Latest News

Not a dry eye in the house as our incredible director Sherry Berkley was honored as Sweet Adeline of the Year at our end-of-the-year banquet on Tuesday evening.

Eleven of the fifteen singers who participated in the Great Lakes Harmony Region 17 competition had never sung in a competition before. It's all thanks to Sherry that the chorus performed so well. Sherry has been part of barbershop harmony for 43 years, and she just keeps working harder and harder!

Congratulations on an honor richly deserved!

This summer, you're warmly invited to join our rehearsals—no commitment, no cost! Starting in June, and continuing all summer, we are opening our rehearsals to women of all ages.

Whether you're just curious or thinking about becoming a member, this is the perfect chance to experience what it's like to sing with us in a relaxed, welcoming environment. We'd love to have you!

Congratulations to Mary Ann Walker, our singer of the month for April & May.

Florence passed the necklace to Mary Ann on Tuesday, mentioning the energy Mary Ann brings to the chorus, as well as how hard she has worked to learn the music.

Mary Ann rejoined the chorus in January after taking a break of over a year, and we are SO glad to have her back in our tenor section!

We were excited to receive fantastic coaching on February 25 from Joan Boutilier, a queen of Harmony, director of River City Sound Chorus, and former SAI president! Joan gave us many fantastic suggestions to increase our unity and sound quality. Our competition songs are coming together! 

Due to the cold weather, we are moving this week's rehearsal to be online. 

Members and guests who have recently been attending should have received the ZOOM link via email. Contact membership@riverbendchorus.org if you can't find the link.

On October 29, chorus members and Holiday Chorus guests met for a halloween-themed rehearsal to watch a portion of the Sweet Adelines International Harmony Classic competition in Kansas City. A highlight of the evening was watching several former members perform their "witchy" contest package with Midwest Crossroads chorus!

Once again, we are inviting women from our community to join us in a holiday chorus. In this special event, guests are invited to join us through the holiday season with no expense or long-term commitment.

We will rehearse every Tuesday from October 1 through December 10 where you will learn a number of songs from our seasonal repertoire. And once you know the songs, you will also be invited to perform with us during our holiday performances! 

To save time, we recommend that you fill out our guest form prior to your first visit. 

At our most recent rehearsal, we welcomed Lynn Thompson to our tenor section! Lynn came to us during our summer Camp Harmony and is a fantastic addition to our tenor section.

Membership Coordinator and Team Manager Debbie Strasser presented Lynn with her chorus name badge and a small gift bag.

Welcome, Lynn - we're as excited to have you join us as you are to be here! 

"We get by with a little help from our friends!"

What a fun night, celebrating the completion of our summer "Camp Harmony" event! Six guests completed the 5 week camp and sang the camp songs with us at last night's concert. We enjoyed getting to know all of you, and we hope you'll keep coming back!

Guests are always welcome at our Tuesday night rehearsals. If this looks fun, you should come sing with us too!

Gina Green has been selected Singer of the Month for August/September!

Monika Wayne passed the baton (actually the necklace!) to Gina, mentioning how helpful Gina has been in her role as Lead Section Leader. 

Singer of the Month is currently awarded bi-monthly due to the small size of our chorus. All members are eligible once per year. Gina is the first two-time recipient of the award. 

Congratulations, Gina!

Congratulations to Monika Wayne, our Singer of the Month for June & July.

Monika joined earlier this year and immediately showed that she is a go getter. She jumped in to get help get things done, even stepping up as apprentice Membership Coordinator. Thanks for all of your involvement Monika!

Congratulations to Carly, this year's choice for Sweet Adeline of the Year!

At our awards celebration, Debbie and LaRita presented Carly Legg with our 2024 Sweet Adeline of the Year award. Any chorus member can nominate someone for this annual award, and the recipient is selected by the two most recent awardees.

Carly exhibits the friendliness, helpfulness, leadership, and vocal skills that help all of us be our best. Thank you and congratulations, Carly!

During Tuesday's rehearsal, Membership Coordinator Debbie Strasser presented our newest member Jenna Smith with her chorus name badge.

Welcome to the baritone section, Jenna!

Camp Harmony 2024 has been scheduled to run from July 16 through August 13, 2024

This will be a great opportunity for interested singers to get an in-depth view of singing barbershop-style acapella. Mark your calendars and watch for additional details as we finalize the plans!

During our January 30 rehearsal, director Sherry Berkley presented longevity awards.

Debbie Strasser was honored for 25 years in Sweet Adelines International and Jean Smith, one of our chorus' founding members, received her 50 year award. Congratulations Debbie and Jean!

Please be sure to attend our concert on December 12, or stop by Howard Park on December 17 at 3 pm! These are the last public events of 2023.

The chorus will resume rehearsals on January 9, 2024. Guests are welcome to visit any rehearsal. See our information page for more details.

Congratulations to Lorie Garver, our newest Singer of the Month. 

Mary Aupperle passed the singer's necklace to Lorie, noting her enthusiasm for all things chorus, including singing and leading warmups, and emphasizing that she is also encouraging and kind.

Lorie has been a wonderful addition to our Lead section. We are thrilled to have you in our chorus!

Our holiday flower sales site will remain open at http://riverbendchorus.fpfundraising.com through December 15. Orders will begin shipping mid-November, in the order they are received. All orders placed by December 1st, will arrive in time for gift giving for the holiday season. Grow your own holiday flowers or send as gifts!

You can continue to order online with customer code RIVBND at https://my.evergreenindustries.com/product-category/friends-and-family/ through November 15.

Due to the upcoming International Competition in Louisville, as well as Halloween, we are canceling our rehearsal on October 31.

Our director Sherry will be competing at Harmony Classic on Halloween night with her quartet, Sublime... on her birthday! Happy Birthday Sherry! Harmony Classic is scheduled from 6-11 pm.

Webcast access can be purchased from the international website to view the events. Enjoy the evening with candy and music! 

What a great culmination of Camp Harmony! We had a great turnout for our concert, and it was wonderful to perform for all of our family and friends.

Thanks to our many new members this year we are once again able to perform! If you missed our concert, the next time to see us will be at Art Beat, where we will be opening for the Valleyaires on stage #1 at noon.

At our last rehearsal, Tamara Ciszczon was chosen as River Bend Chorus Singer of the Month for August/September by Gina Green. Tamara has quickly become a very involved chorus member by inviting our newest member Susan Siemers, assisting in marketing our Harmony Camp event, and asking helpful clarifying questions which benefit her entire section.

Congratulations Tamara!

Another chorus year is in the books!

Congratulations to River Bend Chorus's Sweet Adeline of the Year 2023! Membership Coordinator Debbie Strasser received this honor last night at our annual celebration banquet. Our Team Manager Marcia Barrett, last year's SAOY, presented the plaque and badge tag.

As Sweet Adelines, musical education is one of our primary missions. At our rehearsal this week, we welcomed Battle Creek Chorus director and Region 17's Education Coordinator, Lynne Peirce. Lynne worked with us on sound placement, enunciation, connecting with our conductor, and energy. What a great learning and bonding experience!

At rehearsal last night, Jean Smith passed the River Bend Chorus Singer of the Month award to Sherri Fox.

Jean specifically noted that when Sherri rejoined our chorus in 2019, she immediately jumped in to help out in many ways, including volunteering to be our Finance Coordinator. We all appreciate Sherri's dedication and service, as well as her strong contribution in our bass section. Congratulations, Sherri! 

Several weeks ago, we were joined by The Valleyaires, as well as Santa Claus, as we resumed our annual Christmas benefit concert. It was wonderful to perform again, and we were thrilled to learn this week that we raised $2358 for Reins of Life, this year's beneficiary. 

With a private performance and the benefits show yet to come, the joy of singing has made this years ‘count-down to Christmas’ very merry and bright! 

We hope you are able to join us on the 19th to celebrate A Cappella Christmas with us! 

Congratulations to member Marcia Barrett on being our River Bend Sweet Adeline of the Year! 
Thank you for your leadership and all you do for the chorus! 

On Tuesday May 19 we had a socially distanced meeting in the parking lot to celebrate our 2020 Sweet Adeline of the Year (we broke the distance only briefly to photograph the event.)

Congratulations Kandi! Your energy and attitude and all you've done for our chorus are so appreciated. We will miss you as you move, and your new chorus will be so lucky to have you.