MEDIA RELEASE: San Diego Chorus Virtually Debuts "Every Woman's Song" by Renowned Songwriters Janis Ian and Angela Aki

CONTACT: Kathleen Hansen, Director, San Diego Chorus of Sweet Adelines
​EMAIL: m[email protected] 

San Diego, CA, August 20, 2020 – The award-winning San Diego Chorus of Sweet Adelines International is delighted to debut “Every Woman’s Song,” a collaboration gifted to the Chorus by renowned musicians and songwriters Janis Ian and Angela Aki.

This virtual performance is a melodious, warm and uplifting musical and visual celebration spotlighting the similarities that bring all women and other marginalized genders together, as well as supporting the diversity that makes us a melting pot of power, strength, and unity.

“We started to explore how important women were in our lives, and the connection we felt to all women, throughout all history,” Grammy award winner Janis Ian said. “It’s important to thank the women who went before us, blazing a trail we still walk.”

This collaboration between artists from opposite sides of the globe has a timely and powerful message for all siblings in song that will always ring true: Together, we are stronger.

“Everybody has a story, and it might not be a pleasant one, but we are able to build our own stories on the bones of our past,” Ian said. "Ultimately, the things that unite us are stronger than the things that separate us.”

“The San Diego Chorus, like many performing arts organizations, has been heavily impacted by COVID-19. With onsite rehearsals, shows, and other fundraising efforts paused, the Chorus has focused on creative ways to keep members and audiences engaged virtually. The opportunity to be chosen to premiere this heartfelt and timely song came at an ideal time,” Master Director Kathleen Hansen says.

"The San Diego Chorus is so much more than just a vocal performance organization. Our members find lifelong friendship, encouragement, and joy in what we do together. We truly are a family," says Master Director Kathleen Hansen. "The spirit and imagery inspired by the lyrics celebrates the remarkable diversity, relationships, and resiliency that shines in us, and are a powerful reminder of why we do what we do, and that this season of separation is only temporary."

The video will be available at Noon, Friday, August 21, 2020, at 12 p.m. Pacific Time on the Chorus’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/sandiegochorussweetadelines/, and YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/user/SanDiegoChorus.

ABOUT SAN DIEGO CHORUS
Founded in 1951, the San Diego Chorus of Sweet Adelines International is a highly trained and talented group of women who sing four-part harmony arranged in the barbershop style. Twice named International Chorus Champion of Women’s Barbershop Harmony, the San Diego Chorus strives to entertain in many musical genres along with its signature vibrant choreography. Led by Master Director and Sweet Adelines International Faculty, Kathleen Hansen, the San Diego Chorus is dedicated to local entertainment and offering women and other marginalized genders of all ages opportunities for musical and personal growth.  They welcome all women and other marginalized genders, regardless of age, race, religion, nationality, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender expression, who share a love of music and dedication to musical growth. They meet on Wednesday evenings in Room 207 of the Casa del Prado building in Balboa Park. Additional information can be found on their website at www.sdchorus.org.  

ABOUT SWEET ADELINES INTERNATIONAL
Sweet Adelines International is a musical force in the United States and around the world. The organization is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma where it was founded in 1945. This nonprofit music education organization is one of the world's largest singing organizations for women, encompassing more than 25,000 members, 1,200 registered quartets, and 600 choruses in the United States, Australia, Canada, England, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Scotland, Sweden, The Netherlands, and Wales. More information is available on the International Web site by visiting, http://www.sweetadelineintl.org. 

ABOUT JANIS IAN
Janis Ian is now in her fifth decade of writing songs and performing. Her song “Society’s Child”, written at the age of fourteen, went on to ignite a storm among radio broadcasters and listeners for its unflinching look at the relationship between a black boy and a white girl.

In 1976, Janis won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for “At Seventeen,” which has now been featured in everything from anti-bullying commercials to television shows like The Blacklist.

Her tours have sold out in every country she’s visited, and her songs have been recorded by artists as diverse as John Mellencamp, Amy Grant, Diane Schuur, and Joan Baez. Janis has dueted with Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Mel Torme and, most recently, Trevor Sewell; their single, released only in the UK, jumped up the jazz charts, again reminding us of the diversity in a career that saw Ian on the cover of Downbeat at 16, featured in Melody Maker at 26, honored by the Grammy Hall of Fame twice, co-starring with Laurie Metcalf, Rita Moreno, and Alex Borstein in the final episode of Getting On, receiving Publisher’s Weekly and Kirkus Reviews picks for her children’s book The Tiny Mouse. Janis continues to expand and move forward with plans for several more books and has a new album is in the works. https://www.janisian.com/

ABOUT ANGELA AKI
Angela Aki is a pop singer, songwriter, and pianist. She is bilingual in Japanese and English, as she was raised in Japan and moved to Hawaii at the age of sixteen. She originally released an Indies album in the USA in 2000, called These Words, which gained critical acclaim. Five years later in Japan, she released an Indies mini-album under Virgo Music entitled ONE, which is what alerted Nobuo Uematsu to her music. Angela Aki is now signed under Sony Japan.

In 2002, she composed two tracks for "Let It Fall" by Dianne Eclar, a teenage pop singer from the Philippines. In 2005, Angela released an independent mini-album under Virgo Music entitled "One," which was the #1 selling Indies album of 2005. She contracted with Epic Records and made her major debut with the single "HOME" in September 2005. The album sold over half a million copies and reached #2 on the Oricon charts.

To Western fans, Angela is perhaps best known for her song "Kiss Me Good-Bye", which was used as the theme song for the video game "Final Fantasy XII."