The Long Road to International

By Maggie Ryan, Greater Harrisburg Chorus, Region 19

They were so good, they made you tingle.

A few made you nod and smile. Some overwhelmed you, and in the dark you just let the tears tumble.

But these women, they gave you a rush. Harborlites Chorus and “the Buzz” quartet blew the doors off their competitors in Indianapolis. The Buzz redefined artistry and precision, and Harborlites performed with an energy that made you wonder if their hair was on fire. They left nothing to chance and nothing in doubt.

They made it look easy, but that’s the hardest part, isn’t it?

To set aside your crowns and reputations and take up a new challenge is no small task. It takes enormous trust to summon all your preparation, focus all your long-held hopes and deliver a laser-beam performance that shimmers even after the final note is sung. Courage and faith: the stuff of champions.

If there is one lesson to be gained from Sweet Adelines International’s 59th convention, perhaps it is this: Above all else, wear comfortable shoes.

Sweet Adelines found the only venue on Earth that could make a 20,000-seat hockey arena seem cozy. The Indianapolis convention center wasn’t just big, it was you-gotta-be-kidding-me huge.

The concrete walkway from primp room to stage door was more than 300 yards long. Entire ballrooms were dissected to provide shortcuts. Once inside the building, you needed to hike another five city blocks to reach the auditorium entrance. Directors hitched rides on maintenance carts from warm-ups to backstage. At times during chorus semifinals, the lineup of scooters resembled a parade of precision-driving Masonic clowns.

So massive was the building that Saturday, while Sweet Adelines competed for gold medals in Exhibit Hall C, some of Indiana’s finest marching bands chased glory in the RCA Dome, home of the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts. All under the very same roof. And unless someone opened the wrong door at the wrong time, you never even knew they were there.

Inside, the cavernous hall dwarfed the stage and swallowed its occupants. Between performers, The Wave was more like The Tide, it took so long to travel all the way around. Even the big video screens with their images that make singers’ faces 10-feet tall took on nearly human-sized proportions.

So how is it that four tiny women held 7,000 spellbound?
And how did one chorus reach across the chasm to electrify onlookers half a mile away?

Distance, of course, is relative. Some Sweet Adelines regions are so compact, a three-hour drive seems lengthy. Others cross national borders and time zones. Christchurch City Chorus merely absorbed three countries, 10 choruses, two continents and 18 hours of airline travel to reach the Indianapolis stage.

Credit director Virginia Humphrey-Taylor with dreaming up a scheme so wacky it just had to work. Virginia knew it would be enormously expensive to haul a 70+ member chorus all the way from Christchurch City, New Zealand, to Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.A. And with an unfriendly exchange rate giving the Kiwis roughly 75 cents to the U.S. dollar, for many of her members the trip was cost-prohibitive.

Virginia, who coaches throughout regions 34 and 35 in New Zealand and Australia, seized upon an idea. Why not open up the trip to everyone? Why not tap their friends in Wollongong Harmony and Sydney Town, in Marlborough Harmony, Greater Auckland and Melbourne, to name a few? Invite them all to be dual members with CCC and join them on the trip of a lifetime. Oh, and while we’re at it, how about a few from Minnesota?

Minnesota?

You see the connection, don’t you? Down Under meets Iced Over? Somehow, it all made sense to Virginia and CCC’s coaches, Mary Dick and Cindy Hansen. Mary and Cindy flew to New Zealand to coach, and Mary’s daughter, Heidi, was hooked, too. She signed up, and CCC became a multinational force.

These dual members became fast friends, new sisters they labeled Ooters for Out-Of-Towners. Every week, Ooter Vicky Gardiner drove four hours from Marlborough to rehearsals, some flew in from Australia for retreat, and the really, really out-there Ooters practiced by video and audiotapes. Meanwhile, the CCC members who couldn’t go were cheering them on, opening their homes and drawing them into their circle.

The first time the entire group was assembled was the Saturday before their performance at International. The first place they all met face-to-face was their rehearsal in Indianapolis. Nearly 70% were first-timers to international, and three had never competed at all. Two Ooters made the front row.

They called the experience magnificent, fulfilling all their hopes. “It just felt so right,” said one. “We got on the risers that night and it was so great.”

Imagine. Traveling halfway around the world to sing two songs with women you’ve never met, and may never see again.

“We don’t want to leave them behind,” said another. “We don’t want to let them go.”

In the end, 56 singers representing 10 choruses took the stage in Indianapolis under the umbrella of Christchurch City Chorus. They finished in 26th place, down a few notches from CCC’s last appearance in 2001. The placement didn’t matter. The trip planted some seeds, opened some eyes to the dynamism and energy of international-level performers.
Christchurch City has its sights set on a quick return to the International stage. They’re hoping to capture a slot in the 2007 convention in Calgary. The exchange rate is much more favorable with Canada. More members will be able to go. And the Ooters? Don’t count them out.

“Everybody repeatedly said what a wonderful experience it was,” said Philippa Beckman. “We’re talking about a reunion.”

Those who make a great journey become masters of a million little things. All the details; every moment at its essence. They don’t just seize a performance, they inhabit it. They live it, breathe it, smell and taste it. To become the master of the moment, to become its champion, you have to do all these things.

You have to believe.

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