Orange County Women's Chorus To Perform THE SISTERHOOD OF CECILIA

Orange County Women's Chorus will perform The Sisterhood of Cecilia on November 19 and 20 at St. Wilfrid of York Episcopal Church in Huntington Beach.

November 22 is the Feast of St. Cecilia. She's not just the patron saint of music-she was also a woman of strength and spirituality, and the company is singing music by and about Cecilia and her mighty soul-sisters from long-ago eras and distant lands, from Hildegard to Enheduanna to Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz to Mirabai.

"We are energized and excited after our summertime performance at Carnegie Hall, and we think this will be one of the most enjoyable and exciting programs we've performed yet," says OCWC Artistic Director Eliza Rubenstein.

Two performances will take place at St. Wilfrid of York Episcopal Church, 18631 Chapel Lane, Huntington Beach on Saturday, November 19 at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, November 20 at 3:00 p.m. Tickets must be purchased in advance online at ocwomenschorus.org (Adults: $30; Seniors (65+): $25; Students (with ID): $15). Please see our COVID policies and protocols at ocwomenschorus.org/covid.

Founded in 1997, the Orange County Women's Chorus is now in its 25th season as one of the region's top amateur ensembles. The chorus was named a 2014 Outstanding Arts Organization by Arts Orange County, was a prizewinner in July 2015 at the International Musical Eisteddfod in Llangollen, Wales, and participated in the Carnegie Hall premiere of Kirke Mechem's Songs of the Slave in New York City in June

2017 under the baton of Eliza Rubenstein. The chorus made its own Carnegie Hall debut in June 2022 in a spotlight performance and joined a mass choir performance of Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass under Rubenstein's direction.

Eliza Rubenstein, OCWC Artistic Director since 2000, is also the Director of Choral and Vocal Activities and Music Department chair at Orange Coast College. She studied choral conducting at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music before moving to California to earn her master's degree at UC Irvine, and she's also a former animal-shelter administrator and the co-author of a book about dog adoption.

Sarah Hughes, in her 10th season as the OCWC's Assistant Director, is a 2011 graduate of the

Conservatory of Music at Chapman University in Orange, CA. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in music education with an emphasis in voice and a Master of Arts degree in teaching from Chapman University. Sarah teaches elementary music in the Fountain Valley Unified School District.

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