Q&A with Elizabeth Woodhouse, founder of Newport Sings

Living the Life: Q&A with Elizabeth Woodhouse, founder and artistic director of Newport Sings

Newport Life chatted with Elizabeth Woodhouse, founder of Newport Sings, ahead of the annual Winter Concert on December 15th at 4 p.m. at the Calvary United Methodist Church in Middletown.

Q: Tell us a little about yourself. How did you come to be in the Newport area? 

A: I grew up in the Midwest, but both of my extended families were in Rhode Island so we spent summers in Little Compton. After a long and windy road that took me from Colorado to Ohio and then New York, I finally landed in Rhode Island in 2016. In 2017, I moved to Newport to begin the Newport County Youth Chorus programs.

Q: What’s your music background?

A: I loved singing from an early age and couldn’t wait until I was old enough to join the school choir. Once I joined, I never stopped! I knew in high school that I wanted to conduct youth choirs so I went to the University of Colorado at Boulder to get a music education degree and eventually my Masters in Choral Conducting at The Ohio State University. My 20+ year career has been primarily working with community youth chorus programs across the country and recently I have shifted to working more with collegiate and adult choruses including two of the Newport Sings ensembles: the Aquidneck Singers, a multigenerational women’s chorus, and Quorus, Newport’s first and only LGBTQIA+ chorus for teens and adults.