The chorus is around 20-30 members at present, with a good mix of men and women. Their repertoire is also a good mix, with something from every genre. The members all had to learn a specific song, All The Things That You Are, for their audition, and the chorus, singing together for the first time EVER, performed it for a small crowd of family, friends, and other a cappella enthusiasts. The first time through was a little rough, which was to be expected. There was some confusion of starting notes and a few confused looks on the faces of singers, but once the confusion was cleared up, I was simply stunned. This did NOT sound like a group of people singing together for the first time; but somehow it was. They ran through the song a few times, with each time sounding exponentially better than the first. Did I mention I was rather impressed? Good. After they were done rehearsing the song, the festivities got started. Wonderful performances were given by a few quartets, including Unchained Harmony and Kaliope. The name of the third escapes me, but they were all extremely entertaining and quite talented! After the quartets, we learned a few barbershop tags as a group, and played around with those. That was fun, but not nearly as fun as what followed. After learning the tags, we all gathered round a table with champagne glasses in hand. Toasts were made, champagne was consumed, and we moved on to the food! There was a great assortment; cheeses, swedish meatballs, assorted baked sundries for dessert, and so on. But noone was eating...because everyone just KEPT ON SINGING! Some of the quartets broke off and got some barbershop stuff going on, there was some impromptu vocal percussion going on in a corner, and eventually, a big group gathered to sing some old Doo-Wop favorites. This was certainly the highlight of the evening. The rest of it was a blast, but just kicking around, singing with a bunch of people I just met was by far the most memorable thing. This continued on for a while, as people ate, sang, mingled, and sang some more. People started to disperse eventually, but even as the crowd grew smaller, the singing continued. Towards the end, there were only about 10 of us left. Cal, who I am convinced knows every barbershop song ever written, all four parts, and can sing them all, taught us some more tags and we put together an impromptu little quartet right there. It turns out I'm not a bad Lead for barbershop! Eventually, it got late and people had to work in the morning, including me. I'd rather have stayed up half the night until my voice went hoarse, but that was not to be. My friend and I helped Cal and Carolyn clean up from the party and parted ways, promising to be back the next week (perhaps even to audition). Overall, I had more fun on Monday night than I've had in a long time.
While not every rehearsal will be a rollicking party with A Cappella Showcase, I cannot say enough good things about this group. I see only greatness in their future, and as the CASA Ambassador for Maryland, I'm proud to have one of the first CASA Choruses under my "jurisdiction". If A Cappella Showcase is any hint of what's to come from the CASA Chorus program, then I eagerly await seeing what comes in the next few years. --Kel, CASA AMB for Maryland
(as submitted to the CASA ambassadors group)
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