I had a chance to sit down and talk with Deanna Gibeau recently. She’s the director of the West Bend Women’s Choir, which is having a free concert this weekend. She’s even better known as an accomplished professional singer, theater director and performer, and teacher.

Common Ground: Thanks for talking with us, Deanna. You sound pretty busy. So, what prompted you to start a Women’s Choir too?
Deanna: A few years ago, I was the music director for a summer production of The Sound of Music, put on by Hartford Players. I was working with a group of nuns who were such amazing singers. The music was really beautiful, and we all got along so well, so at the end of the summer, I asked them if they’d like to keep singing together. The response was very enthusiastic, and that Fall we got together and the Women’s Choir began.

Common Ground: And so the nun’s chorus is still together?
Deanna: The nun’s chorus forms the core, but it’s not just the nuns. We also have women I met through UW-WC, and from the West Bend area, and some women who were my voice students. Members bring their friends. We’re happy to add new members who love to sing.

Common Ground: What kind of music do you choose for the choir?
Deanna: It’s a real mixture. That’s what I like. I consider who is in the group, and what they might like to do. Usually we have one or two classical pieces that are more of a challenge, and that I hope everyone will like when they learn them. Plus, I take requests and suggestions from members. After a few rehearsals, I get a sense of what will work, and what needs to be added to make a good program for the show. This year, we have some spirituals, a barbershop piece, a Bulgarian folk song, some French pieces, some sacred music, some folk songs. We have some pieces composed by a local composer, Ethan Tarvin, and based on well-known poems. A real variety.

Common Ground: Any favorites?
Deanna: That’s hard, because I love them all. But I really love the opening number. It’s a Mozart piece from The Marriage of Figaro, sung by the peasant women bringing flowers to the wedding, and maybe trying to curry a little favor. It’s very pretty, but more than that, when you think about it, how many thousands of times has that song been performed by a group of women on a stage? And now we’re doing it too, and so it connects us to them in a way, all those women over hundreds of years, in so many places. I really love that.

Common Ground: I understand that one of the songs is a Gibeau original. When did you start composing?
Deanna: Oh, a long time ago. My piano teacher had me composing little pieces when I was growing up. In college I had some composition and orchestration classes. And over the years I taught music to little kids, and I wrote songs for them that I thought they’d like to sing. Then a few years ago, I teamed up with a partner and we wrote and produced a full musical, The Secret of the Goat Children. That’s when I began to realize how much I loved to compose. The piece we’re singing in this concert, I Am Not a Lone Voice, is from a larger work created for an experimental dance concert in Milwaukee a few summers ago. It’s a serious piece about women and human rights issues, and the mission work of one of our West Bend churches. It’s set in India. The lyrics are some of the beautiful words spoken by Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai, and the music is based on the morning call to prayer.

Common Ground: The concert is a fund raiser for The Harvest House. Can you tell us a little about that?
Deanna: The Harvest House is a wonderful ministry sponsored by a number of our local churches, that provides a free meal every Saturday at St. James Episcopal. It’s been operating for over 20 years. Our group rehearses at St. James, and we’re having our concert there, so we thought we’d like to support their good work in return.

Common Ground: It sounds like a great group. If someone is interested in joining, what do they need to know?
Deanna: We’re always open to new members, women who love to sing. Our season will be ending with this concert, and we’ll start up again in Fall. Anyone interested can contact me at deannagibeau99@gmail.com, and we can set up an audition.

Thanks Deanna! Have a great concert!

If you’d like to see the Women’s Choir in concert, they’ll be performing
Saturday, April 21, 7pm & Sunday, April 22, 2pm
at St. James Episcopal Church
corner of 8^th and Walnut in West Bend
Free admission – a free-will offering taken for Harvest House