Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College music instructor Kate Sawyer and collaborative pianist Patience Pierini were selected to perform at the 2026 Music by Women Festival, hosted by Mississippi University for Women in Columbus, Mississippi.

The three-day international festival was held March 5–7, 2026, on the university’s campus. Sawyer and Pierini performed during the Thursday evening concert on March 5 at 8 p.m. in Kossen Auditorium, located in Poindexter Hall.

After a competitive call for submissions, Sawyer and Pierini were chosen to present Liza Lehmann’s Bird Songs (1907), a delicate and imaginative song cycle that captures the lyricism of the natural world through the voices of birds. Lehmann, a celebrated English composer of the Edwardian era, was known for her gift in setting poetry with both charm and emotional nuance. In Bird Songs, she drew upon poems by various authors to create vivid musical portraits of avian characters. Through colorful harmonies and lyrical vocal writing, the work brought their calls, flights and personalities to life. From playful mimicry to quiet reflection, the cycle invited listeners into a world where music and nature converse freely, revealing the wit, warmth and elegance of Lehmann’s compositional style.

Sawyer serves as voice instructor, director of choirs and music theatre workshop at MGCCC’s Jackson County Campus. A native of Ocean Springs, she is an accomplished soprano recognized for her work in concert, opera and theatre. Her recent performances have included First Spirit in Opera Mississippi’s Die Zauberflöte, Adele in Opera Huntsville’s Die Fledermaus, and Elena Firenzi in Lend Me a Soprano at Center Stage in Biloxi. In 2022, she was named a William Winter Scholar and was selected as a 2021 Teaching Fellow for the International Performing Arts Institute.

“It was an honor to represent the Gulf Coast and women who are dedicated to making excellent music on the world stage,” Sawyer said. “Singing is a life-learning art which is never complete. Being able to share the process and lived experience of live performance is one of the many joys of my career in music education.”

Pierini, who previously served eight years as an Instructor of Music at MGCCC’s Harrison County Campus, earned both her Master of Music in Choral Conducting and Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from The University of Southern Mississippi. She performs throughout Hattiesburg and the Mississippi Gulf Coast as a collaborative and solo artist and maintains a competitive private piano studio.

The Music by Women Festival at Mississippi University for Women celebrated the contributions of women composers and performers through concerts, lectures and scholarly presentations. The festival’s mission was to highlight and advance the work of women in music while fostering education, collaboration and artistic excellence.

Sawyer’s participation in this international festival underscored MGCCC’s commitment to excellence in the arts and the professional development of its faculty. As an avid performing educator, Sawyer’s continued engagement on regional, national and international stages provides her students with meaningful, real-world examples of artistic dedication and lifelong learning. Her accomplishments also brought recognition to the Gulf Coast community and inspired students to pursue their own passions in music and the performing arts.

This project was supported in part by funding from the Mississippi Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts.