By Kate Bartlett
Rebecca Magnuson is the founder of She Sings®, and owner of She Sings Café in Mayville, NY, on beautiful Chautauqua Lake. She Sings Café offers up southern style breakfasts, hearty or light lunch fare, and a captivating farm to table dinner menu. The atmosphere evenings resemble a trendy New York City restaurant with Rebecca often serenading at the baby grand piano coupled with a world class wine list and specialty signature cocktails, the titles of which are named after songs she has written. Dining there is a unique and exceptional experience influenced greatly by Rebecca’s taste for food, music and ambience. You can experience live music Friday and Saturday evenings.
Rebecca was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, and moved to Mayville, NY in 9th grade when her father came to pastor a local church. She waitressed throughout high school and college at Dick’s Harbor House, which is now She Sings Café. “It’s so interesting how everything has come full circle. I returned all these years later and bought the building,” remarks Rebecca. “There’s a lot of history within these walls, and it’s been a joy to be leading a new chapter.”
In high school, through a generous scholarship from the Chautauqua Women’s Club, Rebecca studied piano at Chautauqua Institution with world renowned concert pianist Ozan Marsh and also Eileen Prager-Perry. Rebecca recalls how Mr. Marsh inspired her to learn Franz Liszt’s Funerailles, a piece seldom played by women because it commands a very wide hand span. “He told me I had that span and the ability, and I went on to win a college competition performing it. Studying at Chautauqua Institution helped define the trajectory of my professional life. I majored in piano in college and then moved to Nashville, TN where I have been published by both Sony Music and also Major Bob Music. I continue to write songs and compose, and I also own a home and a music and film production company there.”
Rebecca left Nashville in 2000 moving to Washington DC where she married and raised two children, Grace and Gardner, both who are now in college. She returned to Chautauqua Institution every summer with her family, enjoying the vast array of programming it has to offer. “I practiced piano and wrote many songs in the brown practice studios, and my children loved the Boy’s and Girl’s Club.” She had planned to purchase a summer home on the lake, but ended up purchasing the restaurant instead after the owner of Chautauqua Harbor House approached her in May of 2023. “I made an offer, and they took it, so we renovated last summer and opened on September 28th. What a whirlwind!”
In DC, Rebecca worked over twenty years closely with women affected by domestic abuse. Following her divorce in 2016 she applied to Amazon to become a contractor for their new “Delivery Service Partner” (DSP) program. Her narrative at interviews included that she would recruit women from safe houses, protect their identities at the delivery station, and help them find financial footing. For three years Rebecca ran her business at an Amazon station near Dulles Airport just outside Washington, DC. She leased 56 Amazon Prime vans, and employed 100-150 employees, many of whom were women.
Rebecca also wrote a one-woman show titled, She Sings: A Soaring Musical, touring the show from off-Broadway to Los Angeles. She then transitioned the show into a self-produced five-part documentary titled She Sings: Surviving the Narcissist. A distribution plan for the series is in the works.
Most recently, Rebecca was awarded the New York State Small Business Development Center’s Phoenix Entrepreneur of 2024. She has formed a 501c3, She is Safe (SIS), that will help victims of domestic abuse. “Our goal at She Sings Café is to build a safe house for women and children in Chautauqua County giving them temporary housing, assistance, and a job if needed,” Rebecca remarks. “We are mission based with a focus on the complete eradication of abuse on every level: physical, emotional and financial.” Rebecca intends to perform her one-woman show locally to launch She is Safe.
Updates on the restaurant, shows, documentary series, and the non-profit can be found at www.SheSings.com, www.SheSingsCafe.rocks or on the She Sings Café Facebook page. Visit She Sings Café at 95 West Lake Road in Mayville, NY or call 716-224-1090 for reservations.