Page 6 - 2022 Contest Edition Tags & Swipes Newsletter

Tags and Swipes, Contest 2022

Chorus Lines

Acappella Sounds Chorus

It was July 2021. I stood in my kitchen, scrolling through the news, feeling summer slip away. My life
revolved around full weeks of remote work and meetings on Teams, and racing from soccer to dinner to
laundry. You get the gist. I wanted something for myself. Something purposeful to work toward. A way to
connect with others.

It was in that moment that I came across an article in the Montreal Gazette highlighting the work of various
choruses in the city, including the Acappella Sounds Chorus. I had previously done research to find a chorus
but hadn’t come across one that seemed like a good fit. They were either too focused on classical music, or
seemed inaccessible to “behind the wheel” singers such as myself. After going through each of the
descriptions, I put the article down, looked in the refrigerator for a snack, gave up on finding anything worth
eating, and found myself going back to the article. Next thing I knew I was writing to the chorus for more
information and was almost immediately invited to join the next online rehearsal. At first, I thought to
myself, another online meeting? No way! But I knew that the pandemic would eventually come to an end,
and this was just a temporary measure.

The next few weeks were a bit surreal. I attended my first rehearsal, and immediately recognized that this
was no ordinary community. I had to jump up from my desk and do a series of sweat-inducing exercises,
after which we made all sorts of silly faces and sounds like I-Y-A I-Y-A and ni-ne-nu, focusing on the Bel
Canto method – Shout out to Nadine Walravens! Over the course of the next few weeks, I prepared for
(agonized over) my upcoming audition, all the while receiving just an incredible outpouring of support from
various members. I struggled with the audition song, and eventually moved from the Bari section to lead. I
still struggled with the song and I realize now, that happens.

Luckily I made it through the audition phase and was welcomed as a lead in this fabulous chorus. I still felt
like I was out of my league, and reached out to Debra Lynn for some private online sessions. This set me
up on a path of transformation. It was uncomfortable at first, but low and behold, after keeping up with the
Bel Canto method and doing the vocal warmups regularly, I can feel my voice evolving. My portable
instrument.

I need to pause here and emphasize what a sense of community exists in this chorus.

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North Atlantic Region 1 Sweet Adelines