How It All Began...
Back in February of 1965, two women who liked to sing decided
to form a women's barbershop singing group.
One of the gals had sung in a Sweet Adelines
Chorus. We decided we would each call our
friends who liked to sing.
Our first rehearsal was held in a living room. There were
six of us. We knew we had to have four different voice parts
in order to sing barbershop harmony. After testing our voice
ranges, we found we did have all four parts — Tenor,
which is high soprano; Lead, which is melody; Baritone, like
alto; Bass - lowest part.
We rehearsed once a week and grew to be twelve members.
Since we outgrew the living room, we had to find a new place
to rehearse. We moved to a local church hall, and one of
us became our first director.
After a few weeks went by, we decided we should choose a
name for our group. After voting, we decided on "The
Chord-a-lettes." We also decided on membership dues
so we could purchase music and pay our director.
One day a lady, who was working in the kitchen at the church
where we rehearsed, heard us singing. She
asked us if we would like to sing for her
church organization. We decided we would try
it and was it ever fun! They liked our sound
and gave us a donation.
Naturally, word got out that a new women's singing group
had formed! Before long, we were asked to
sing for many community functions.
After a year of singing together publicly, we put on our
first women's barbershop show. It was held
in a local high school auditorium. We had
a good crowd of family and friends. We
charged admission and used the money to buy
our music and costumes.
By 1967, our chorus had grown to twenty-six members. We
decided to join an international group of women's barbershop
singers known as "Harmony, Inc." We received our
charter and have been affiliated with the organization ever
since.
Several years ago we changed our name to "Sound Celebration."
Submitted by
Jane Enders (one of the founders)