Ordinary women, extraordinary music : Fort Drum women find their voice in barbershop chorus

By U.S. ArmyNovember 26, 2014

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FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- Blend is a musical term that refers to the mixing together of two or more parts to create a harmonious effect. Although each group member's voice is unique and different, in a chorus it is important to ensure that no one voice part overshadows another. Each voice is a valuable component of the overall sound, and through practice, each separate part comes together to form a rich, beautiful song.

Just as the many different voice parts enrich the song, it is the diverse group of women that make local women's barbershop chorus, Northern Blend, unique and wonderful, according to its members.

The singers come from all different walks of life, including three women from the Fort Drum community.

"We have nurses, clerical workers, stay-at-home moms. We've had active-duty Soldiers and military spouses in the past as well," said Laura Oakes, publicity assistant for Fort Drum's Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation.

Some of the group members, like the chorus director, Katie Taylor, a K-12 music teacher at Alexandria Bay Central School District, know a great deal about music. Others can read some music, while still others cannot at all.

"There's a teaching technique that helps you learn your part, then learn it with one other part and so on," said Cait Schadock, National Environmental Policy Act coordinator for the Directorate of Public Works. "Our motto is that we are ordinary women with extraordinary music."

Joanne Anderson, a leasing consultant for Fort Drum Mountain Community Homes, heard about the group from the director.

"My children attended Alexandria Bay (Central School)," she said. "Their music teacher invited me to come to a guest night because she knew I sang. I went and I was hooked. That was about seven years ago."

Schadock has been a part of the group for more than 14 years. Oakes, who stumbled upon an advertisement for the group in the Yellow Pages, has been a member for more than six years.

Altogether, the group boasts more than 30 members -- the youngest in her early 20s and the eldest in her mid-80s. Group members travel from all over New York state for weekly rehearsals.

"We have members from Alex Bay, Sackets Harbor, Adams -- anyone who is willing to drive to Watertown every Monday night," Oakes said.

The group even has one member who travels from Ithaca, Schadock said.

While all three women cited different reasons for deciding to attend their first rehearsal, they unanimously agreed that the reason they have stayed in the group is because of the bond they have developed with their fellow singers.

"We are like a family," Oakes said. "We all care about each other a lot. We help each other when someone has a hardship in their life, and we celebrate the moments of each other's lives, too. It's a real sisterhood."

The group, in fact even has some families within its ranks. The director's mother, Mary Ann Wert has been a part of the barbershop chorus since it was originally chartered in 1985. She is now the assistant director, or as she is affectionately referred to by members, "Maw."

The chorus performs a style of music called barbershop -- an a cappella vocal musical style consisting of four voice parts: lead, tenor, bass and baritone.

"The lowest part is bass," Oakes explained. "The baritone part actually runs both lower than the lead and higher than the lead, filling in the spots in between. The lead usually sings the melody of the song. Then the tenors sing the highest part of the song."

Northern Blend is one of more than 50 choruses throughout the U.S. and Canada that are a part of Harmony Inc., a nonprofit organization whose mission is to empower women through edu-

cation, friendship and a cappella music in the barbershop style.

"We perform traditional barbershop music -- the old-fashioned kind that you think of when you think of barbershop -- but we also sing a lot of contemporary pieces too," Schadock said.

The group recently has been practicing contemporary songs like "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus and "Cups" by Lu Lu and the Lampshades.

But barbershop chorus performances wouldn't be complete without dance moves, Anderson said.

"We have a team that does our choreography," she said. "Our director has quite a bit of input into it -- if we are moving in a way that won't necessarily work with what she's trying to get us to achieve vocally, she'll say something. Generally, it all comes together very well."

Aside from performing in several local concerts and community events each year, Northern Blend also participates in Harmony Inc.'s annual competitions.

"In the spring, we have a regional competition, and you have to have a score high enough to be able to participate in the international competition," Oakes said. "At our regional last year … we got first place."

Teams from across all six regions who have met the required score are then invited to compete at Harmony Inc.'s annual international competition. On average, approximately 25 teams compete. In 2010, Northern Blend took first place at the international competition.

This year, 27 members of Northern Blend traveled to Louisville, Ky., from Nov. 14-16 for the international competition.

"We took third place this year," Oakes said. "We all had a fantastic time."

The group members were thrilled to learn that next year's international competition will be held at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona.

Although winning at the international level is always a perk, all three ladies agreed that their favorite thing about attending the competition is the opportunity to network and sing with the other choruses, the judges and the family members who attend.

After the awards ceremony, anyone who wishes to gathers in the convention center to participate in "tagging."

"The end of the song is called a tag," Schadock explained. "It's the very last chance to leave a big impression before you're done singing. A lot of us get together after the convention and teach each other tags."

Oakes added that chorus members often will stay up all night singing with their friends from other chapters. It's an opportunity to learn, to strengthen friendships, and to expand one's musical repertoire, she said.

"When we do tagging, I always pick different parts," she said. "We will sing each tag four or five times, and I'll pick different voice parts."

Schadock, who originally sang bass in the chorus, said that participating in tagging showed her that she actually preferred singing baritone.

"I think if you asked, probably 75 percent of Harmony people will tell you that (tagging sessions) are the highlight of the weekend," Anderson said.

Now that they have returned from the international competition, the chorus is focused on gearing up for the holiday season. Their next public performance will be at Watertown's tree lighting ceremony at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 5 in Public Square.

The group rehearses each Monday night at All Souls Universalist Unitarian Church in Watertown, starting at 7 p.m. They maintain an open invitation for community women, ages 12 and older, to join them at 7:15 p.m. to see what barbershop singing is all about.

From Dec. 1-15, the focus of the chorus will be practicing holiday music. Women of the community are invited to practice with them and then perform in a special holiday concert.

The "Christmasing" concert will be held at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 15at All Souls UUC. It is open to the public, and admission is one nonperishable food item, to be donated to Urban Mission Food Bank.

"We do this concert so those women who have participated with us (during the holidays) -- whether they decide to stay with the chorus or not -- can perform with us," Schadock said. "We hope they do stay -- we are always looking for more women who love music."

To learn more about Northern Blend, visit their website at http://northernblendchorus.homestead.com.