Our Founding Members

Founding members Penny Ward, Patty Daniel, Jacqueline Little, and Elisabeth Curtis

Here are some recollections from four current or former members who were among the pioneers who sang with Women’s Voices Chorus at its inception.

Here are reflections from founding member Elisabeth Curtis (Alto 2):

Summer of 1993, I had just moved to Carrboro and vowed that the very first thing I would do—even before looking for a job—was to find a group to make music with. And, serendipitously, in The Indy, there was the announcement of the formation of Women’s Voices; I went to the initial meeting and never looked back. There has been a lot of turnover through the years but the core of what the chorus means to its members, both musically and as a support group, has remained and grows ever stronger. I have to say that my musical tastes run to the older composers, mostly dead white men, but our programming is rich and varied, and I have greatly appreciated having my eyes and heart opened to the joys of singing music from other cultures and contemporary music by women, many of whom are still alive! WVC is a very important part of my life.

Kay Johnson sat down to talk with Jacqueline Little (Alto 1), Patty Daniel, and Penny Ward (Sopranos 2). This is what she learned:

Each singer came in her own way to Women’s Voices Chorus. Jacqueline saw an announcement about the newly forming group in Chapel Hill’s local rag, the Village Advocate. Arriving very early to the first meeting, she scored the prized WVC chorus folder #1, which she holds to this day. Penny and Patty came to the meeting after spotting an announcement in the Women’s Center newsletter. All three had sung in choirs before, and from the beginning they were hooked: This was a chorus with a purpose.

The three remember founder Mary Lycan as a musicologist foremost, and as an ambitious and adventurous programmer, combing through music archives at Greensboro’s Bennett College and in Washington, D.C., searching for pieces for the group to sing.

They recall passing the hat to pay for rehearsal space, and singing along to cassette tapes that Mary brought to rehearsals in a shoebox. They all looked forward to the time each week when they could think about singing and nothing else. Originally, Jacqueline planned to take a week off from rehearsals every month, but she loved the chorus so much that she never did.

Patty fondly remembers the early years, singing a cappella the music of Hildegard von Bingen, arrayed in a horseshoe around the pillars in the basement chorus room of University United Methodist in Chapel Hill.

They all felt that what they were doing really mattered. They were finding music for women’s voices. They had something to prove, and they were unique. As Penny said, “We had a mission.”

WVC is so fortunate to have our founding members to remind us where we came from. Eighteen inspired women performed WVC’s first concert, and it was the start of something big. Today, almost 70 dedicated singers fill the risers at every concert. We call each other sisters. We still have a mission. Thank you Elisabeth, Jacqueline, Patty, and Penny for sharing your memories and letting your women’s voices be heard!