Animaterra's History

Animaterra was started on April 9, 1997, by Allison Aldrich. The name is a play on words in Latin: Anima, which means "spirit" and terra which means "earth". When combined, the word mater which means "mother" is found within. So to us it means "Spirit of Mother Earth!"

Our membership hovers between 40-60 women representing many towns throughout the Monadnock region of New Hampshire. Our focus is on music of many cultures, most of it folk and unaccompanied choral music. We are committed to outreach and have performed at the Keene Community Kitchen, Langdon Place retirement community, the Jonathan Daniels/Martin Luther King celebration, the Keene Tree-lighting Ceremony, Jubilant Songs combined choir concert, the dedication of the first Habitat for Humanity house built in Keene, the Bonneyvale Environmental Education Center in Brattleboro, Vermont, and the Cathedral of the Pines in Rindge, NH.

In addition, we hold two main performances in May and December, featuring seasonal songs and songs of justice, freedom, hope and peace. We have added drums and percussion to many of our performances.

Featured guests have included the duo Close Enough (Alouette Iselin and Melanie Everard), singer-songwriters Kayti Gilbert and Kim Wallach, and local high school musicians.

Our CDs are snapshots of the concerts and are shared among friends and family; through them we have made friends from as far away as Great Britain and Australia!

Above all, our goal is to convey the joy of music and singing to each other and to all our listeners.

Please see About the Director for a short blurb about our lovely artistic director, Allison.