At this time next week --

--- this group, along with several others not pictured, will be singing their hearts out at an evening performance called BLOOM, featuring the Allegra Women's Ensemble, which is us!

Allegra is comprised of a stalwart crew of women from the community who feed their music addiction by coming together once a week for rehearsals, performing up and down the I-5 corridor and throughout the general community, and delivering two main concerts each season. We're the sister group to the Whatcom Sound Jazz Singers, and together, we make up the two choral ensembles within Bellingham Sings, a choral community which was begun about 8 years ago by its fearless leader, Ann MacDonald.

I'll be forever indebted to Ann and this organization for giving me the gift of singing, as I'd never participated in any choral or vocal ensembles before. Over the past 5-6 years, my ability to hit the higher notes, to control my breathing, and my overall self-confidence has grown by leaps and bounds. I've been given a whole new musical palette to paint the colors and tell the stories that make us who we are.

At the end of this season, several of our singers will be heading off to graduate school and new life adventures which means --- we need some new voices! If there are any women singing in your showers and you'd like to steer them onto a stage, please send them to our website, and let's see what music we can make!

And the flowers appear on the earth, and the time of our singing has come.