From the Board President, Charmaine Moore Kitsinis
Greetings MUSE Family!
My name is Charmaine Moore Kitsinis and I am proud to serve as the new MUSE Board President. I feel so lucky to get to share this work with such a capable and dedicated group of board members, staff, singers, and additional volunteers.
This year is going to be another remarkable expression of our mission: to be an inclusive and feminist choral community advocating for peace and social justice. This year’s theme Lifting As We Climb will demonstrate that mission in our concert season and throughout our organization.
The motto “Lifting As We Climb” was originally coined by the National Association for Colored Women’s Clubs, founded in 1896 by Mary Church Terrell, Harriet Tubman, Ida B. Wells, and others. The NACW worked for women’s suffrage in a desire to improve the lives of African Americans, and eliminate discriminatory practices restricting voting rights. This was a fight that crossed gender and race lines. A fight that fueled the work of Fannie Lou Hamer who was instrumental in the fight for voting rights in the 1960s, culminating in the Voting Rights Act of 1965, winning Black women the vote 45 years after white women won the privilege in 1920. Without the work of Mary Church Terrell and Fannie Lou Hamer, we would not have the seminal work of Shirley Chisholm and the realization of Kamala Harris, the first Black woman to be the Democtmratic nominee for President of the United States. Ms. Chisholm lifted the work of past Black women activists so that Kamala can climb. Beyond politics and the suffrage movement, “Lifting As We Climb” has evolved to mean helping someone advance alongside of you. The phrase also lends itself to the notion of collaboration over competition, and applying lessons learned from the past to improve our future.
In the spirit of “Lifting As We Climb,” MUSE will be doing more to be engaged in our communities, leaning into our 42nd season with courage, wisdom and grace. It brings me such joy to get to work with newly appointed Artistic Director Dr. Reina Dickey and Business Manager Shea Haney. Their expertise and dedication to MUSE is already putting us on the path to success, as well as their commitment to the collaborative nature of our community. Together, Reina, Shea, the MUSE membership, and MUSE board are looking forward to planning and delivering programs that continue to advance our work as a hands-on, hearts-in social justice organization.
Our ambitious plans for MUSE will go nowhere without your support. Each fall we kick off our Friends of MUSE campaign where we ask for your generous donations in order to continue our work of advocating for peace and social justice. On behalf of the entire organization, we are again asking for your financial support. Every gift, big or small, makes a big difference. You should receive your Friends of MUSE letter soon, but if you simply cannot wait you can click here to give today!
Reflecting on “Lifting As We Climb,” I hold closely the beauty and strength that I have witnessed within our organization. Because there were women who created space and showed 30-year-old me how to raise my expectations for justice for gender minorities everywhere, I now impart activist sensibilities to young scholars at the University of Cincinnati. MUSEs lifted me to become the woman I am today. I have been a singing member of MUSE since 2005, and being engaged in the organization for the past 19 years has changed my life forever. MUSE has given me opportunities I would have never dreamed of pursuing without the love of this amazing community of singing activists. I am excited to see what the future holds for all of us.
Thank you for your unwavering support of MUSE. Looking forward to seeing you at a concert, a run-out, online, and in the community!
With deepest gratitude,
MUSE Board President
You can be part of this season's foundation. Considering giving to MUSE to support this season's new commission by Ayo Awosika.
