Musae is a women’s vocal ensemble based in San Francisco. The group takes its name from the original “ladies of song,” the classic nine muses of Greek mythology. Since its founding in 2004, Musae has performed diverse and accessible music throughout the Bay Area, and continues to stretch the boundaries of traditional repertoire for women’s voices.

Musae functions as a musical collective in which each singer identifies as a leader and soloist and contributes actively to the artistic process. The group’s singers, who average 14 in number, are trained in the choral tradition, but not bound by it. Each singer may sing a range of voice parts based on the aesthetic demands of the repertoire, and the group performs largely without conductor.

In its first two seasons, Musae released its debut album “From Argentina to Appalachia,” collaborated with acclaimed vocal ensembles Kitka and Chanticleer, and produced a full schedule of sold-out concerts. The group’s repertoire included sacred chants, baroque masterpieces, women’s choral standards, chamber pieces with string quartet, spirituals, folksongs, jazz, and popular music from five continents. In 2005, Musae was awarded nonprofit status by the federal government.

In the 2006-2007 season, Musae presented the concert series Home for the Holidays in December and The Great American Songbook, accompanied by a live jazz combo, in May. The group expanded its participation in the community with a performance at the 16th Annual Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Race for the Cure. Musae also hosted its 1st Annual Fundraising Soirée, where donors helped the group establish the Te Quiero Fund for Sustainability and Outreach. This Fund will allow the group to commission new music and develop an expanded concert series.

Musae launched its 2007-2008 season with the November debut of its long-awaited holiday album, “Alegría y Placer: A Musae Christmas." The group reprised the album’s centerpiece, local composer Conrad Susa’s “Carols & Lullabies: Christmas in the Southwest” at festive December performances in Berkeley, San Francisco, and Tiburon. In January, Musae performed at a benefit for the St. Vincent de Paul Catherine’s Center, which supports rehabilitative programs for incarcerated women. The group looks forward to hosting its second open house in the spring and presenting the concert series Grace: Songs of Hope and Wonder , featuring shape note and Shaker hymns, beloved African-American spirituals, and moving folksongs from Scotland and Ireland, in May.