2004 Living Legend — Dale Syverson

By Maggie Ryan, Greater Harrisburg Chorus, Region 19, Harrisburg, Pa.

Dale Syverson may drive the only car in the world that doesn’t go in reverse. OK, not literally. But travel backwards? Dale? You have to be kidding.

She wouldn’t know how, might not even understand the concept. Oh, she’ll pause to soak up the moment, wait for the punch line, and learn the lesson laid before her. But don’t expect her to pine for the “good old days.” Too many great ones are just around the corner.

This woman’s life has one direction: forward; she has one speed: go.

“She has one foot in today and one foot three years from now,” says Judy Baxter, the lead of Rumors. “She lives by calendars. She won’t die until she can put it on the calendar for that year.”

You already know Dale is funny, accomplished and talented. If you’ve seen her coach, you’ve felt her focus, watched her nurture, cajole and demand. On the contest stage, her Rich-Tone Chorus arrayed behind her, she is a lioness stalking audiences and judges alike. In a crowd, she is soft-spoken and appears very nearly shy. Flick on the spotlight and she becomes a walking laugh track, an endless source of memorable quips.

Friends say Dale is exactly who you see. No pretense, no hidden agendas; a tenacious competitor, insatiable student of human nature, and a volatile mixture of sensitivity, intelligence and drive.

“She’s a really marvelous friend,” Rumors bass Peggy Gram says. “She anticipates whatever you’re thinking far down the road and she’s thinking there for you.”

Vision, that complicated, essential quality of all true leaders, may be Dale’s greatest gift. Whether guiding choruses to International titles, molding countless pupils into frontline directors or blending disparate voices into seamless champions, she is ceaselessly looking ahead.

“She’s the barbershop Dali Lama,” says Rumors tenor Charla Clare Esser. “She is passionate about barbershop. The passion you see is truly there from the tips of her soul.
“She is her own personal messenger for barbershop,” Charla says. “It’s all about the path. She is very spiritual; never stops evolving.”

Dale’s evolution has brought a list of accomplishments as long as her arm:

• Two International quartet championships (Tiffanys, 1973; Rumors, 1999)
• Three International chorus titles (Rich-Tone Chorus, 1992, 1996 & 1999)
• Master director
• Certified expression judge
• Certified International faculty
• 2004 Sweet Adelines International Lifetime Achievement Award

But lingering over her medals and trophies isn’t one of Dale’s characteristics. She’d much rather study, learn and teach, all while cross-stitching, reading or adding to “the world’s largest fur ball collection.”

“She can’t do only one thing at a time,” Judy says with a laugh.

“And she’d sell her soul for Mexican food and cheese, but nothing green.”

As good as she is, Dale wants to be better. That is what keeps her taking voice lessons despite two crowns, and watching I Love Lucy reruns despite an unshakable reputation as a natural comedienne.

“She’s fearless in barbershop,” Charla says. “There isn’t anything she won’t hold her nose and jump right into.”

Dale and Rumors have dedicated their post-championship time to teaching. Performances are fun, Charla says, but they don’t go deep enough. Singing is an art form, and they want you to know the craft. They ride the music-school circuit from region to region, spreading the barbershop gospel.

“She’s extremely dedicated to furthering education in Sweet Adelines,” Judy says. “I’ve seen her go to a weekend school and learn something, and in one week turn around and teach it the very next weekend.”

They reach out and return favors. Rising Star champions Backchat cited Rumors’ visit to New Zealand as their incentive to try four-part harmony. And 2004 winners Tone Appétit openly modeled themselves after their barbershop heroines.

“She is extremely generous with her time, especially with young people,” says friend and Rich-Tones member Liz Brannon. “She is very nurturing and supportive of newbies, which is different from how we see her in chorus. (There, she is) demanding and has high expectations. She knows the young people are the future.”

A weekend school with Rumors sends Sweet Adelines home with wide eyes. Here is Dale drawing sound from a tentative voice: “Yes, yes … gimme more,” she growls. “Come on, you’ve got it in you …” She reaches from her seat, pulling at something only she can see. “… moooore …” She’s revving up, nodding, arms widening, “… moooore … that’s it, that’s it … yes … yes …YES! Awright!” She’s up, out of her chair, shaking her head, pumping a fist, grinning.

Why, who woulda thought you could do that? Who’da thought you could sing so well?

Dale.

“Ok, here we go. Do it again.”

She is a perennial favorite at the annual International Education Symposium. As an instructor, Dale’s classes can be blink-inducing; the sheer wattage of her brainpower makes you want to shade your eyes, while her energy will not let you look away. Her fellow directors marvel at the intricacy of her conducting. Her preparation is legendary, her technique the object of scrutiny and imitation.

The great ones make it look easy, of course. But none of this comes by accident.

“People don’t understand that this is Dale’s life,” says Peggy. “Yes, she’s a nurse, but what she lives and breathes for is this. It is her perspiration, her dedication, her respiration.”

This passion has pushed Dale’s bubble a little past level at times. Here is a woman who broke her arm in a fall right before Rich-Tones’ 2003 Christmas show, but got patched up in time to direct that evening’s performance.

“There is no parade rest for Dale,” Liz says.

She will be there, in spotlight and shadow, as long as she has breath. Slipping into warm-up rooms to boost a contestant’s confidence, demanding more of herself as a director, coach and judge, padding onstage in fuzzy green slippers for one more push-out quartet.

Always, always cramming a little more achievement into one jam-packed lifetime.

“She’s the one person,” Peggy says, “we could expect to get it two times.”

Return to Pitch Pipe main page