“When she made the piano sing and her partner raised her clarinet, they lifted me gently to another realm where so subtly came the passion. When did I start to dance in my chair!? Then the piano spills a glissando and the clarinet performs a magic that whooshes my arms up into the sky. ” - Susa Silvermarie

 

BIOS

  Beth York’s Ladyslipper recording, “Transformations,” brought her to the National Women’s Music Festival main stage in 1985, followed by more festivals and concerts with Kay Gardner in the eighties. After finishing graduate school, she pursued academic life and recently retired as Emeritus Professor of Music at Converse University. Intermittently, Beth performed original music with Barbara Ester in Utah, Montana, & Idaho, as well as South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina and Florida. Retirement gave her time to gather musician friends to record original songs that became "Finding Home" in 2019, and they began touring until Covid. During the pandemic, Beth and Barb created instrumental compositions “Three Songs for Clarinet and Piano,” which were premiered in 2021 and 2022 at the Composers’ Recital Series for the National Women’s Music Festival. 

            Barbara Ester is a musician, singer, songwriter and massage therapist. She began performing in Chicago’s Free Theater in 1968. In 1979 she co-created her own production company, Music for Lesbians, where she recorded three albums. She was alto soloist in the premier of Kay Gardner’s oratorio “Ouroboros” at the National Women’s Music Festival in 1994. She has spent over 30 years in relationship, creative collaboration, and performance with Beth York. They shared their songs in a recording called Heartsongs. She currently plays clarinet and is writing her memoirs.  Her stories and poetry have been published in Maize Magazine, Sinister Wisdom, and on the Southern Lesbian Feminist Activist Herstory Project: SLFAHerstoryproject.org     

                                                     Performance Highlights: Beth York & Barbara Ester

July 2026, National Women’s Music Festival 

March 2025, Alapine Community Concert, Cloudland, GA

July 2024, National Women’s Music Festival

May 2024, Cinemasysters, Paducah, KY

August 2023, Congregational Church, Tryon, NC

 June 2023, Alapine Community Concert, Cloudland, GA 

February 2022, Sunday Serenade, Tryon, NC 

October 2021, The Coop, Woodruff, SC

August 2021, Her Ground, Asheville, NC

February 2020, House Concert, Spartanburg, SC      

November 2019, UU Spartanburg Coffeehouse, Spartanburg, SC

September 2019, Finding Voice CD Release, Atlanta, GA

August 2019, Benefit Concert at Fawn Hill, Franklin, NC

March 2019, Alapine Community, Cloudland, GA

February 2019, Love Birds on Tour, Gainesville, FL

November 2018, Heron House, Asheville, NC

Press photos

                 Why do I want to perform at the National Women’s Music Festival? 

The National Women's Music Festival has always held a special place in my heart. 

During the 80's, with support from Kay Gardner, I had the honor of performing 

instrumental compositions from my Ladyslipper recording “Transformations” on the 

main stage at National. In 1994, Barbara Ester performed the alto solo in Kay’s oratorio 

entitled “Ouroboros.” We met in Miami, Florida, listened to each other’s music, and

 began our thirty-year relationship.

 

More recently, I reconnected with the Festival and Leslie Judd, who asked me to 

coordinate the Classical Recital Series. I served as MC for the 2021 virtual festival and 

performed my new instrumental pieces with Barbara. We played these pieces live in 

2022. During the 50th anniversary of the NWMT, we were invited to play once more on 

the Atrium Stage, sharing arrangements from “Transformations”, “Ouroboros”, and 

several songs from the women’s music playbook. We were thrilled with the reception we 

received, and we were delighted to be in the presence of so many women and feel their 

support! We believe that sharing the rich legacy of classic women’s music is 

empowering, and we would love the opportunity to share our original songs and 

selected anthems from women’s music on the Spotlight Stage in 2027.

Music

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