AMASONG is a GLAMA (Gay and Lesbian American Music Award) award-winning lesbian-feminist amateur choir based in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. The group was created by its founding director Kristina Boerger in 1990. The AMASONG choral group is a highly trained chorus of about 60 women who perform women-oriented, folkloric and classical music.
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In 1990, a year before beginning her master's degree in choral conducting at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Boerger decided to form what she advertised as a lesbian/feminist chorus called AMASONG. The group's name is a portmanteau on the words amazon and song. Boerger said, "The word amazon conjures up images of strong women who make their own decisions. It was a way of coding our group in a certain way."
Boerger posted flyers around town about her new choral group, AMASONG. Many local women responded to the flyers. A roomful of women showed up at the first choir rehearsal, consisting mainly of lesbians, feminist housewives and students. Boerger said that the decision to label AMASONG as lesbian/feminist was important. In the PBS documentary produced by Jay Rosenstein, entitled, The AMASONG Chorus: Singing Out, Boerger explained, "There's lesbian-feminism with a hyphen, which refers to woman who are lesbian and feminist. But if you put a diagonal slash between, then it means either or. And that's very important. Whenever I tell people on the phone who we are, I make sure they get the punctuation correct. It doesn't mean you have to be both to get in the choir. It means you've got to be one or the other." The choir's first members were diverse in interest, age and experience.
AMASONG's repertoire is heavily inspired by folk music from various global cultural traditions, music written by women, and other genres of music reflecting women's life experiences.
AMASONG records and performs regularly. It is now under the direction of choir director, Meagan Johnson Smith.
Founding director, Kristina Boerger stepped down from her position as choir director and relocated to New York City in 2000. Boerger now conducts Cerddorion, a 28-voice volunteer chamber ensemble. She also lectures in music history at Barnard College and teaches choral conducting at the Manhattan School of Music. She tours and records with the Western Wind, which is an a cappella sextet, and the Pomerium Renaissance vocal ensemble. In addition, she is currently recording for Bobby McFerrin and collaborating on works for movement and vocal ensemble with the Christopher Caines Dancers.