The Peninsula Women's Chorus (PWC) is a Palo Alto-based, 50-voice women's choir performing high-quality classical and contemporary music in the Bay Area and many parts of the world. Committed to excellence in the performance of diverse and challenging choral literature for women's voices, the PWC has come to national and international attention through live performance and recordings and has added significantly to the choral literature by commissioning new music. The chorus inspires and enriches its audiences in the Bay Area through its concert series, its ongoing program of premiering new works, and its numerous collaborations with other Bay Area performing groups.
Founded in 1966 under the auspices of the Association of American University Women, the Peninsula Women's Chorus is now affiliated with Foothill College in Los Altos, California, and is the premier vocal ensemble for women in the San Francisco Bay Area. Under the direction of Dr. Patricia Hennings from 1975 until her untimely death in 2001, the PWC was led by Karen Robinson until the fall of 2003 when current artistic director, Martín Benvenuto, assumed the musical leadership of the chorus.
The PWC's commitment to performing new and interesting music has produced many works that have expanded women's choral literature and has also prompted the chorus's involvement in projects beyond the scope of the normal concert season. From 1982 to 1987, the PWC was involved in performing unique "vocal orchestra" music from a World War II women's internment camp in Sumatra, resulting in a beautiful documentary film, Song of Survival. In 1995, the PWC and music director Patricia Hennings performed Puccini's opera, Suor Angelica, with Palo Alto's West Bay Opera company. In 2000, a Poetry and Music Project brought together local elementary schoolchildren with the California Poets in the Schools and three composers to produce nine new pieces based on poems written by the children.
For more than 30 years, the PWC has not only brought outstanding performances to local audiences through its own concerts, but it has also drawn visiting choirs (women's, men's, and mixed) from around the world for joint events. Tours to the British Isles, Eastern and Western Europe, British Columbia, and Newfoundland have extended the PWC's impact beyond the United States and enlarged the chorus members' appreciation and knowledge of the music of other cultures.
In 2006, the PWC was awarded third place in the Béla Bartók 22nd International Choir Competition and Folklore Festival, women's division. Twice the PWC has received the prestigious ASCAP award for adventurous programming, most recently in June 2003, reflecting the excitement of performing challenging contemporary music from around the world.
First soprano: Stephanie Batties, Mardie Daul, Kathryn Feetham, Emilee Getter, MaryLouise Meckler, Marina Orzano, Kyle Sofman, Judy Sweet, Tricia Tani, Mary Tusa, Jane Walker
Mezzo soprano: Sara Asher, Vicki Brown, Amy Cohen, Beatrice Fanning, Jennifer Katz, Elise Kent, Holly Liberatore, Andra Marynowski, Yoko Meier, Robin Mulgannon, Eithne Pardini, Barbara Pforzheimer, Bonnie Senko
First alto: Priscilla Bates, Christi Coutolenc, Jan Cummins, Sarah Etheredge, Jeanne Von Gunten, Ann Hillesland, Emily Jiang, Cathleen Kalcic, Betsy Landergren, Kathy MacLaury, Kathy Plock, Jan Schonhaut, Gail Schwettman, Deanne Tucker, Marsha Wells
Second alto: Anne Anderson, Tricia Baldwin, Jessica Chen, Lisa Collart, Hannah Druckman, May Goodreau, Lynne Haynes-Tucker, Valerie Hornstein, Martha Morgan, Gerri Roe, Barbara Zoeller