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Vox Grata Women’s Choir, based in Nashville, Tennessee and led by founder and Artistic Director Jeanette MacCallum, will be honored by the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) at its Southern Region Conference in March. The choir was nominated by the Tennessee chapter of ACDA for its unique mission which extends beyond choral music into the realm of social justice. The choir will represent the state of Tennessee for the Lift Every Voice Initiative.
As a women’s choir, Vox Grata is also uniquely positioned to celebrate and build awareness of the centennial of women’s suffrage in 2020. The choir recently received a $3,000 grant from the Robert K. and Anne H. Zelle Fund for Fine and Performing Arts of the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee to help fund the choir’s 2020 performance of two newly composed choral works commissioned for this centennial, including American composer Andrea Ramsey’s Suffrage Cantata and Joan Szymko’s Lifting As We Climb.
In March 2019, Vox Grata Women’s Choir commissioned Minnesota-based composer Linda Tutas Haugen to compose a large-scale work for women’s choir on the subject of addiction and recovery. Recognizing the opioid crisis as an urgent public health threat, our goal in commissioning and premiering this piece is to offer hope and healing for addicts and others impacted by substance abuse. We expect this composition will become a major addition to the body of women’s choral repertoire. We plan to premiere the work in May 2021, partnering with local organizations who serve on the front lines, treating and researching the disease of addiction. In connection with the premiere performance, these organizations will be invited to participate in a symposium during which they will share in a public dialogue and offer resources to attendees.
About Vox Grata Women’s Choir
Vox Grata is comprised of joyful women who, out of gratitude for the fullness of their own lives, possess a desire to sing together for the benefit of others. The group performs repertoire that expresses a uniquely feminine spirit, especially works that promote the best interests of women in society. Money raised by its concert programs directly benefit the needs of women in the Nashville community.
