The Seattle SeaChordsmen spent the afternoon of May 17 performing in the Syttende Mai parade in Ballard, to celebrate Norwegian Independence Day! We had a ton of fun. Here we are serenading one of the members of the crowd:
Afterward, we got together for drinks and more singing, as per usual. Check out these happy afterglow-ers!
It's official - our spring and summer performance season is off to the races! Our first outing of the year was at the Queen Anne Farmers Market preview day. We did our first public sing-through of this year's pirate-themed Road Show, and it was fun! Check out these photos!
Some pre-show warm-up:
Some shots of this great chorus!
Big news from the chorus... After over four years in a co-director setup, the Board of Directors has made a decision to change our structure. Moving forward, we'll operate with one director, as Elizabeth takes on solo directing responsibilities and Melanie steps away from the SeaChordsmen.
Change of any kind is hard, of course. The bonds created when folks create music together are strong, and a change like this stings. Factor in Melanie's thoughtfulness, magnetic and engaging style, and overall kindness, and you have a recipe for heartbreak. We will not be the same without her energy.
This week, the paperwork for new member Marlese came through, and we sang her in officially! We love to honor new members as they join the chorus... We've realized that occasionally paperwork goes astray, though, and members who have transferred from other choruses don't have the same paperwork flow that prompts our welcoming ceremony. So this week we made up for lost time, and officially welcomed Marlese, along with some other new-ish folks and some "transfer students" -- Warwick, John, C.C., Kristi, Mindy, and Frances! Our chorus is so much richer in the last year for all of this new energy -- welcome, singers!!
Did you know there's a National Barbershop Quartet Day? This year it happened on a Tuesday, so Melanie and Tyler were celebrating with a t-shirt.
There are four SeaChordsmen-affiliated quartets, all of whom are available for hire for gigs and events. Check out their details on our Quartets page.
A group of SeaChordsmen were honored to attend the memorial service for Jean Osborn, the wife of former longtime SeaChordsmen member John Osborn.
The VLQ performed You've Got a Friend at the beginning of the service, and I Believe at the end of the service.
Our thoughts are with John and the whole family as they celebrate Jean and deal with their grief.
Long-time member Pete let us know that this week would be his last rehearsal with the SeaChordsmen! Pete has been part of the SeaChordsmen family for 20 years, singing both lead and baritone, and serving in many volunteer leadership roles, including President of the Board of Directors. Pete has boundless appetite for fun and new things -- we can't wait to see what his next chapter might bring.
Here's Pete in a VLQ over a decade ago:
And here we are celebrating Pete at rehearsal this week, with cake, and a thank you gift -- a SeaChordsmen scarf:
Getting a day's worth of Singing Valentine deliveries organized and ready to go is no small feat. This crew created products to order, took order details, scheduled both in-person and online deliveries, and managed the day-of logistics for the zoom-delivered Singing Valentines. This list is not a complete one, to be sure! Did I mention that the studio was set up to deliver Singing Valentines from 8am-8pm? Truly a herculean undertaking. Three HUGE cheers for this indefatigable squad, and thank you SO MUCH for making this great day possible for the valentine recipients and singers alike!
We had a handful of established and "pickup" quartets that came together on Valentine's Day to both roam the city, delivering in-person Singing Valentines, and come together in our studio to delivery worldwide online Singing Valentines. It was such a fun day -- check out the quartets who performed:
Mirth:
Metafour:
The Post-It Notes:
This week, the SeaChordsmen had the pleasure of having Donny Rose visit during rehearsal. Did we learn a tag or two? YES. Did we hear about Harmony Foundation International? YES. Did a lucky quartet get some coaching from Donny as we prepped for next week's Singing Valentines? YES. And did Donny come to afterglow and get some more singing in with us? YES.
All the good things. Check it out!
