ANDERSON, SC -- A group of about 15 ladies wearing hot pink T-shirts that read "Wild Sing" got kind of loud last week at the Anderson Mall.
But the women were not a part of an adult gang causing trouble, they were simply making music. The Foothills Harmony Chorus is a local Sweet Adelines group, the female version of a barbershop quartet.
Like barbershop quartet members, the women sing in four parts.
"The highest part is the tenor, and the lead part usually sings the melody," said Pat Graham, vice president and chairwoman of publicity for the chorus. "The basses are the lowest part and the baritones kind of fill in all the spaces."
Members of the chorus come from Clemson, Seneca, Anderson and Townville, and the director comes from Charlotte, N.C., to the practices each week in the community room at Anderson Mall, Ms. Graham said.
Judy La Bor, the director, said she travels from Charlotte because the experience "is worth the trip."
"The music is absolutely stimulating to me," Ms. La Bor said. "To help other people sing it is just great. The more I do it, the more I love it."
Ms. La Bor, who sings in a winning quartet, started singing Sweet Adelines style when she was 29.
"When I lived in New Jersey, my mother was a Sweet Adeline and she encouraged me to come and with her chorus, which I did, and I never quit going." Ms. La Bor said.
Based in Anderson, the Foothills Harmony Chorus performs at local venues, such as church events, sports games and special shows and competes in regional competitions.
"We perform any place people will invite us to come," Ms. Graham said. "We can do anything from a party to a business meeting
The women, who perfect their sounds in weekly training sessions, practice songs from "Star Spangled Banner" to beach music favorite "Kokomo."
The chorus’ wardrobe doesn’t stop with hot pink T-shirts.
"When we perform, we have several different costumes," Ms. Graham said. "When we go to concert, we have very glitzy red uniforms with beaded and sequined collars. We also have more casual uniforms, like black pants and white shirts and black scarves with gold music notes on them."
At the regional competition this year, the group got an award for being the most improved in sound, Ms. Graham said.
Southern Yankees, Ms. La Bor’s group, won the regional contest and will travel to Las Vegas in October to represent a five-state region in an international competition, Ms. La Bor said.
The Foothills group formed 18 years ago, and Ms. Graham was one of the charter members.
"There was an article in the newspaper telling about this female singing group that was going to start," she said. "I called some friends and we went to the first night and we were hooked. I sang in the church choir and in high school, but I have learned more about singing since I joined this organization."
Ms. La Bor works with the group of breath support and teaches them how to sing vowel sounds so the singers sound like a unit, Ms. Graham said.
Anyone who wants to join the chorus can attend a guest night on June 6. Potential members will be asked to sing and then placed with the group that sings the part that best suits them, Ms. Graham said.
Reprinted with permission from the Anderson Independent Mail: http://www.independentmail.com/and/news/article/0,1886,AND_8203_4735869,00.html
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