YouTube Channel now if you have a Gmail account, and you’ll get all the updates: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEjN9fzuey0LScTBWaW7Cow

Keep an eye out for an email about the reception after the concert from Iris, our Alumnae Relations Chair!

UVA has lifted the restrictions on gatherings from 10 to 25 people, and we are excited to rehearse with each other again, all at the same time while being able to hear each other – this is amazing after 13 months! I don’t know about you, but personally I feel as if I’m starting to wake up after a long hibernation.

A special shout-out to our five graduating members who have persevered through these demanding times. I hope we’ll all be able to sing safely together again soon and that somehow we can make it up to the graduating classes of 2020 and 2021.

As always, I am most appreciative of our incredible Board and to all of you for your support and encouragement!

Vdubz love,

KaeRenae

P.S. Alumnae participating in How Can I Keep From Singing?:

S1    Sarah Begeman, Claudia Fletcher, Meredith Harper, Anna Perkins, Jenny Warren

S2    Joyce Cheng, Joscelyn Fisher, Emily Gorman, Julia Kothmann, Jessica Pedalino, 

Elizabeth Wolfe

A1   Sarah Atkinson, Lynne Stein Benzion, Hayley Coolbaugh, Jennifer Doucet, Kathleen 

McLaren-Hawking, Sarah Meng, Sally Mouzon (solo), Janice Park, Kate Rader, Tina 

Schuster, Sarah Thomas

A2   Elaine Chen, Chloe Cohen, Kyle Hayden, Glo Marino, Tamara Marteney, Kimberly Slentz-Kesler