Christchurch Rocks Houston - the Chorus has a blast in Texas ‘And the microphone-testing chorus for the finals
competition is......Christchurch City Chorus!’.
Yee-haw! We had beaten all the
odds in getting 103 people on that semi-finals stage at the Sweet Adelines
International Convention in Houston on 22 October, and we were chuffed at the
chance to go on stage again, to perform our 15-minute package of songs as a prelude to the finals contest.  Christchurch is a different place, and our chorus a different group of women than it was back in May 2010, when we won the right to represent NZ in Houston. But throughout all the quakes and shakes, uncertainty, personal loss and financial challenges, we had practised and kept our eye on the goal – to sing as well as we possibly could in Houston. And we did! With support and encouragement from families, friends, coaches, and choruses all over the world, we got there and showed the world that ‘Christchurch Rocks’.  Our Houston t-shirt, with
seismic waves turning into musical
notes, was a great conversation
starter. An amazing number of people at
the Convention had visited New Zealand, and all were interested to hear how Christchurch is
doing, and how things are going for us all. ( Logo image is the property of Christchurch City Chorus) A Sweet Adelines International Convention is of course so much more than the 6 minutes on stage for the initial competition (although that’s what drives the quest for excellence, we must admit!). We held a fund raising concert for the Christchurch City Mission on Saturday evening 15 October, then performed in a Sunday night world-wide show organised by Ronninge Chorus from Sweden, with quartets and choruses from England, Australia, Sweden and the USA. We had eye-opening, heart-stopping moments while sitting in on rehearsals of the Melodeers, Lions Gate, and Ronninge Choruses. We cheered as Alba Chorus from Sweden, directed by Ase Hagerman, won the small chorus competition on the Tuesday night. We cheered even harder as Even Time and our own Aftershock! quartets sang so well in the quartet contest. We were thrilled to have Wellington’s young quartet The Fource sing to us and were so proud when they placed first in the YWIH competition: their performance opened the Chorus Finals competition, and they were immediately followed on the stage by Christchurch City Chorus, so the Sweet Adelines world got a good taste of New Zealand that fine Saturday! As we said “You can’t keep a singing Kiwi down”.  We ate Tex-Mex, Brazilian, Japanese and good old southern American cooking, and marvelled at the skyscrapers and wide streets of Houston (but where were the townspeople? All underground, it turns out, using the tunnels that link the downtown buildings. The only people in the humid, hot streets were groups of visiting Sweet Adelines). We went to concerts and shows that weren’t barbershop, and got seriously blinged-out at the convention’s Harmony Bazaar. Who would have thought there was that much glitter in the world? We got to know each other much better, and made new friendships. And our fabulous supporters, friends and family members who travelled with and took care of us even managed to ensure that there was always a TV link to the rugby in New Zealand – the hotel staff were bemused by this strange sport and the fact that it always seemed to be played at 3am, but they were always willing to find a room for the NZers to crowd into to catch the winning All Blacks. Most importantly, we had a great time, a real Houston blast.
We loved seeing the other top
choruses in action, and truly appreciate
how much it takes to get to that level of performance skill. Will we do it again? Yes for sure! See y’all in Christchurch sometime - do stop by and visit our rehearsal if you're in town. Susan Noseworthy Team Coordinator 2011 Houston 2011 Chorus results Houston 2011 Quartet results |
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