FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- When the men of the Turning Point Chorus walked into the Commons for the quarterly Chaplain's Community Luncheon a couple of months ago, they were unsure of how the audience would react.
This chorus does not sound like what some might expect from a local community singing group. The group's four-part harmony, barbershop-style number stunned the crowd with renditions of traditional American music and a special arrangement of the 10th Mountain Division Song that brought audience members to their feet.
Two Fort Drum Civilian Employees find their weekly respite as members of the Turning Point Chorus, based in Carthage. Dick Blunden, a pharmacist at Guthrie Ambulatory Health Care Clinic, and Rob Wilson, senior exercise coordinator in the division G3 office, are longtime music lovers who have found their niche sharing their gift of song with the community.
Blunden, a Carthage native who has served as a pharmacist for the Fort Drum community for 20 years, said he began singing in church and in his school choir. He has been singing on and off for most of his life.
"I sang with the Islander Chorus in Watertown 25 years ago," he said. "Then, my wife and I decided to have kids, so I got out of it. When my kids went to college and my evenings were free, I found the Turning Point Chorus."
Wilson also hails from the North Country. He is a graduate of Watertown High School, where he was involved in performing arts. He joined the Army after high school and served for 23 years. Wilson retired in 2009 as the operations sergeant major for 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team.
"I stumbled upon the Turning Point Choir because they were doing the Christmas Sing, which is probably one of the best events I've ever been in," he said.
For the Christmas Sing, men do not have to be members to perform, Wilson explained.
"They just invite you to come and sing," he said. "I had never sung barbershop before; it's a completely different style of singing. They grabbed as many men as they could who wanted to come and sing Christmas songs, and allowed us to join the barbershop."
There were roughly 30 men from all walks of life -- military, carpenters, college students, pharmacists and more -- who joined the group for the holidays, Blunden said. Chorus members live across the Black River Valley -- from Henderson Harbor to Clayton to Lowville.
The Turning Point Chorus performs at various community events, at churches and at retirement facilities, Wilson said. They specialize in Americana, patriotic, gospel, show tunes, contemporary and traditional barbershop singing.
"It's a great time," he said. "I sing with my 15-year-old son; he's the youngest guy in the group.
"I brought him along to practice one day because after 23 years in the military, I wanted to spend some time with my kid," Wilson continued. "This was a perfect way for us to bond -- learning to sing barbershop together. It's a great experience."
Wilson's son, Joshua, participates in music programs at Carthage Central High School, but singing with the Turning Point Chorus has broadened his vocal abilities, Wilson explained.
"When he's surrounded by men singing barbershop and he's a baritone, it really brings out his singing ability even further," he said. "He actually performed a barbershop-style piece for a (school) concert. The Turning Point Chorus allowed him to do that. He loves it, and it's a great father-son activity."
Barbershop style is different from traditional performance singing, Wilson explained.
"In performance singing, you want to be the center of attention, and you want to be the voice that stands out and that makes people react," he said. "With barbershop, you are trying to make a group sound like a whole entity. There isn't one person standing out; you're all just as important."
Blunden agreed, adding that audience members often cannot tell which singer is performing a specific part.
"You can't tell because it's so blended together," he said. "With barbershop, there are three very distinct parts -- there's the melody, which usually the leads are singing; there's a group singing slightly higher; and there's the bass part, which is usually an octave lower.
"Then, there's the baritone part; it's a really weird part," Wilson added. "If you sing it alone, you'll think, 'how is that supposed to fit into the song?' It's a totally unique part, and if no one is singing it, you'll notice there's something missing. It just completes the song so much."
Wilson said he also enjoys the full dynamic range that comes from their chorus.
However, the technical skill also creates a unique, full sound thanks to a little science, Blunden said.
"If we sing the notes right -- all four parts -- there are six audible notes," he said.
Wilson added that although it's a four-part harmony, the way barbershop chords are arranged can play tricks on listeners' ears.
"It's crazy," he said. "The dynamics -- you think it's just four-part harmony, but sometimes, when you hit that note right, you hear parts that no one is singing. It's because of the way men's voices reverberate against one another."
Blunden sums it up to "constructive interference."
"It's physics," he said, with a laugh.
Wilson said he also enjoys the diversity of the group.
"If you go to church, everybody is joined because they share a religion; at work, everybody is joined because they share a goal and they're working to complete a job," he said. "Barbershop is different. Nothing joins us other than we are men who love to sing. We go every Wednesday night and give up our time for two hours."
"Some nights, they hand us a song that we've never seen before and that we've never heard before," Wilson continued. "Before we know it, we're picking up the melody and the harmony.
Blunden said that by the third time through the song, the group usually has 80 percent of the song complete.
"We have a great group," he said.
Wilson agreed that the members complement one another.
"Half the people can't even read music," he said. "My son gets on to me sometimes. He'll be like, 'no, dad. That's an E-flat. You're supposed to be singing an E.' I don't even know what an E is."
One song the group recently learned was one with which some of the members were familiar. When preparing for the chaplain's luncheon performance, the group provided the lyrics and tune of the 10th Mountain Division Song to a local singer in Syracuse. He then arranged the song into a four-part barbershop harmony free of charge.
"Now, when I hear the song, I can only sing the barbershop version," Wilson said.
The Turning Point Chorus rehearses every Wednesday night at the Meadowbrook Terrace Assisted Living Facility in Carthage.
"One of the nice things is we can sing at the assisted living facility and the residents come to our rehearsals," Blunden said. "They are our fan club. Whenever we perform, they come up and ask how we did. It's a good community service, too, because they enjoy singing along."
The group is currently preparing for the upcoming competition season, which begins in the fall. Wilson and Blunden both encourage all men who love to sing to stop by and try out barbershop. The chorus has an open door policy and welcomes all men of all singing abilities to come to their weekly rehearsals.
"We need more people," Wilson said. "The bigger the group gets, the fuller the sound."
"We encourage new people to come out to our Wednesday night practices," he added. "We'd love to have more military guys come out. There's no bar that people have to meet to be allowed to sing with us. There are guys who sing every Wednesday night, but they don't go to competition with us."
Last year, the group had 13 men at the competition, according to Blunden.
"We sounded as powerful as a 30-man group," he said. "We have really good people; we are very fortunate."
There is no cost to attend rehearsals. The cost is minimal for those who want to perform and compete, Wilson said.
For more information, contact Brad Lundquist, Turning Point Chorus director, at 783-1408, send an email to director@turningpointchorus.com or stop by a rehearsal from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Meadowbrook Terrace Assisted Living Facility in Carthage.
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