The Santa Monica Chorus Wins 1st Place

The Santa Monica Chorus Wins 1st Place in Annual Regional Barbershop Harmony Competition and will Represent the Region in the Sweet Adelines International Competition in Las Vegas in 2015

The Santa Monica Chorus, an all-women chorus that specializes in four-part barbershop harmony, competed in the annual regional competition held in Bakersfield, CA this past weekend. The Chorus, a chapter of Sweet Adelines International, placed first in a field of 11 choruses from California and Nevada that participated in the competition. As the 2014 Regional Champions, the Chorus will represent the Region in the Sweet Adelines International Competition to be held October 5-10, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Chorus also received first place medals in the AA Division for mid-size choruses.

In addition to singing in the Chorus, members of the chapter also competed in the quartet competition held the same weekend, with distinctive results. In a field of 18 quartets, three of the four quartets representing the Santa Monica Chorus placed in the top 10. Cachet and Invitation placed 6th and 8th respectively. Paper Dolls, competing for the first time in the Regional Competition was 9th. Harmonicity came in twelfth place.

Individual members of the Chorus also received awards given to first-time quartet competitors: Kerry Mellin, of Paper Dolls, won the Most Promising Novice Lead award, Carolyn Yoshida, also of Paper Dolls, won the Most Promising Novice Baritone award, and Aja Gill-Dyangko, of Harmonicity, won the Most Promising Novice Bass award.

The Chorus competed on stage with 12 new members and won an award from the Region for the most membership growth in the past year.

The members of the Santa Monica Chorus, who range in age from 20 to 70+, all share a love for music and singing four-part barbershop harmony. The Chorus holds weekly rehearsals on Tuesday, 7:30 p.m., at the Mt. Olive Lutheran Church, 1343 Ocean Park Blvd, in Santa Monica. The Chorus has the proud distinction of being the oldest Sweet Adelines chapter west of the Rocky Mountains, having received its charter on July 25, 1949, only four years after the founding of Sweet Adelines International. To learn more about the Santa Monica Chorus and how to become a member, visit their website at http://www.smchorus.com or contact Tove Hoch at info@smchorus.com or tovesings@gmail.com. Find us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/SMSAMarketing.

Sweet Adelines International is a musical force in the United States and around the world. The organization is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma where it was founded in 1945. This nonprofit music education organization is one of the world's largest singing organizations for women encompassing more than 25,000 members, 1,200 registered quartets and 600 choruses in most of the fifty United States, Australia, Canada, England, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Scotland, Sweden, The Netherlands and Wales. More information about Sweet Adelines International is available at http://www.sweetadelineintl.org.