Seventy-five years! Whether you want to sing Happy Birthday or just wish them a wonderful anniversary celebration— know this:
“The Grand Rapids Chorus is one of the longest running female barbershop singing organizations in the world,” said Pattee Bender, Kentwood resident and longtime member of the group.
Barbershop is four-part harmony a cappella singing.
Of course, the milestone of being in existence for 75 years deserves notoriety and recognition. And, of course, a gala.
“We are so excited about our 75th Diamond Jubilee Gala,” said Colleen Pierson, a 10-year member.
The event takes place at 3 p.m. on September 19 at DeVos Center for Arts and Worship.
Master Director Holli Houtz doesn’t want to give too much away on the content of the show, but she promises, “Lots of memorable moments throughout with former members and directors taking the stage, a new musical arrangement and memories of the 75 years. There also will be a very special quartet called Duly Noted that will travel to West Michigan to perform.”
Members from age 19 to 92
The Grand Rapids Chorus of Sweet Adelines has performed all over the world with recent excursions to Ireland and Pearl Harbor. They currently have members from all across Michigan ranging in age from 19 to 92.
“We are always looking for new members,” Houtz explained. “You don’t have to be able to read music, just the ability to sing. Music, performing and singing come from the heart.”
For more information on joining The Grand Rapids Chorus please CLICK HERE.
Tickets for the 75th gala performance are available at the door or CLICK HERE.
For Denise VanDyken, her Sweet Adelines adventure started when members of her family, who loved to harmonize, decided to join a Sweet Adelines group so at to get some “real” barbershop arrangements.
“So we were going to join and get some arrangements and we didn’t plan on staying and that was nearly forty years ago,” VanDyken said. “I just fell in love with the organization and with the music.”
She is the music director for the Grand Rapids Sweet Adelines Chorus. Under her leadership, the local group has won three regional titles and been named first place midsize choir which has allowed the chapter to participate in the international competition four times in six years. Before VanDyken taking the helm, the group had only attended international a few times in its sixty-plus history.
“We became champions of Region 17, which is a five-state region, Michigan through to Ohio and into Pennsylvania,” said VanDyken talking about the group’s May 2018 win in Cleveland, Ohio. “We competed against about 20 other choruses and we won the championship and that entitles us to go to New Orleans next September.”
The Grand Rapids Sweet Adelines Chorus at the WKTV studio. The group is set to perform on Saturday, Dec. 15..
For now, the group is focused on its upcoming holiday concert, “Sounds of the Season,” set for Saturday, Dec. 15. The performance is with the men’s group, the Great Lakes Chorus, and will feature an array of holiday selections, some of which can be seen on a recent WKTV holiday special featuring the Grand Rapids Sweet Adelines Chorus, which is currently airing.
“We sing four-part harmony, a cappella, barbershop-style and we perform,” VanDyken said. “We are a show choir. We do choreography and staging and it is much more than just singing.”
In fact, guests may join the choir for its holiday show, giving them an opportunity to see what the choir is about and all that is involved.
“You don’t need professional experience to join,” VanDyken said. “You have to sing and have the ability to sing and there is a lot of performance to it. As I said, it is not just standing there and singing. You have to be able to memorize the music and sing without accompaniment, harmonize with other voices, blend with other voices and do choreography and dance at the same time.”
Established in 1945, Sweet Adelines International is the oldest and largest international women’s barbershop organization in the world. According to the organization’s website it has 23,000 members on five continents who belong to more than 500 choruses and 1,200 quartets. One of those choruses happens to be right in the Grand Rapids area, the Grand Rapids Sweet Adelines Chorus, which is made up of members from around West Michigan including the cities of Kentwood and Wyoming. The Grand Rapids chapter was founded in 1951.
As to why people join, VanDyken said there is a number of reasons, the love of the sound of voices harmonizing, the music, barbershop-style, the camaraderie, and making friends with people from around the globe.
Grand Rapids Sweet Adelines Chorus rehearses its holiday music.
“I sat next to a woman from Sweden at a recent International competition,” VanDyken said. “We had a lovely conversation and felt that we had a relationship immediately because we shared this hobby, or cult as some might call it.”
With 40 years of participating, VanDyken said there are a lot of good memories and experiences with the joy of being part of the Sweet Adelines coming through the group’s performances.
“I think for me, it’s the fact that I could have done this for forty years and still be excited,” VanDyken said, “ still learning things and just as much in love with it as I was forty years ago.”
The Grand Rapids Sweet Adelines Chorus performs with the Great Lakes Chorus in the “Sounds of the Season” set for Saturday, Dec. 15, at 3 pm. at the Grandville High School Auditorium, 4700 Canal Ave. SW. Tickets are $15 for general admission and $12 for students 8-18 and seniors 60 and older. For more information, visit gras.net.
