In the decades since World House Choir Director Catherine Roma first heard the voices of Sweet Honey in the Rock, she has carried aspects of their sound — and their purpose — into every choir she’s led.

“It was transporting,” Roma said of hearing the group in the 1970s. “They sang music about events that were affecting their lives right now.”

That sense of immediacy — music as reflection, response, call to action — will take center stage later this month, as the World House Choir joins forces with MUSE women’s choir for “Give Your Hands to Struggle,” a pair of concerts honoring the life and legacy of the late Sweet Honey in the Rock founder Bernice Johnson Reagon, who died in 2024.

The program is set for Saturday, April 25, in Springfield’s John Legend Theater, and May 2, in Cincinnati.

“When I think of the work of Dr. Reagon … and when I think of the time period we’re living in right now, I think of her music as being so relevant,” Roma said. “She was prophetic.”

Reagon — a scholar, historian and activist, as well as a singer and songwriter — built a body of work rooted in Black experience and the long arc of the Civil Rights Movement. Her songs, Roma said, directly confronted the political and social issues of their moment.

That approach, she added, helped shape her own trajectory as a choral director. Roma first worked with Reagon in the late 1970s, when Roma was conducting the Philadelphia women’s chorus she founded, ANNA Crusis. Over four weeks, Reagon taught the women several of her songs; Roma later transcribed some of Reagon’s work, which until then had been passed along via collaborative, oral teaching. In the ‘80s, after Roma had founded MUSE in Cincinnati, Reagon again came to teach some of her songs, this time to a new group of women.

In 2004, MUSE commissioned Reagon to write a piece for the opening of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati. That commission spawned the “Liberty or Death Suite,” which draws on the words and legacy of Harriet Tubman, weaving together spoken text and layered vocal lines.

“It’s not an easy piece,” Roma said. “It’s got a lot going on in it — drum rhythms, and you can feel the force and the power of it.”

For this performance, as the centerpiece of the upcoming concerts, the suite will receive only its second full staging, with singers from both MUSE and World House Choir — about 150 voices — combining to create what Roma described as a “huge sound,” meant to evoke the communal singing that sustained Civil Rights organizers in churches and gatherings across the South.

“That singing was so important in that whole movement,” she said. “Somebody would start a song … and everybody would just join in.”

Audience members will be invited to do the same; in keeping with Reagon’s practice, the program includes moments of participatory singing.

“She’d say, ‘This is for you — you have to join us in this,’” Roma said. “Don’t remain silent.”

The concert’s repertoire spans decades of Reagon’s work, including “Ella’s Song,” “Seven Principles,” “We’ll Understand it Better By and By,” and World House Choir favorite “Greed,” which confronts the nation’s foundations on the “sin of greed” that moves like “a virus.” The program also includes “I Remember, I Believe,” whose lyrics invoke ancestral memory, strength and a bone-deep faith in the pursuit of justice: “My God calls to me in the morning dew/The power of the universe knows my name/Gave me a song to sing and sent me on my way/I raise my voice for justice, I believe.”

“[Reagon’s] ability to say what’s going on right now — and say how it affects people — that’s what makes it so powerful,” Roma said. “She’s singing about struggle, but at the same time, there’s something grounding her — that deep faith.”

The concerts will also include pre-performance talks by scholars Dr. Tammy Kernodle and Dr. Portia Maultsby, offering broader context on Reagon’s contributions as both an artist and a cultural historian.

The collaboration between World House Choir and MUSE is a continuation and a culmination of Roma’s lifetime of work. It seemed only fitting, Roma said, to join both choirs in honor of Reagon, whom she considered a mentor, and whose influence is still felt in both choirs’ emphasis on music that kindles unity and social justice.

Likewise, it felt appropriate to title the pair of concerts after Reagon’s reminder that unity and social justice are achieved by hard work and vigilance: “We’ll be really moving/Building up our union/If we give our all to struggle.”

“When she says, ‘Give your hands to struggle,’” Roma said, “that’s really what we need to be doing right now.”

The World House Choir and MUSE will perform “Give Your Hands to Struggle” Saturday, April 25, at 4 p.m., in John Legend Theater, with a preconcert talk at 3 p.m.; tickets are $10, and may be purchased online at http://www.bit.ly/GiveYourHandsLegend

The Cincinnati performance will be held at House of Joy, located at 3220 Central Parkway, on Saturday, May 2, at 4 p.m., with a preconcert talk at 3 p.m.; tickets are $35, and may be purchased online at http://www.musechoir.org

Dusk in late spring: The last motes of pollen fall to the forest floor, looking for their pine-needle bed. On the Little Miami, waterbugs draw their final figure eights. Above, the fading light hesitates on the beak of a yellow-rumped warbler.

Such is the natural verse of Glen Helen, where the Ohio Poetry Association will hold its fifth biannual Sun and Moon Poetry Festival Friday–Sunday, May 15–17. Registration ends April 22.

The nature-centered poetry festival is a weekend-long slate of writing workshops, readings, nature walks and panel discussions. The Poetry Festival will take place almost entirely in the Glen — on its winding trails or in the stone stillness of the Vernet Ecological Center — and will feature instruction from and discussion with 10 professional poets from across the country. 

Beyond simply prompting poets to put their pens to paper, Ohio Poetry Association President Holly Brians Ragusa said the greatest highlight of the Sun and Moon Poetry Festival is giving registrants the chance to be in close communion with others of the craft.

“That’s a key tenet of being a poet — finding your community, and that’s exactly what Yellow Springs offers,” Ragusa told the News earlier this week. “We are building and expanding community — introducing poets to poets, introducing poets to poems and honing our craft. It’s like a kind of professional development.”

Naturally, the festival’s itinerary is fanciful. Friday night includes stargazing to the sounds of a flute; Saturday is a 12-hour docket of haiku hikes, sound baths, workshops and more; the final day wraps up the festival with an open mic event, a “metafactory generative session,” a panel, “street poetry” staged throughout downtown Yellow Springs for public enjoyment and more.

Since first coming to the village ten years ago, the festival has found a natural home in Glen Helen, Ragusa said. The preserve abounds with poems waiting to be written. 

“In Yellow Springs, there’s such a kinship with the natural beauty,” she said. “It’s imperative to take a moment to commune with nature. For a poet, we notice that tiny fly that’s floundering in a bird bath. We notice when the last petals are about to fall off a bloom. We can’t help it. We feel it deeply and must communicate it on the page.”

Having enjoyed the last Sun & Moon Poetry Festival so much, villager and poet Ed Davis said he plans to attend this year and looks forward to again “schmoozing and learning from” other poets — if anything just to stoke his passion for prose.

“As important as air and water to many people, poetry sometimes gets a bad rap due to much academic poetry these days being purposely obscure,” Davis wrote to the News. “But there’s still plenty of the other kind: earthy and concrete, deploying language fresh as a moss-covered log after April rain.”

The complete schedule for the Ohio Poetry Association’s Sun and Moon Poetry Festival can be read at http://www.ohiopoetryassn.org/sun-moon-festival — where participants can also register.

Pricing for the festival is $65 for Ohio Poetry Association members and $85 for nonmembers. An $15 box lunch from Current Cuisine for Saturday can be added.

Proposed changes to Greene CATS are on course to reshape public transit across the county — including eliminating the Flex Route that currently connects Yellow Springs to Xenia and Fairborn.

Under a revised service plan announced by the Greene County Transit Board in late March, beginning July 1, the system would eliminate all five of the county’s Flex Routes, which run on fixed paths with scheduled stops. Locally, Flex Route stops have been operating at YS Library, the Bryan Center and the intersection of Dayton and W. Limestone streets since 2013.

Flex Routes account for about 40% of all rides provided by Greene CATS, according to Transit Director Ken Collier.

In addition to eliminating those routes, Greene CATS would reduce weekday service hours from 6 a.m.–10 p.m. to 6 a.m.–6 p.m. Two existing scheduled ride runs would be converted into same-day, on-demand service within limited zones — one serving Fairborn and North Fairfield, and another serving Xenia and Wilberforce — in an effort to partially offset the loss of Flex Routes.

Though the on-demand service won’t cover Yellow Springs, village riders will still have the option to schedule rides with Greene CATS at least two business days in advance. Rides can be scheduled by calling 937-708-8322 Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–4 p.m.

The plan also calls for a change to fare structure. Instead of the current one-way, flat adult rate of $4 for in-county and $8 for out-of-county trips, one-way fares would move to a per-mile model: $5 for trips up to 10 miles, $10 for 10–20 miles and $20 for trips exceeding 20 miles. Children’s fares would increase from $1 to $2 per one-way trip, and elderly and disabled riders, who currently can apply for a half-fare program, would pay the adult rate.

Greene CATS officials are seeking public input on the proposal before finalizing changes later this month. Public meetings were held in Fairborn and Xenia last week; additional written comments will be accepted through April 23.

About two dozen people filled the media room at the county’s Department of Job and Family Services on April 10 to hear and give feedback about the proposed plan. Collier told attendees the proposed reductions are driven by a combination of declining funding and rising costs.

“We have had about 16% reduction in our federal funding,” Collier said, adding that Greene CATS has also seen a significant increase in operating costs, including an 18% jump in its most recent service contract.

Collier said the funding loss is tied in part to the end of pandemic-era federal support and a shift in Greene County’s classification from an urban to a largely rural service area following the most recent census. That reclassification changed how federal transit dollars are allocated, reducing available funding and limiting how funds can be used across different parts of the county.

“We’re trying to bring our service to the level of our funding and provide as much and the best service we can with the funding that we have,” he said.

Collier added that Greene CATS has been relying on reserve funds since 2024 — at a rate of roughly $90,000 per month — to maintain current service levels, which he said is not sustainable for the agency in the long term.

“I wish I had better news,” he said.

Collier also explained that Greene CATS does not receive funding from a dedicated local levy or general county tax revenues. Instead, the program relies on a mix of federal and state grants, passenger fares and contracts to provide services for agencies such as the Greene County Board of Developmental Disabilities and the Department of Job and Family Services. Those contract services, Collier added, help provide the required local match for federal funding.

Meeting attendees raised concerns about how the proposed changes would affect access to work, medical appointments and daily needs, particularly for those without access to a car. Several questioned the elimination of Flex Routes, which connect rural towns, including Yellow Springs, to larger nearby communities with more amenities. Others expressed concern about the loss of evening service, which could impact workers with shifts ending after 6 p.m.

One attendee described relying on Greene CATS to commute to work and said the earlier cutoff would make it difficult to maintain employment. Another questioned whether the new model would reliably meet riders’ needs, citing experience with long waits on circuitous routes via scheduled rides, which are often shared between multiple riders.

Cost increases were also a point of concern, with attendees questioning whether the per-mile rates would be affordable for regular use by low-income residents, especially for longer trips.

Collier acknowledged the challenges, noting that the system is attempting to balance service levels with available resources.

“We have a challenge of having to … right-size our service to the size of what we can do,” he said. “A challenge of the Midwest is that our densities are a lot lower.”

Collier said some aspects of the plan could still be adjusted based on public feedback before final approval, though he said it’s unlikely the Flex Routes will be restored without a significant increase in funding. To that end, he added, it’s also unlikely that funding for public transport in the county will increase without state and federal support. When asked what residents can do to advocate for more transit funding, Collier recommended reaching out to legislators.

“Contact your state representatives here in this area,” he said, noting that increased support for required matching funds, in particular, would be critical to expanding service.

Written public comments on the proposed plan will be accepted through April 23 via email at info@greenecats.org or by mail to the Greene CATS office, 2380 Bellbrook Ave. Suite A, Xenia, OH, 45385.

Council chambers were packed with about 50 local residents on Tuesday, April 14, for the most recent regular Planning Commission meeting, when the group considered an application submitted by a local childhood education program to operate out of a home in a quiet neighborhood.

Specifically, Yellow Springs-based Open Air Village — an outdoor-based program, equal parts daycare and preschool — sought approval to headquarter and run the business at 1333 President Street.

After two and a half hours of discussion, by a unanimous vote of 5–0, Planning Commission members ultimately approved those in-home childcare plans.

Now, Open Air Village is permitted to host up to 12 children at any given time, operating Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.–5 p.m. Plans include a regimented drop-off and pick-up schedule, with no more than four cars coming and going from the residence in 20-minute windows in hour-long time slots at the beginning, middle and end of the day.

Additionally, per Planning Commission’s conditions for approval, no parking is permitted on the street and Open Air Village staffers must obtain a certificate of occupancy as well as Village approval for the installation of any signage.

All these operational logistics are consistent with the Village zoning code, particularly those outlined for R-A, or low-density residential districts, such as the President Street neighborhood.

Open Air Village has been around Yellow Springs since its founding in 2020 by local residents Nicole and Bryan Gay. It was first established in the former Children’s Montessori Cooperative space inside the Sontag-Fels building on Antioch College’s campus. Anticipating the eventual demolition of Sontag, Antioch moved Open Air to another, albeit temporary, campus space in McGregor Hall late last summer.

As previously reported in the News, the Gays’ solution came from a “For Lease” sign in front of the President Street house — the former home of the late George and Toshiko Asakawa, which sits on roughly an acre and has a large U-shaped driveway, as well as a finished basement.

According to the Gays’ plans submitted to Planning Commission, the only changes they intend to make to the home are to the basement to accommodate the infrequent and/or off-season indoor activities for the children under their supervision. A portion of the first floor will be used as a multi-use space for dining and parent group meetings.

All other activities will be in the backyard — in open air.

“Since opening, our work has been grounded in nurturing children to feel confident in themselves,” Nicole Gay told Planning Commissioners on Tuesday. “That is to learn self regulation, to resolve conflict and to build meaningful connection with the natural world. Our children aren’t behind screens. They’re not being drilled with numbers and letters, but they’re creating, becoming artists, leaders and small and capable versions of their future selves.”

It’s that outdoor-centric philosophy that drew the greatest concern from several neighbors who attended the meeting or wrote letters in opposition.

“I know what recess sounds like,” Marsha Sutherland, a former Mills Lawn teacher, said. “My patio is 30 feet from where these children will be playing. Gone will be the quiet morning cup of coffee. Gone will be the peaceful afternoons of gardening. And when I have to sell my house, I’ll have to explain I’m right next to an outdoor daycare with eight hours of yelling, screaming preschoolers.”

All told, 14 letters in opposition to Open Air’s plans were submitted to Planning Commission ahead of Tuesday’s meeting — most of which echoed Sutherland’s concerns over noise and property values, and which also articulated trepidation over traffic, pedestrian safety and liberal interpretations of the zoning code.

Support for Open Air Village’s plans, however, far outnumbered the opposition. Just short of 50 letters in favor of bringing operations to the President Street home were submitted to Planning Commission. A sizable portion of those who spoke at the meeting were current or former parents of children enrolled in Open Air.

“A lot of what I’ve heard [from opponents] is people reacting to what they’re afraid this could become, not what is being asked for right now,” villager and Open Air parent Jason Laveck said.

Regarding the fears of noise, Nicole Gay said she and her husband have every intention to mitigate any potential ruckus.

“Our children laugh — and we hope that’s not offensive to hear,” she said. “Sometimes they cry — and we comfort them through that. But the notion that they’re going to be outside screaming all day, running wild, going over fences and going into fish ponds is all just untrue.”

As additional balm to the detractors, Gay said that this home-based location is, in their best case scenario, a temporary situation.

“We hope this is a short-term solution for us,” she said. “If given the chance, we hope to be able to grow and save and one day, build a permanent space. But right now, that’s just not where we’re at.”

Over the course of the meeting, Planning Commissioners went back and forth in their attempts to address neighbor concerns — particularly over noise. Potential stipulations of having the Gays build fencing, plant foliage or take any meaningful steps to create a sound barrier between them and their neighbors were all options proposed, but were all rescinded in favor of the Gays’ reassurances to mindfully operate the childcare program.

“I have empathy for both sides,” Planning Commission Chair Susan Stiles conceded. “This was a very difficult decision for all of us.”

Chamber Music in Yellow Springs has announced the two finalists in its 41st Annual Competition for Emerging Ensembles: Trio Timia and Trio Caspar.

The two ensembles, selected by a panel of professionals, will each perform Sunday, April 26, at First Presbyterian Church. The event begins at 4 p.m.

The competition is one of the signature programs of the all-volunteer nonprofit CMYS, and is designed to recognize and support new talent. Following the performances, three judges will choose the winner of the $4,000 first prize and the recipient of the $3,000 second prize. While the judges decide, attendees will vote for the $500 Audience Favorite prize.

Trio Caspar was the first group to be named as the Colburn Conservatory’s inaugural Honors Chamber Music Ensemble. Founded in 2024 by clarinetist Andrea Caputo, violinist Jason Moon and pianist Bogang Hwang, Trio Caspar’s name pays homage to the German painter Caspar David Friedrich, whose exploration of the complexity of individualism inspires the trio’s distinctive sound. For the competition, they will share works by Stravinsky and Schumann as well as several 20th century pieces.

Trio Timia was formed in Montréal and takes its name from the Greek word timia, which means “truth” and “honesty” while also serving as a playful echo of the Korean phrase “we are a team.” The ensemble features pianist Itamar Prag, violinist June Lee and cellist François Lamontagne. In line with their dedication to exploring a wide array of repertoire, from classical masterpieces to contemporary works, their competition pieces include Mendelssohn and Bohuslav Martinu.

Tickets are $30 general admission, available at the door and online; online sales have an additional processing fee. A few seats are also available for the post-concert dinner with the performers and judges.

As always for CMYS performances, students aged 25 and younger can attend at no charge. A limited number of free tickets will also be made available at the YS library the week before the concert on a first-come basis.

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