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MISSION VALLEY
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Wow! What a wild ride October has been!
Mission Valley Chorus started out the month being coached by Cindy Hansen and celebrating our Director’s birthday - on the same night! Angela received many goodies and gifts, and Cindy helped us learn to go beyond what we thought we could do in preparation for the Harmony Classic in St. Louis.
Arriving in St. Louis, the camaraderie between choruses and quartets was palpable and much of the event felt more like a family reunion than a contest. The rising Mississippi, BBQ, rehearsals, trading pins, singing and brisk walks to the Dome dotted our week in St. Louis.
MVC was very proud to win 2nd place in the Harmony Classic AA Division. Performing our Steampunk set on stage was exhilarating, exciting, and just plain fun. And our costumes? It’s amazing what a bunch of effort and creativity can do to a pile of thrift store clothes! Thanks to Janett Peace and Chris Jacobs for all the work they put into our steampunk costumes! Returning home, we celebrated our next rehearsal with an evening potluck with family and friends. There were so many delicious dishes to choose from, it was difficult to decide! But we were all together basking in the glow of our exciting and fun week at international, sharing stories and eating great food.
The following rehearsal was Halloween! So, dressed in Halloween costumes, of course, MVC started the evening at Aldo's restaurant celebrating Peg Town’s 92nd birthday! Wowee, she is unstoppable and we all admire and love her to pieces. Our costume contest was won by Mallika Viswas who came dressed as a beautiful Bollywood dancer!
What’s next? Our Jingle Bell Tea on December 1st. Tickets can be purchased online at MissionValley.org! Another fun event and we hope to see you there! Next on the list: Carnegie Hall in June! If you want to go with us to Carnegie, let Angela know soon. There’s always room for more!
Submitted by Kate Russell and Dale Summer
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Oregon Spirit Chorus is celebrating the holidays with harmony!
Come see us on December 4 at 7:00pm, at the Chemeketa Community College Auditorium in Salem, OR. We will be joined by special guests the Senataires, the Willamette Girl Choir, and Santa Claus. Tickets available at the door, or at https://squareup.com/store/oregonspirit.
A new quartet has formed at Oregon Spirit, and will also be singing at the holiday show – the Valley Girls! (Willamette Valley, that is…)
Of course, we can’t wait till Christmas to celebrate holidays. We had a costume rehearsal for Halloween. BOO!
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September/October in Bay Area Showcase Chorus
September was marked by Pep Rally preparations. We had members working on the production and decorations and all of us worked on getting those parodies just right. It was a fun event and we were glad to cheer for all the performers that were St. Louis bound.
We continue learning foreign Holiday songs for our Holiday show on December 8. Currently we are singing the Yiddish version of Hanukkah oh Hanukkah and we are learning a Chinese New Year song as well. It is great fun and also a great challenge learning those songs.
We have welcomed the following new members: Tanika Mei, Nancy Lane, Krissy Weston and April Stubbs. We are glad they have found us.
We not only celebrate new members, once a month we celebrate member anniversaries. Jackie Bishop, dual member with MVC celebrated her 60th Anniversary with Sweet Adelines International in October. She was celebrated in both her choruses and got to walk on the international stage for her recognition.
A heartfelt congratulations to our dual members that sang with Mission Valley and got second place at the Harmony Classic with their wonderful Steam Punk party. We also have Karen Dries who was on the Semi-finals stage with Pride of Kentucky. Also congratulations to Pacific Empire Chorus and Ditto quartet for their great performances.
Daphna Rahmil received 3rd place in Sweet Adelines Songwriting contest (Melody and Lyrics) We are so proud of her and look forward to see what Sweet Adelines will do with her song.
And of course we were all so proud when Metro Nashville announced they were using our very own Julie Starr’s arrangement of Brave in the Finals package in St. Louis.
Jette Sorensen
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PACIFIC EMPIRE
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What an amazing opportunity we experienced in St. Louis representing Region 12 in the “big dance”. First, we want to congratulate Ditto Quartet for their killer performance and Mission Valley Chorus for their 2nd Place award!!!! And we also want to specifically thank each and every member of Mission Valley who allowed our dreams to come true and compete on that International Stage another time. This was our fourth trip to International under the direction of Patty Pennycook and we are excited and hopeful that we will have many more. And a shout out to our amazing coaches, Joe Connelly, Sandy Marron and Erin Howden. Love our PEC coaches!!!
St. Louis is an incredibly friendly city with the best BBQ ever. We all agreed it was the best contest yet … including the amazing Coronet Club show.
Now on to Christmas!! Yes Christmas, oh we are breaking out those holiday jingles at Halloween to be prepared for all of our holiday GIGS. If anyone out there wants to join in, hop on our webpage: Pacific Empire - our guest nights for our holiday sing outs are posted.
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Na Leo Lani Chorus is planning a "A Holly, Jolly Hawaiian Christmas" on Saturday, December 8 at Harris United Methodist at 2pm to delight and entertain the Honolulu audience. When a mother tourist and her reluctant teenage daughter arrive for Christmas in Hawaii, Na Leo Lani shows them the Aloha Spirit in four part harmony!
Visit NaLeoLani.org for more information
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SACRAMENTO VALLEY
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What a great way to start October by watching our Pacific Shores Region 12 sister choruses on the International stage. Congratulations to Pacific Empire, Mission Valley and Ditto on their fabulous performances.
On October 27, the Sacramento Valley Chorus highlighted their Batastic Carnival with fantabulous costumes and makeup, wonderful food and great, homemade desserts, and delightfully entertaining singing and dancing. The show was a sellout and successful fundraiser—thanks to the efforts of the Show Team and many others—and great fun for everyone! We hope it will be the first of many Halloween shows!
November we start working on our holiday songs to be ready to share the holiday spirit with our community.
—submitted by Donna Wierzbowski
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DIABLO VISTA
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Contest season may be behind us, but when you’re an international-bound chorus, there’s no time to rest! DVC has been working hard throughout the summer and fall, growing both in numbers and in skill as we begin our journey to New Orleans. Since leaving Reno, we have:
- Learned 4 new songs, plus choreo for two of them
- Formed three new chapter quartets and a daytime chorus
- Sang the National Anthem for the Oakland A’s
- Hosted a quartet mix-and-match day playdate for the region
- Given two performances for senior communities
- Held a 6-week guest program that yielded several new members
- Performed on the Region 12 pep rally—and won the AIM Travel Trophy for the first time since 1994!
- Hosted our 2nd annual Ribs ‘N A Cappella fundraiser, featuring men’s and women’s choruses, chapter quartets, and local high school barbershop ensembles. This happy mix of music, food, and great auction prizes raised over $11,000 to help us reach the international stage!
- Held four simultaneous Harmony Classic viewing parties—all studying hard for next year!
Whew—we’re worn out just going through that list!
Now, at press time, we’re about to welcome Erin Howden to Walnut Creek for 1.5 days of showmanship boot camp (thank goodness for that extra hour of sleep on Saturday night!). To join the fun, come visit us any Tuesday night, and stay tuned for upcoming performance dates!
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By Val Fritzsche
Sierra Gold Chorus is excited about our upcoming performance at the Mandarin Festival in Auburn on November 18th. It’s being held at the Gold Country Fairgrounds just off of Auburn Folsom Road. This has become a regular performance for us and we love entertaining the attendees at the festival.
October is nearly ending and we are all a buzz about Christmas. The show date is December 3rd at our rehearsal hall at the Parkside Church in Auburn. The music has been selected and the chorus is brushing off the cobwebs from our holiday favorites and learning some new music. Committees are forming to plan the printing of the program, tickets, raffle and refreshments. The costume committee is in high gear sorting out the preferences for several upcoming performances. Our four new members, Kat, Ashley, Sarah and Cynthia need to be fitted with their costumes. We have begun advertising for our Christmas Chorus and look forward to meeting new friends and welcoming old ones. Yes ladies, buckle up and prepare for a fast-paced holiday season.
Also, plans for the hosting of AIM weekend in January are underway. The excitement is overwhelming! We’ve begun collecting jewelry, books and other items for our sales tables. Some of the crafty members will be contributing hand-made items for sale too. The possibilities are endless. Hosting AIM week-end is a big job but Sierra Gold members are up for the challenge. We look forward to performing for the region and receiving some valuable coaching. We hope to see you all there!
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MOUNTAIN HARMONY CAMP
CALLING ALL GIRLS!
Our Mountain Harmony Camp, for girls age 13+, is fast approaching!
This amazing event is Nov. 16 - 18 at Alliance Redwoods.
There is still time to get your registration forms in, but hurry!!
Visit our website: www.mountainharmonycamp.org for complete information and forms. Thank you to all region 12 choruses for your continued support.
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 CIRCLE 12
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Circle 12 is a group of high-energy women who share the incredible experience of having competed on the International Quartet Stage, either as Champions or Wildcards. Our three main areas of focus are:
-Performing at regional events
-Sharing our experience and knowledge
-Supporting the quartet(s) who will represent Region 12 at the International Competition
To that end, Circle 12 looks forward to performing for the region at the January AIM event, as well as, participating in a Tag Singing class, Open Division class and a Part Two of the "Sticky Stuff” class presented during the Fall AIM event. In addition, Circle 12 will be offering a Mentorship Program to Novice Quartets for the January AIM event! A Circle 12 member will answer any questions in advance of January AIM, walk the Novice Quartet through the Pattern and meet with the quartet afterwards to review and discuss score sheets and clarify the judges comments! This a GREAT opportunity for support and encouragement and we look forward to sharing your journey! If you are interested in the Circle 12 Mentorship Program, please contact Wendy Gibson at BassEsq@pacbell.net or Kathy Scheel at kathy.scheel@oregonspirit.org. See you in January!
Respectfully submitted by Julie Harrelson, Secretary, Circle 12
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