Sweet Adelines compete in Philadelphia on April 5

Orange County’s Sweet Adelines Chorus, “Song of the Valley,” will compete against 14 other choruses at the Greater New York Regional Competition in Philadelphia on April 5. At that time, the chorus will compete against others from New York City, Long Island, southeastern New York and New Jersey. Judging the competition will be four internationally certified Sweet Adelines judges, who will be travel to Philadelphia from all over the country for the event. Although “Song of the Valley” presents a variety of music at performances throughout the year, the arrangements for contest songs must meet the strict requirements of the “barbershop” style of a cappella harmony. To demonstrate versatility and mastery, choruses generally choose one song that has a faster tempo and one that is a ballad. This year, the chorus will be performing “Hard Hearted Hannah” and “My Romance” as their contest package. “We always hope that, after all of our preparation, we will be able to offer our peak performance during the contest.” said Diane Chieffo, chorus president. “We want to make Orange County proud of us.” Song of the Valley’s music director is Lisbet Kline, who is internationally recognized within Sweet Adelines as both a director and coach. Under her leadership, Song of the Valley won the coveted “Most Improved Chorus” award last year, given to the chorus who has shown the greatest improvement in their overall competition score since the previous year. Following the contest, and as a part of weekly Tuesday evening rehearsals, the chorus will be offering a series of four free vocal lessons in a cappella singing. This program will be taught by Kline from April 22 through May 13. All women who love to sing can register for this program and join with the chorus for four weeks of learning and singing together. For additional information or to register, call 227-2853 or 496-7573.