A singular note shifted the whole room. The audience perked up, their eyes glued to the women on stage. Something magical was happening. “ It was unreal,” Jr. Lauren Espy said.
The West Ottawa Select Women’s Ensemble (WOSWE) performed at The Michigan Music Conference (MMC) on January 26 during choral hour. WOSWE was one out of four choirs in the entire state that was selected to perform during the choral hour. “I was really proud when I found out. At that moment I felt acknowledged. All the hard work was being recognized, especially you know after 3 years of pandemic learning we persevered, I was even more proud,” Director Erin Stier said.
The work began in the summer of 2023. With a special program in mind, Stier began her work by reflecting about what WOSWE was to her. “In WOSWE, I felt understood. I had a lot of history with my WOSWE students whether it was teaching them in middle students or bringing them up since freshman year, I wanted to express to WOSWE in a way that I also understand how you guys feel as 16-17-year-old women.”
Inspired partially by the Barbie movie that came out this past July, Stier decided to make a program that was written, composed, directed, and performed by women. “These pieces have helped me connect to myself and women around me because we have opened up about our experiences in womanhood and seeing the similarities have helped me feel not so alone,” said Sr. Grace Cronkright.
“They may tell you,” WOSWE’s favorite song, was written by a 17-year-old girl. Isabelle Cook, the mastermind behind this beautiful text, wrote a poem with the thought of her fellow treble singers in her choir in mind. Inspired by Cook’s strong text, Andrea Ramesy brought the masterpiece to life.
“She hopes that when audiences hear her words they are inspired to view the women in their lives in a new light. She also hopes that women who hear or sing the song may feel freshly validated,” Composer Andrea Ramsey wrote in her program notes.
In the poem, Cook speaks of four different women. Mountain Woman, River Woman, Meadow Woman, and Ocean Woman, each of them representing a different woman she knew and loved. She writes to them about what society tells them as opposed to what they should believe.
“and they may tell you, river woman,
that your mouth would be prettier shut
but you of the swift words and clear currents
were born to speak.
forget the icy stares,
from your source springs only truth.”
This was one of five songs WOSWE performed at the choral hour. It was declared early on that WOSWE was bound to make an impression. “ There was a group of WMU music students that came up to me after, just absolutely blown away by WOSWE and the availability to perform such an advanced program in high school,” Stier said.
Additionally, WOSWE performed pieces by Hildegard Von Bingen and Joan Szynk, each featuring lyrics encouraging powerful women. For example “We women wake to move in fire, the earth shall be remade” in Szynk’s piece, “Call.”
Members were uplifted by the songs, despite practicing them to the point of exhaustion
“As women, we face hundreds of challenges because of our gender. However, this program showed us that we are strong and powerful. Every time I sang these songs, I felt free, and that is a feeling that will never go away,” Sr Lorri Deur said.
“There was a lot of excitement but also a lot of stress. In the end, I think the hard work was worth it for such a beautiful and memorable experience,” Jr Erin Kennan said.
Even before Stier’s experiment for the conference, WOSWE members have always had a strong bond. Some may even call it a SWE-ster hood.
“We all just have such a close bond. We always have each other’s backs,” Jr. Kylie Kruithoff said.
If you have the opportunity to do so, please congratulate the following WOSWE members on their great achievements! Sophia Brown, Grace Cronkright, Kayleigh Dannels, Karalynn Davis, Victoria De Leon, Lorri Deur, Sarah Drummond, Lauren Espy, Amelia Hamaker Miller, Tana Haveman, Erin Keenan, Kylie Kruithoff, Danielle Lebster, Lily Montes, Evie Peacock, Arisella Rios, Ella Sandstedt, Mia Starkenburg, and Kaila Vork
