Seattle Women's Chorus stays close to home for holidays

"We're bringing it home," says Rhonda Juliano, assistant conductor of Seattle Women's Chorus. "Our show includes songs about Seattle neighborhoods, by local composers."

The 6-year-old, 240-member Women's Chorus, which shares an artistic director with Seattle Men's Chorus — Dennis Coleman — is holding its own holiday festivities at Meany Theater with a show called "Dressed In Holiday Style," Dec. 13-14. The accent will be on Seattle humor, including tunes about coffee and inclement weather, but the focus will shift from one community identity to another: Fremont, the Central District, Ballard, Capitol Hill and West Seattle.

Juliano says SWC is the largest community women's chorus in the country, with an age range of 18 to 80. Like its male counterpart, the group is a gay chorus, though about a third of its members are straight.

Besides the Seattle-centric songs, says Juliano, the chorus will be performing a number of traditional, seasonal songs.

Tom Keogh