2026 3RD ANNUAL WOMEN OF NOTE MUSIC FESTIVAL
ARTISTS
Clockwise: Christine Albert, Sarah Golden, Elizabeth Wills, Carol Anne Bosco, Barbara Nesbitt, Shayna Sands
2026 Headliner
Christine Albert
Christine Albert has released six independent albums including "TEXAFRANCE", and "TexaFrance-Encore!", and the 2008 release "Paris, Texafrance", bilingual tributes to her European heritage and love of the French chanson. Her 1995 CD, "Underneath The Lone Star Sky" on Antone's/dos Records, climbed into the top twenty on the national Americana radio chart. She has appeared on Austin City Limits and The Texas Connection, written and performed her own "Don't Mess With Texas" ad and was featured in the popular Bluebell Ice Cream television commercial. Her most recent CD "Everything's Beautiful Now" just hit the airwaves in August of 2014.
In 1996 Christine was voted female vocalist of the year at the Kerrville Music Awards. Originally from upstate New York and later Santa Fe, New Mexico, Christine moved to Austin, Texas in 1982. A committed community activist, she was co-founder of the Austin Songwriters Group and has served on the board of NARAS and The Austin Rape Crisis Center. Through her work on behalf of fellow sexual assault survivors, she has been a spokesperson for SafePlace and produced three successful fundraising concerts for the organization.
Ms. Albert is the CEO and founder of Swan Songs, an Austin non-profit dedicated to fulfilling musical last wishes for patients with a terminal diagnosis. In her spare time she is the sitting Chair Emeritus of the Board of Trustees of the National Recording Academy.
Swan Songs
Fulfilling Musical last wishes
Swan Songs creates a sense of connection for individuals near the end of life by gifting them private concerts and supports live music in a community by compensating artists for the concerts. These intimate "musical last wishes" concerts are held in healthcare facilities or private homes, and are often attended by family, loved ones, and caregivers. Swan Songs maximizes the impact of the concerts by engaging musicians who match each recipient's favorite style of music, songs, or instruments. From opera to Mariachi, bluegrass to the blues, each concert is unique and deeply meaningful for everyone present.
While musical last wishes concerts are the primary program, Swan Songs also offers two additional opportunities to include music in the end-of-life experience.
Chris Gage
August 13, 1954 —
August 24, 2025
“Chris was a musical giant whose repertoire, virtuosity and depth of feeling were unfailingly amazing to everyone who heard him perform,” said Gilmore.
1995 was the year Chris accepted a gig at Donn’s Depot, an Austin piano bar built out of train cars strung together around an old train depot. It quickly evolved into a Monday-night residency that wound up lasting 30 years. Both seasoned veterans and promising newcomers were welcomed onstage — and enfolded into a nurturing community of fellow players and dancing fans who couldn’t imagine spending those nights anywhere else. Christine, Chris and their Albert and Gage Band often played on Saturday nights, but Chris owned Monday nights.