Twenty years of women’s music radio show celebrated with Holly Near concert, April 11

Concert: 20^th anniversary of The Globe’s “A Women’s Circle” – Holly Near with pianist Scot Woolley
Date and time: Wednesday, April 11, 2007 at 7:30 p.m.
Location: Umble Center, Goshen College
Cost: $20 in advance, $25 at the door; reserved seating.
Event sponsor: WGCS 91.1FM, The Globe
For more information and for tickets: Call the Goshen College Welcome Center at (574) 535-7566
Web sites: www.hollynear.com and www.globeradio.org

GOSHEN, Ind. – Exactly 20 years to the day that Wilma Harder began broadcasting her radio show “A Women’s Circle,” she and many others will celebrate the occasion appropriately, with a concert by singer-songwriter and activist Holly Near in Goshen College’s Umble Center on April 11 at 7:30 p.m.

Harder, a 1983 Goshen College alum and owner of a jewelry studio, began playing women’s music on the radio in 1986 on a late-night shift at WGCS 91.1FM, the college-owned radio station. “I was tired of hearing only one or two women’s voices per day on the radio, and thought I’d do my part to give women more exposure on the airwaves,” she said. “Not only that, but I knew there was a lot of good women’s music being written and sung that was not being played on the radio.”

When local public radio station WVPE was interested in a women’s music show, Harder agreed to do it and “A Women’s Circle” began on April 11, 1987, with co-host Maureen Hathaway. “It was highly successful in terms of listener support, consistently raising more money per hour than any other show on WVPE,” she said. After Hathaway moved out of the area, Harder continued to produce and host the show on her own.

In 1990, WVPE cancelled locally-produced shows, including “A Women’s Circle,” as they introduced National Public Radio programming. A year later, WGCS 91.1FM approached Harder about bringing her show back to the airwaves, which she agreed to. “I’m very happy that I’ve been able to keep my home on 91.1 The Globe on Sundays at 6 p.m. all these years!” she said. Harder believes her show is the longest running radio program dedicated to women’s music in the country.

The Globe’s general manager Jason Samuel estimated that during Harder’s 20 years of hosting “A Women’s Circle,” she has probably produced over 1,000 shows. “Her contribution to our programming line-up has been invaluable. I consider it a privilege to have her sharing her knowledge of female artists, new and old, known and unknown, with our listening audience,” Samuel said.

To honor the 20^th anniversary of “A Women’s Circle,” singer and activist Holly Near will take to the stage at Goshen College, sponsored by The Globe, 91.1FM. An immense vocal talent, Near’s career as a singer has been profoundly defined by an unwillingness to separate her passion for music from her passion for human dignity. She is a skilled performer and an outspoken ambassador for peace who brings to the stage an integration of world consciousness, spiritual discovery and theatricality. She will perform with pianist Scot Woolley.

Although she sang publicly from the time she was eight years old, Near’s professional career began in her early 20s when she worked in film and television shows. Eventually music returned to become her major focus, especially music which articulated the social conditions of the world community. After traveling with the Free The Army Tour in 1971, singing to soldiers who were resisting war and racism from within the military, Near started writing and singing songs. Following in the footsteps of such writers as Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs, Beverly Grant and Hazel Dickens, she added newly discovered feminist perspective to anti-war songs and developed a unique and recognizable style. Near was probably the first woman artist to start an Indy record company when in 1972 she founded Redwood Records which became a major force in alternative music for nearly 20 years. Near has traveled from the fields of central California singing in support of The United Farm Workers to El Salvador where she sang for peace amidst war and conflict. Her songs were sung clandestinely in Latin American prisons and sung boldly by Irish and English women who joined together to protest war.

Near has released over 20 recordings and appeared as a guest on many others. She has been a cultural leader for over 35 years and now shares her experience in creative and challenging master classes. Her newest CD, “Show Up,” proves that she continues to sing with a power and maturity that may only come from decades of love and fear, despair and inspiration.

Tickets are for reserved seating and cost $20 in advance, $25 at the door. They are available at the Goshen College Welcome Center by calling (574) 535-7566.

Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S.News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu.