Saturday, November 11
1 - 5:30 pm

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Women In The Arts Festival
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2006 Schedule
(see below for bios)

Sistrum, Lansing Women's Chorus
We strive to provide a musical haven where women may find their voices and enjoy the camaraderie offered by the Sistrum community.

We further endeavor to create a choral instrument by which our members can use their voices to raise beautiful music and powerful energy.

It is our intent to challenge and entertain our audiences and ourselves, such that all are moved to emotion, thought and action.
We believe in the magic and joy of raising our voices together.

In doing so, we lend our spark to the worldwide struggle for peace, equality and freedom for all people.

Anita Skeen:
Anita Skeen is currently Professor of English at Michigan State University  and serves as the Director of the Residential Option in Arts and Letters Program (ROIAL). Before coming to Michigan State in 1990, she was for 18 years on the faculty in the English Department and MFA Program at Wichita State University.  She served on the Board of Directors for the Kansas Humanities Council, participated in the Artists in the Schools Program sponsored by the Kansas Arts Commission, and founded, with Kay Closson, the Words By Women Writing Series at Wichita State. She received her MA and MFA from Bowling Green State University and her BS from Concord College in Athens, West Virginia. She is the author of four volumes of poetry, Each Hand A Map, Portraits, Outside the Fold, Outside the Frame and The Resurrection of the Animals, and her poetry, short fiction, and essays have appeared in numerous literary magazines and anthologies. She is currently completing a new volume of poetry began while a Fellow at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, a collection of short stories, and a first novel, Minor Chords. She is the Director of the Creative Arts Festival at Ghost Ranch Conference Center in Abiquiu, New Mexico each August and of the October Writing Festival at Ghost Ranch each Fall. She has taught in the MSU Study Abroad Program in England and Ireland, and served as a Visiting Writer and Writer-in Residence in numerous venues, most recently as the Sara Lura Matthews Self Writer in Residence at Converse College in Spartanburg, S.C. for the month of January 2006.


Jennifer Tindle:
Jennifer Tindle is currently a senior at MSU, and she will be graduating this December with a degree in Accounting. She is involved in several progressive groups on campus, including Zeta Sigma Chi, Multicultural Sorority, Inc., and Phi Tau Mu, an activist-oriented support group for Transmasculine identified students and allies.

Lisa Sayles:
In 5th grade, Lisa won an award for her essay about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. She has been hooked on writing ever since. Recently, she self-published an angst-filled chapbook of poetry about love, heartache and mid-life crisis called The Year of the Phoenix.

Susan Harris :
I'm a Leo and I like dancing, reading, karate and taking long walks...oh wait, this isn't the personals. I have been writing poetry for over 20 years and maybe now I've gotten it right.

Born and raised in the Upper Peninsula, this small town girl rebelled against trying to fit in. She traded in her basketball sneakers for a guitar and has been at it ever since. Through the 12 years she's been playing, she's finally come into her own. Her music shares her views on politics, compassion, and love. Her quirky sense of humor and unimaginable ideas, allow her to pull off beat-boxing to a country song. A solid musician, packed full of raw energy...Alicia is an absolute pleasure to watch perform.

After 15 years, Barb Barton has come home!  Her music flows from traditional style to powerful acoustic rock, but it is her individual charm that attracts an audience. She leaves you feeling as though you have been hit by something of the unknown, something that has caused movement within your very soul...

Stolen Moments

Stolen Moments is a dynamic group from the Ann Arbor area specializing in a unique blend of music.  MarshaMumm and Jean Lieverman have been playing music throughout the state for the last three decades and many may remember hearing them when they played together in the well-known local band, Herizon.  Jean and Marsha are now joined by Tamara Perkuhn who is a spectacular drummer.   Together, they will grab you with their special renditions of old jazz standards  as well as their jazz flavored rock.  Come prepared to enjoy yourself as they will knock your socks off!

Tammy Cook and Amy Starr
Longtime friends and frequent bandmates Tammy Cook and Amy Starr have played in rock, blues, folk and punk bands in bars, festivals, coffeehouses and basements across the midwest. Now a duo, they'll be playing stripped down acoustic versions of some of their originals. Rawk on!

Sample-her
click here!
2004 Women in the Arts
Festival Compilation CD!