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ELIZABETH ROBERTSON / Inquirer Staff Photographer
The Sweet Adelines Jersey Sound Chorus rehearses. "We really, truly feel like a family," said Natalie Mitchell (front right) of Berlin, who has been with the group since the 1960s. Patti Wolfe (front left) finds the group an amazing sisterhood. "When one of us hurts, every single one of us hurts."
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Harmony with female overtones
Singing is pure joy for the members of a women's chorus, who blend a love of music with friendship.
To the untrained ear, the sweet sound of four-part harmony flooding out of the auditorium doors of Temple Sinai Synagogue in Cinnaminson seems like a wonderful, polished concert. But the leader standing before the rows of singers clearly isn't satisfied.
Director Stephanie Brictson of Quakertown demands they "sing to the overtones," "keep those chins level" and, most of all, "keep on working." The Sweet Adelines Jersey Sound Chorus' regular Wednesday night rehearsal is underway.
The rehearsing - and cajoling - will go on for three hours with just a short break. The weekly training requires timing, control and enunciation. About 50 members from South Jersey and nearby Pennsylvania towns represent various ages and backgrounds. But there's one common denominator: They seem to be constantly smiling.
Warm, radiant smiles, along with intricate, precisely choreographed hand motions are trademarks of the group. But the prompt "I want to see teeth" also has to do with how the women sound: A smile seems to do wonders for vocalizing.
Spirited renditions of "Santa Baby," "Silent Night," "Silver Bells" and Hanukkah's "Eight Candles" receive painstaking attention. This is high season for the singers, who are booked for the next month. But this chorus works year-round, and while it may be a labor, it is, many insist, definitely one of love.
Sweet Adelines International, as it is now known, was launched in 1945 in Tulsa, Okla., by a woman who loved barbershop harmony. It now has 30,000 English-singing members, and choruses and quartets all over the world.
The uniting factor remains a passion for harmony and the willingness to practice, practice, practice. Members of the local chapter reflect that passion and commitment, paying about $320 a year in dues and costumes, and being readily available for performances.
For Nancy Curl of Tabernacle, a science and math teacher, and Diane Woodruff of Fairless Hills, a kindergarten teacher, sisterhood truly is powerful.
"My mother really convinced me to join, and I'll always be grateful," said Curl, who joined 27 years ago, just as the local group was preparing for an international competition. "I went along even though I was a newcomer, and we came in fourth in the world. It was amazing!"
She started a long mission to persuade her sister to try the group. But Diane Woodruff, concerned about the time commitment, took years to yield to her sister's urging. She finally joined four years ago. "I cried the night I got in," Woodruff said. "It really means so much to me now."
A couple of years ago, Sylvia Morris of Cherry Hill was watching a Thanksgiving parade on TV when she heard a Sweet Adelines chorus. "That's for me!" Morris recalls thinking. "I play piano; I love to sing, and I hadn't done it since high school."
Yet something deeper than music unites this organization. "We really, truly feel like a family," said Natalie Mitchell of Berlin, who joined the group in 1962 when it was the Medford Lakes Chorus. She was a young mother then.
Today, one of her daughters, Chris Slusser, now 45, has also joined. "I remember really disliking the Sweet Adelines music as a kid. You definitely couldn't dance to it!" said the Sicklerville executive recruiter. "Now I love being a member; it's something I do for me."
Patti Wolfe, a Washington Township library assistant who joined Sweet Adelines four years ago, finds the group an amazing sisterhood. "When one of us hurts, every single one of us hurts," said Wolfe, who spoke of how profoundly the recent loss of a member's daughter affected the group.
For many of the women, singing was something left behind as real life got in the way. "I loved to sing and act in high school," said Judi Ingis of Moorestown, whose three kids are grown. Ingis recently retired from her careers as a special projects director of the Voorhees library and a member of the Camden County Cultural and Heritage Commission.
"So now it's my turn," Ingis said. "My only regret is that I didn't do this years ago. It's one of the best things in my life!"
