Women in music

April 18 Women in Music Gala Celebrates Edith Piaf

On Saturday, April 18, Friends of Music at Guilford's celebration of Women in Music is its signature annual fundraiser. Patrons will enjoy a generous buffet of hearty hors d'oeuvres and salads between 6 and 7 p.m. This year's concert then features vocalist Jessica Gelter and pianist Ken Olsson in a centennial tribute to legendary chanteuse Edith Piaf (1915-1963). An array of desserts prepared by area restaurant and bakery chefs follows.

Edith Piaf, who was "discovered" as a street singer while still in her teens, took the Paris cabaret scene by storm and became regarded as France's national diva. She was also one of its greatest international stars and mentored many other aspiring performers. Piaf's music was often autobiographical: her singing reflected her life, a contemplation of femininity, love, and home, sprinkled liberally with loss and sorrow. The program will cover a mix of Piaf's iconic hits and less-familiar songs, among them La Vie en Rose, Rien de Rien, La Belle Histoire d'Amour, Mon Dieu, and more.

The audience will also learn a bit about the singer's complex character, which, according to biographer Carolyn Burke ("No Regrets: Edith Piaf," 2011), included "a thirst for knowledge, a joie de vivre, and a forceful will." A taste of work by pioneering French women writers and philosophers who influenced Piaf will be sampled, too; these include her contemporaries Simone de Beauvoir, Anaïs Nin, and Marguerite Yourcenar.

Jessica Gelter was featured soloist at Friends of Music's 2014 Labor Day Weekend orchestra concert and the critically acclaimed "Now and Then" musical at Actor's Theatre Playhouse last summer. In both instances, she collaborated with Ken Olsson, who was conductor and music director/pianist, respectively. A trustee of Friends of Music since 2009, Jess was alto soloist for its 2012 Messiah Sing and performed a house concert of Spanish love songs in May 2013. She has also been an actor, singer, and/or director for many plays and musicals at both New England Youth Theatre and Vermont Theatre Company, and served as VTC president for a time. Jess is executive director of Monadnock Arts Alive in Keene, NH.

Ken Olsson has performed three organ recitals for Friends of Music at The Organ Barn in Guilford and has conducted its Labor Day Weekend Festival orchestra since 2012. Earlier that same year, he accompanied wife Julie Johnson Olsson in a FOMAG-sponsored program of arias and art songs. With a degree in Vocal Performance, Ken has performed in, and served as musical director for, many operas and musical plays in the region, most recently appearing in "Les Miserables" at Main Street Arts. He conducts the West River Valley Chorus in Townshend, Nordic Harmoni in Londonderry, and the Springfield Community Chorus.

These annual FOMAG house-concert galas also traditionally include an eagerly anticipated Silent Auction of 2-for-1 tickets to a broad selection of regional music, theater, and dance performances, plus a few other tempting items and gift certificates. Bidders can realize significant savings while supporting the Friends of Music current season of events.



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Gladys Maria Knight (1944), known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American recording artist, songwriter, businesswoman, humanitarian and author. A four-time Grammy Award-winner, she is best known for the hits she recorded during the 1960s and 1970s, for both the Motown and Buddah Records labels, with her group Gladys Knight & the Pips, which also included her brother Merald "Bubba" Knight and her cousins Edward Patten and William Guest.

Gladys Knigt - Licence To Kill
From the Soundtrack : Licence To Kill (1989)

Aretha Franklin - Queen of Soul

Aretha Franklin also known as the Queen of Soul has re-defined American popular music for more than four decades now. Her incredible voice, sound and style have inspired numerous R&B and contemporary artists. Aretha has sold more million selling singles than any other female artist in history. She has also won eighteen Grammy’s and two honorary Awards.

Ms. Franklin during her long career have amassed twenty number one singles on the Billboard R&B charts and two #1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100. She also had 10 albums on this chart to reach number one, which was cited to be the most by a female artist. But her achievements doesn't stop there. The queen of soul was also inducted into several musical halls of fame which include her becoming the first woman to be entered into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 and in 2005, the second woman behind Madonna to be inducted into the UK Hall of Fame.

The music icon has been honored by several US presidents during her long career. In 1999, she received The National Medal of Arts Award from then president Bill Clinton and In 2005, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom from president George W. Bush and was most recently selected in 09 to be a guest singer at the historic inauguration of the nation’s first black president Barack Obama.

Her many hits include Respect, "Chain of Fools," "Think," "You Make Me Feel like ( A Natural Woman)," "Rocksteady" and Dionne Warwick hit "I Say a Little Prayer" among many others.

20 years after Jagged Little Pill, the icon talks feminism, androgyny, and how it's okay to "be a little strange" in this world.

"Thankfully, the the stories that were being told I can stand by, so I'm not cringing when I repeat them," Morissette says. "There was a timelessness to what I was expressing, which, of course, I had no idea about at the time. When I wrote it I was in a bit of a vacuum—so I thought that I was going through whatever it was that I was going through alone—and then when people connected with it, I realized that I was being given this opportunity to support and uplift and empathize with people. So that got really exciting because then I could be an artist, be in the public eye, and serve at the same time. That was the perfect slam dunk for me."

Morissette co-wrote JLP when she was just 21. The resonating lyrics were ripped from her journals and her experiences, written and composed during an intensive studio session with Glen Ballard (Wilson Phillips, Aerosmith, Michael Jackson) in Encino, California. And while Ballard may have coaxed the album into existence, Morissette called the shots in many ways: "There were a lot of these songs we were going to try to recut, but she absolutely insisted: 'No, we're not going to recut them, because this is the essence of what makes them good," Ballard told the AV Club last month. "She was absolutely right. She was so right."

Morissette has taken some flak for her New Age-y leanings in the past, but as mindfulness and meditation have become increasingly popular GOOP fodder, the meditation altar she showed off on a 2005 episode of MTV's Cribs seems less out of place today. She leaves me with this advice: "I steal [time to meditate] when I can—sometimes it's as gross as sitting in a bathroom stall for three minutes. Sometimes I build things, like on airplanes I'll put a scarf over my head because people don't want to disturb the scary lady with the scarf over her head. It's okay to be a little strange," she says with a laugh, "because then people leave you alone."


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Taylor Swift - Blank Space

Singer-songwriter Taylor Swift is one of country music's top recording artists, having crossed over into pop and winning many awards.

Born on December 13, 1989, in Reading, Pennsylvania, Taylor Swift's family moved to nearby Wyomissing where she started crafting songs at age 5, and at age 16, released her debut album. Hits like "Love Story" and "You Belong With Me" appealed to country and pop fans alike and helped fuel the multiplatinum success of her albums, with Fearless the 2009 top-seller. She has won many awards, including several Grammy Awards, and modeled for Cover Girl.

Taylor Swift - Bad Blood ft. Kendrick Lamar

Taylor Alison Swift was born on December 13, 1989, in Reading, Pennsylvania. Swift spent her early years on her family's Christmas tree farm in nearby Wyomissing. Her grandmother had been a professional opera singer, and Swift soon followed in her footsteps. By the age of 10, Swift was singing at a variety of local events, including fairs and contests. She sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" at a Philadelphia 76ers game at the age of 11, and began writing her own songs and learning guitar at 12 years old.

To pursue her music career, Swift often visited Nashville, Tennessee, the country music capital. There she co-wrote songs, and tried to land a recording contract. Noting her dedication, Swift and her family moved to nearby Hendersonville, Tennessee, in an attempt to further Swift's career.

Track 3 from the album, "Tapestry" (1971).

Adele ~ Hello

Hello is taken from Adele's latest album, 25, will be release on Nov 20 adele.com/

Taylor Swift - Style



Born on December 13, 1989, in Reading, Pennsylvania, Taylor Swift's family moved to nearby Wyomissing where she started crafting songs at age 5, and at age 16, released her debut album. Hits like "Love Story" and "You Belong With Me" appealed to country and pop fans alike and helped fuel the multiplatinum success of her albums, with Fearless the 2009 top-seller. She has won many awards, including several Grammy Awards, and modeled for Cover Girl.