Voices for Peace

Michael ("Moose") Dmoch April 6, 1949 - July 20, 2008 Beloved husband & musical partner of Redwood; Tireless activist for peace & social justice; Irreplaceable friend to many. A memorial musical event will be held Saturday, August 23, 2008: see Performances

Voices for Peace performing at an antiwar rally at SUNY New Paltz, March 2006, which featured U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey as its keynote speaker. Credit: Dominick Fiorille for the Times Herald Record

VOICES FOR PEACE is a community vocal ensemble, directed since November 2004 by well-known Hudson Valley soprano and peace activist Danielle Woerner. Music has always been an integral part of the peace movement, and the chorus exists to bring a harmonious influence to anti-war marches and demonstrations, where conflicts and counter-demonstrations can flare, and to bring a repertoire of new and traditional songs of peace and social justice to concerts, street festivals and other occasions. Our musicians range from professionals with active careers to amateurs who want to lend their voices to the cause. They come from all over the mid-Hudson region.

Several of the Voices for Peace are songwriters--Redwood of the folk duo Redwood Moose, T.G. Vanini of the Princes of Serendip, Shirley Warren, and Woerner--so the group draws on a variety of songs written by "its own" as well as other Hudson Valley song-smiths. We also perform many of the classic movement songs of the 1960s and '70s, and earlier.

The group regularly performs at venues like the Bluestone Festival in Kingston, the Rosendale Street Festival, the Apple Blossom Festival in Red Hook, Woodstock's annual Martin Luther King commemoration, and the annual Mother's Day leafleting (May) and Hiroshima Commemoration (August) in New Paltz that are hosted by its parent organization, Arts for Peace. The Voices have also been heard on the faculty concert series at Dutchess Community College, and at antiwar rallies featuring U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey at SUNY New Paltz. We recently opened a "Folk the Vote!" event at BackStage Productions in Kingston, organized by John Pietaro and the Flames of Discontent, to help inspire and turn out voters for the 2006 midterm elections.

The group is part of a recording-in-progress of new songs for peace, which Woerner has begun assembling and executive-producing for Woodlark Rising Records. The recording will not only include music by members of Voices for Peace, but songs/ performances by David Alpher& Jennie Litt, Ras T. Asheber, Peggy Atwood, Karen Beth, Kurt Henry, the Hudson Valley Youth Chorale, Redwood Moose, Tom Pacheco, Leslie Ritter and Scott Petito, Jon Stein, the Princes of Serendip, the Vanaver Caravan, Dennis Yerry and others.

The sense that we are doing something of value, in our own small grass-roots way, is reinforced by the gratitude people often express after performances, that we're out there spreading this message and music abroad as an alternative "channel" to the overwhelming messages promulgated by conservative media juggernauts like Clear Channel and Fox News.

Membership is open, and rehearsals are held in Shokan. For more information, contact Danielle.

Voices for Peace serenade the passengers waiting to board a "Peace Train" from Poughkeepsie to a major march in New York City. Credit: Peter Elmendorf

At the Bluestone Festival in Kingston, NY, October 2006 -- members Redwood (in hat) and Rhys McClure, a recent "immigrant" to the Hudson Valley from New Orleans. Credit: Judith Boggess