Peace Choir

Sahara Peace Choir, Asheville North Carolina, 2008







Sahara Peace Choir was founded in 2008 by Annelinde Metzner with Roberta Newman, to support peace talks among Muslims, Christians and Jews with the Friendship Force.  We created our name by blending the names of Sarah and Hagar, the matrilineage of all three religions.  Sahara sings benefits for women's wellbeing, the Earth, the Goddess, and for world peace and tolerance.  Many of our songs are composed or arranged by Annelinde, who has produced a songbook of praise songs of the Goddesses of Europe, Africa and the Middle East entitled "Lady of Ten Thousand Names," which is available through this website at the "BUY" tab.



CONCERTS by SAHARA PEACE CHOIR
 
We have been meeting online for singalongs monthly since April of 2020.  Next live concert: "Blessings on the River," held in August of 2021 and 2022.

Events in 2020

Concerts are postponed due to the Coronavirus.  However, we do have an online singalong every other Monday!
 

March 21-     Benefit for Helpmate, Ten Thousand Villages-  postponed. 


Events in 2019

October 6-  "Gospelfest" benefit for Thomas Chapel Historic AME church

August 25-  "Blessings on the River" with Sahara Peace Choir and the Wild Bodema Drummers


March 16- "Bread and Roses," Sahara Peace Choir benefit for Helpmate Women's  Shelter 


Events in 2018
 
August 25, 2018-  Blessings on the River, Benefit concert with the Wild Bodema Drummers at Swannanoa Valley Friends Meeting.


April 20, 2018-  Performance of Orisha songs for Asheville Sister Cities delegation from Osogbo, Nigeria


March 8, 2018-  Benefit Concert for International Women's Day, Ten Thousand Villages, Montreat NC.
 
January 20, 2018-  Asheville Women's March songleading.
 

A HEALING GATHERING after the Women's March at Jubilee, Wall Street, Asheville, with Sahara Peace Choir, the Wild Bodema Drummers, Native American Flute, meditation and ritual.   JANUARY 21, 2017



"Blessings on the River"
We will perform at the Friends Meeting House, 137 Center Avenue in Black Mountain, on August 20, 2016,    3 to 6 PM, along with the Wild Bodema Drummers, in a concert for the fresh waters of the Earth, to benefit "Bounty and Soul," bringing free fresh food to those in need in Buncombe County.   Love Donation!


"She Shall Have Music"
We will perform in 2016 at Ten Thousand Villages Montreat on March 12th, 2 PM.  Proceeds from sales and love offerings will go to Helpmate, a womens' shelter in Asheville. 


Golden Thread-  Sahara Peace Choir will perform in a benefit for Helpmate women's shelter on March 21st, 2015 at 2 PM at Ten Thousand Villages in Montreat, NC.  Donations will be accepted and a portion of sales will go to Helpmate.   Come join us!
 

WILD FLOWERS
A concert by Sahara Peace Choir at Ten Thousand Villages, Montreat, Saturday March 8, 2014 at 2 PM.
This concert and a portion of all purchases at the store will benefit 
Helpmate Womens' Shelter and Advocacy of Asheville, North Carolina.
COME JOIN US!  We will be singing from our repertoire of uplifting songs of one world consciousness, joy and beauty.




TELL A WOMAN, November 16th, 2013  7 PM

On Saturday evening, November 16th at 7 PM, Annelinde Metzner will present “Tell a Woman,” an exciting evening of her poems and songs, with special guest, poet Susa Silvermarie, and Sahara Peace Choir. The two poets are celebrating the launch of We’Moon 2014, a datebook of women’s writing and art, which features their poems. We’Moon datebooks can be purchased on site, as well as Annelinde’s songbooks, poetry books, CDs and DVDs, for excellent holiday gifts!
Annelinde Metzner is a Goddess-centered, feminist poet. The title "Tell a Woman" comes from a poem she created for Asheville's Rise Up celebration in February 2013.


Admission to “Tell a Woman” is $10.00 at the UUCSV, 500 Montreat Road in Black Mountain. Call 712-6745 for more information.





Blessings on the River, 2013, Sunday September 15th at 4 PM,  Woodfin Riverside Park. 
   Give thanks for our rivers and our fresh water with Sahara Peace Choir, the Wild Bodema drummers, and Mother Grove Temple. Leave popcorn as an offering to the beautiful French Broad River!


 




LADY OF TEN THOUSAND NAMES
A CONCERT OF SONGS FOR THE GODDESS

Annelinde Metzner, Black Mountain poet and composer, presents a concert of her own works performed by Sahara Peace Choir with soloists Stephanie Heidemann and    Betsy Murray, dance by Helen Holifield and Shelli Stanback, with Nels Arnold, MC.
SATURDAY AUGUST 18, 2012, 2 PM at the UNITARIAN CONGREGATION
on Charlotte Street and Edwin in Asheville, North Carolina
This concert marks the release of Annelinde’s new songbook and CD,
“LADY OF TEN THOUSAND NAMES: SONGS IN PRAISE OF THE GODDESSES
OF EUROPE, AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST.”
The songbook and other books, CD’s and DVD’s will be available for purchase.
A portion of ticket sales will go to support
the Linda Norgrove Foundation for Women and Children of Afghanistan.
TICKETS $10.00 AT THE DOOR.   Email AnnelindeMetzner@gmail.com for more info.

Sahara Peace Choir at Blessings on the River, 2010
          
Sahara Peace Choir was founded in 2008 by Annelinde Metzner with Roberta Newman, to support peace talks among Muslims, Christians and Jews with the Friendship Force.  We created our name by blending the names of Sarah and Hagar, the matrilineage of all three religions.  Sahara sings benefits for women's wellbeing, the Earth, the Goddess, and for world peace and tolerance.  Many of our songs are composed or arranged by Annelinde, who has produced a songbook of praise songs of the Goddesses of Europe, Africa and the Middle East entitled "Lady of Ten Thousand Names," which is available through this website by clicking on the "BUY" tab.



The Peace Choir

Sing, O heavens, shout, O depths of the earth; break forth into singing, O mountains,
O forest, and every tree in it!    Isaiah 44:23


The women come to sing.
In the cold and icy dark, we gather
to rehearse the songs of peace.

“I’m gonna lay down my sword and shield...”

Putting aside aches and pains, and serious ills,
we come to sing with that wee bit of faith,
that last urge somewhere hidden deep in the heart.

“Oh, if I could ring like a bell...”

The great Black Dome, the great mountain
hears them coming, the mountain heart leaping.

“a song of peace, for their land, and for mine...”

until we arrive, there at Black Dome’s feet,
to open our mouths and hearts for Her love,
leaving our homes with all our annoyances,
to sing, to wail, to cry out
for the world we can see, within reach.

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those who publish peace.  Isaiah 52:7

Annelinde Metzner      March 2010


Listen to Sahara Peace Choir singing "Everyone in the World", a powerful song for the safety and wellbeing of all people, by India's "Hugging Saint," Amma, arranged by Annelinde.