Deborah Trefts
Staff Writer
One’s home should be a place of refuge.
For people suffering from domestic abuse, it is anything but. Yet it’s common — typical, actually — for victims to turn inward and hide the emotional, mental, physical and financial trauma confronting them day in and day out.
Rebecca Magnuson — a concert pianist, guitarist, singer-songwriter, vocal coach, composer, playwright, entrepreneur and mother — is a remarkable exception.
Music helped her endure a childhood that was often frightening and painful, recover from a debilitating marriage and unjust divorce, find her unique voice and turn outward to assist women suffering through similarly distressing situations in finding their own pathways out of misery.
At 9:15 a.m. Tuesday at the CWC House, Magnuson will kick off the Chautauqua Women’s Club’s weekly 2025 Chautauqua Speaks program, chaired by Norma Ingram, with a presentation titled “She Sings.”
“I am so grateful for all of the scholarships the Women’s Club gave me in high school because I was able to study piano with Ozan Marsh,” said Magnuson, who lived in Mayville, New York, at the time, after having moved with her family from Brooklyn, New York, so that her father, a conservative preacher, could start a church.
Marsh was a highly acclaimed and celebrated pianist throughout the United States and worldwide, and a distinguished instructor at several universities in addition to Chautauqua Institution.
“He was second generation to Franz Liszt and had never had a woman learn Liszt’s ‘Funérailles’ because (it requires such a wide) hand span,” Magnuson said. “I kept playing it in college and won a competition.”
At the Women’s Club on Tuesday morning, she will share the story of her transcendence from a domestic violence survivor to a thriving, mission-driven business woman, entertaining advocate, philanthropist and fundraiser. She will also perform her own songs, including her anthem “She Sings.”
From Chautauqua County to Nashville, Tennessee, to Washington, D.C. and far beyond, Magnuson has made a name for herself, and more importantly, a stellar reputation.
In Virginia, she owns Magnuson Transport LLC. This logistics business delivers Amazon packages in Prime vans “with smiles, speed and self-motivation.” Magnuson drivers receive bonuses and other incentives for high safety scores.
Her proposal to Amazon that 30 to 40 percent of her drivers be women who have been abused was unique and persuasive.
Writing, directing, producing and starring in a one-woman show about overcoming abuse, She Sings: A Soaring Musical — which opened in Washington, D.C. at the Atlas Performing Arts Center — was central to Magnuson’s personal transcendence.
So too was producing a documentary television series called “She Sings: Surviving the Narcissist.”
In Nashville, where both Sony Music and Major Bob Music have published her songs, she owns a music and film production company, as well as a home.
Returning to Chautauqua every summer, Magnuson played piano in the School of Music practice cabins while her daughter and son — who are now college graduates — had fun at Boys’ and Girls’ Club.
In Mayville in 2023, she bought a home and “purchased the building (she) waitressed in college,” when it was known as Dick’s Harbor House. It is now called She Sings Café, Restaurant and Bar.
“I play and sing at my restaurant every weekend,” she said. “It’s Chautauqua County’s only piano bar and it won the Best of the Best for food.”
Magnuson has also launched the nonprofit She Is Safe of Chautauqua County (SIS) to provide “essential support to women facing crises in the community and surrounding areas” and build a safe house for women who are victims of physical, mental or financial abuse.
In recognition of her mission and advocacy, last October New York State’s Small Business Development Center bestowed on Magnuson — one of 24,000 contenders — its Phoenix Entrepreneur of 2024 Award.
There will be three opportunities in Western New York in the near future to see She Sings: A Soaring Musical. Magnuson said she will perform it at Chautauqua Institution on July 24, and at Shea’s Performing Arts Center in Buffalo on Oct. 3 and 4.
