Women in Black

Pure female power: that’s the Women in Black. Singing soft and tender ballads as well as rousing full-voiced numbers, the 30 members of the chorus lead by musical director Melissa Wiltzius transport their audience to the vaudeville stage of the Roaring 1920s, guide them tongue-in-cheek through the Golden Age of German “Schlagermusik” and evergreen songs of the 1950s, dance under the glittering disco ball of the 1980s, and celebrate international pop and jazz hits.

In 2008, the baritone of the internationally ranked barbershop quartet Latest Edition, Steve Hepner, founded the chorus Women in Black (WiB) at the John-F.-Kennedy-School in Berlin and shared his love for the barbershop bug. Melissa Wiltzius took over in 2023. Growing up in Wisconsin, USA, Melissa was hooked immediatley when her high school started a barbershop singing program. She found her musical mentor, Steve Hepner, in Berlin and after singing in barbershop quartets and with the WiB, Melissa became musical director: Once a barbershopper, always a barbershopper!