What a week! We just returned from the Sweet Adelines International annual convention and competition in Seattle, WA. The week is a whirl-wind of barbershop singing, beginning on Tuesday and lasting through Saturday, and now we are exhausted!
Thousands of women from all across the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Finland, and who knows what other countries attended the convention, Over 2,700 women crossed the stage as competitors in either a quartet or a chorus. Each one was dressed in beautiful performance costumes and stage makeup, and each one invested hundreds of hours of rehearsal preparation for their chance to dazzle the audience and the judges with their musical performance.
While Lustre was not competing in the quartet competition, we did perform as members of the Harbor City Music Company chorus in the Harmony Classic. This competition is for small (Div A) and mid-sized (Div AA) choruses. For each size division, the five choruses from around the world who had the highest scores in the spring 2009 Regional contests were invited to compete in this contest. HCMC performed our “crayon” performance package, and won the contest! We had the highest score, and we also won the Audience Favorite award! We were so excited and honored!
Proud to have won the Harmony Classic with HCMC
Later in the week, we were thrilled when our friends Capri received 3rd place medals in the international quartet contest! And then we were thrilled when our friends MAXX Factor earned 1st place in the same quartet contest, earning the right to be called “Queens of Harmony” and to wear beautiful rhinestone crowns at any Sweet Adelines function in the world (or anywhere else they want to wear them!).
MAXX Factor and Capri
Other SAI Region 19 competitors had a fantastic week as well. Stars of Harmony, a quartet in the Young Women In Harmony Rising Star competition, placed 5th in the world! Whole Lotta Harmony and a.k.a. quartets had fine performances in the quartet competition, and we are so proud and happy for them! Greater Harrisburg chorus, also from Region 19, performed wonderfully in the “big” chorus competition, placing 16th overall.
The week was a smashing success for Region 19. Now we’re back home, headed back to work and real life. Back to where people don’t normally wear rhinestones and sequins, where people don’t stop you on the street to say how much they loved what you did, where you don’t hear beautiful voices singing at all hours of the day and night. Back to the families that love and support us in our hobby, back to the jobs that help pay our expenses, back to the rehearsal schedule that gets us ready for our next competition.
We’re looking ahead to Regional competition in the spring, and then to International competition next fall in Houston. Hope to see you there!
Congratulations on your winning sound and I love the crayons!! Only wish I could have helped with their constructions.
Keep up the wonderful sound and we know you will be winners again next year!!
Bill and Phyllis Dreyer
Really nice post,thank you