Finding heart to sing never skips a beat

The Grand Strand teems with groups who savor donating time to sing their heart out.

Voices carry from a men’s barbershop chorus, Sweet Adelines groups, and several chorales. Of course, the Carolina Master Chorale will accent the middle word of the theme for its 33rd season, “Hope, Love & Heroism,” with three “My Funny Valentine” concerts, Feb. 12-14, a staple in its schedule in mid-winter every year.

Vocal Edition gathers every Monday

With as many as 24 women and men from the local and business community, Vocal Edition has lent its chops at Brookgreen Gardens’ annual “Nights of a Thousand Candles” since that festival’s start in 2005. Look for the ensemble, too, in Brookgreen’s “Cool Summer Evenings” series, which opens June 8 for nine weeks of the gardens staying open till 9 p.m. on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Planning also continues for scheduling a spring concert to be announced for Winyah Auditorium in Georgetown.

Kraig McBroom has directed Vocal Edition since 1996, three years after its founding. He said its “new blend” of music spans various genres and include “vocal jazz,” along with “a lot of the old songs” arranged with fresh, “new harmonizations.”

He said many Vocal Edition members are teachers, including choral directors from three local schools. The singers come “from all different areas” of the Grand Strand, “not just Carolina Forest.” and with one man commuting from Charleston this spring, including rehearsals every Monday evening.

McBroom also notices distinct differences in how vocals radiate inside vs. outside. Indoors, the echo and a beautiful resonance stand out, and outdoors in Brookgreen’s Oak Allee, he has noticed the “fabulous sound that gets caught underneath those huge live oaks.”

Practicing with Vocal Edition, McBroom also praised the members for memorizing their selections this past Christmas season in the gardens, which makes it so much easier to create and carry out “different phrasing and different crescendos,” so the singers are able to go with you” with eyes on his conducting.

Still hitting right notes

The Sea Notes Choral Society has begun its fifth decade of belting out seasonal concerts in Brunswick County. Kim Wilding remembered seeking details on joining the group even before her move from California three years ago, to continue her longtime community involvement through chorus.

Overseeing Sea Notes’ publicity in place of singing this year because of her family schedule, Wilding said the ensemble numbered 150 in its Christmas concerts in 2015, and expects 135-140 will make up the roster for the spring dates, “That’s What Friends Are For,” April 2-3 at its home base, Brunswick Community College Odell Williamson Auditorium, off U.S. 17 in Supply, N.C., also where its “Patriotic Concert” will play out June 25-26.

She said waiting list has built up for women to join, “but we need men always.”

The Sea Notes already had spring in mind on Jan. 4, when its weekly rehearsals began for the April concerts. Wilding said a different director leads each of the three seasonal programs, which are always free, and with a crew of retired music educators and church choir and concert directors, the presentations stay energetic and sparkling.

Asked for the biggest joy she takes home after a concert, Wilding said simply, “It’s the sound that you make when a group of people get together, and the pure beauty of the sound and watching audiences’ reaction.”

Wilding also said that rehearsals are not merely folks “who just come and sing.”

“They are practicing at home,” she said, “and you know it, and they really have fun.”

Women’s groups heard loud and clear

Hallelujah, a Sweet Adelines International quartet, will hit the road for its annual “Singing Valentines” fundraiser, Feb. 12-14 across the area.

Edye Papp, the bass in the foursome – with Diane Kane on baritone, Sue Myers on tenor, and lead by Susan Parrotta – said these outings provide Hallelujah’s “biggest way” to fund their travel expenses, costumes, registration fees for voice seminars, and the means to perform at nursing homes and church events for free.

For $25 with reservations made by Feb. 11, the recipient will receive a two-song serenade (Add $5 for a third ditty), along with a card and faux rose. Papp said having taken part in this tradition for close to a decade, she remembered Hallelujah delivering about 40 Valentines one year, but 25 works out as a manageable amount, covering an area about as far as Loris, North Myrtle Beach and Georgetown.

The rest of the year, the women also enjoy sharing their voices at senior residences, such as Brightwater, just west of Myrtle Beach, and including a “Snowbirds and Seagulls” welcome-back event this winter at First United Methodist Church in Myrtle Beach.

The Serendipity Singers – for whom its founding director, Diana Scroggins, will soon retire after 10 years – have helped keep Harriet Blodis’ voice strong all along.

Speaking Monday after a thrice-weekly water aerobics workout, Blodis – part of the “second sopranos” faction among the 30 women – said singing marks one of many ways she stays active and feeling young.

With this pastime since high school glee-club days, Blodis said, “I sing every day,” whether at weekly practices, or by herself with tunes on the radio or “in the shower.”

Blodis said ages for Serendipity Singers colleagues stretch into the 80s, and the group has made spring and Thanksgiving-time Christmas concerts its big dates each year, both for free. This year begins with a performance at 3 p.m. April 24 at Trinity Presbyterian Church, on Glenn Bays Road, just west of Surfside Beach – as part of the host’s free “Arts at the Church” series.

Singing also can overflow in value as a shot in the arm to one’s esteem, Blodis pointed out, not that she ever finds herself down or inactive.

“It makes me happy every day,” Blodis said, and “it lifts me up.”

Men united in barbershop since 1984

Joseph Guck, a baritone and the president of the Low County Barbershop Chorus, said this group, begun in 1984, numbers about a dozen – with four basses, four leads, one tenor, and three baritones – but grows a few spots every winter with vacationers from the North. He said the men perform about eight concerts a year, including the annual Blessing of the Inlet on the first Saturday in May at Belin United Methodist Church in Murrells Inlet, and the bulk for Christmastime events.

Concerts booked this winter are 3 p.m. Feb. 21 at Trinity Presbyterian Church, near Surfside Beach, and a “Boys and Girls Together” duet with the Sound of the Strand Sweet Adelines Chorus, 4 p.m. March 12 at Surfside United Methodist Church in Surfside Beach.

Guck, who joined the chorus two years ago, also finds time as a member of the Carolina Master Chorale. Speaking Sunday evening, after that group’s guest role in the Long Bay Symphony’s “Musical Exaltation” concert at Myrtle Beach High School, he said he sees putting his voice to work as “the more you use it, the better it gets.”

He called singing “a passion and avocation of mine,” and not only concerts, but weekly rehearsals, generate “a lot of camaraderie.”

“It’s a night out to have fun,” Guck said, “and do singing and reminiscing.”

He voiced his being ready for Valentine’s weekend, with the Chorale’s trio of shows, and the barbershop group’s reviving its tradition of singing “Valentine telegrams,” which on Feb. 13-14, will encompass “a couple of love songs,” a gift and photos for surprise recipients.

The biggest reward after any concert, Guck said, brings mingling with audience members on their exit, and “just seeing the smiles on their faces.”

At the close of every Low County Barbershop Chorus event, “Keep the Whole World Singing” remains a tradition for the men to perform, Guck said.

“That’s our goal,” he said, “to make it fun for everybody.”

This story was originally published January 28, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Finding heart to sing never skips a beat."