Heartbeat: Eight-Woman a Capella Group

How to make your heart sing? Heartbeat, a eight-woman a cappella group, performs both upbeat and intimate concerts that often include folk songs, pop songs, bluegrass, jazz, and foreign folk songs. Their new concert series is “Live as One” tour, inspired by a line from John Lennon’s “Imagine.” They will be performing songs from around the globe—Japan, Bulgaria, Estonia, Tanzania, Ecuador, the UK, the US, India and many more. The group, singing together in Telluride since 1994, has opened the Bluegrass Festival and the Telluride Jazz Celebration, toured to the Blue Sage Theater in Paonia, the Art Center in Moab and the Sand Island Bluegrass Festival in Bluff, Utah. “But some of our favorite concerts have been the impromptu ones, such as the post office, the bike path tunnel, the stairwell at the elementary school and even standing in the Gunnison River singing to boaters,” says member Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer. “I think that part of what makes our concerts so much fun is that we have a lot of energy and spontaneity every time we perform. We’re up there having a great time making music.” Since its inception, the group has been leaderless, “which is to say that we have seven leaders,” says member Nancy deCastro. “We all are responsible for finding music, for directing, for setting rehearsals and for doing what needs to be done. We all bring different talents to the group.” The present group includes Suzan Beraza, Nancy DeCastro, Donna Burd Fernald, Judith Kohin, Jen Sher Birrittella, Ulli Sir Jesse, Deb Stevens and Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer. This show is suggested donation of $5. More information by calling 970.241.8801. The Radio Room is located at 1310 Ute Avenue, Grand Junction, CO 81501. Doors open at 3:30 pm, and concert begins at 4 pm.