On Friday, March 7, in the Silver Cultural Arts Center, local women came together to share writing and music. The program, entitled Voices from the Heart: song, poetry and fiction from local women, was sponsored by PSC as part of women’s history month. Women of Words and Womansong, two regional groups based here in Plymouth, ran the event.
The program started off with Womansong, a ten woman a capella singing group. Their blend and sound was soothing and all of the women had distinct parts that were vital to the group. Over the course of the program, they played a variety of music, using different instruments and each with a different soloist. Their music included contemporary gospel and Caribbean music, each song with a different feel and tone. They even had the audience join in and help them sing “I’ve Got Peace Like a River.”
Another group called Esprit also sang a couple of songs. They are a smaller, six-person group from Womansong. Their harmony was amazing and their songs also had a gospel sound.
There were a variety of women writers. Kate Donahue read poetry about finding her identity and meeting her birth mother for the first time, including “Swimming,” an outstanding sestina. Nyla Lyman read a humorous short story entitled “The Inefficiency of Burning Green Wood” about the interaction of her father and a young Vermont couple who want to build a house. Another poet, Jennifer Highland, read a variety of poems about current events. Claire Robson, also a member of Womansong, read “Something Left,” a touching story about her visit to a Romanian orphanage and hospital. The last poet, Kathryn Drexel, read her poems about the observations of life.
This is Womansong’s sixth year performing as a group, and they invite anyone interested in the group to attend one of their meetings on Wednesday nights at the Plymouth Congregational Church. They also extended an invitation to the audience to attend their annual concert on June 13, also at the Plymouth Congregational Church.