Chisholm Trail Chorus hits all the right notes

By AMY ROGNLIE | Photos courtesy of the CHISHOLM TRAIL CHORUS

“You come for the music, but you stay for the friendships,” Carol Mouché says about the Chisholm Trail Chorus.

The Chisholm Trail Chorus is the local chapter of Sweet Adelines International, an organization of female singers, which serves more than 16,000 members in 19 countries, and offers education, competition, leadership opportunities and lifelong friendships.

“Chisholm Trail Chorus is an all-female a cappella ensemble that works hard and plays hard,” says Mouché, the marketing coordinator.

“Auditions are required, but if you demonstrate that you can hold your part while singing with three other people, attend weekly rehearsals and are interested in personal and musical growth, you will fit right in!”

The group’s members include medical professionals, teachers, coaches, artists, journalists, paraprofessionals, business owners, bookkeepers, moms, grandparents and retirees, with ages ranging from 20s to 80s.

“A communal singing environment keeps you young at heart,” Mouché says. “When you are part of a whole, you have self-worth, because your voice matters. We aren’t soloists — our art form requires four distinct voice parts to make the chords ‘ring’ with overtones.”

Currently directed by a founding member, Carol Scherer, Chisholm Trail Chorus was founded in 1982. They competed regionally for the first time in 1983 in Dallas and won the Best Small Chorus award that year. Since then, they have consistently placed in the top five almost every year. Over the years, some chorus members have traveled to Russia, Denmark, New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, Wales, Italy, Germany, England, Ireland and Scotland as representatives of Chisholm Trail Chorus and Great Gulf Coast Region 10. Some members of Chisholm Trail Chorus have even performed on stage at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

A highlight for the group is the annual regional competition among choruses in Texas, Louisiana and Alabama, but the chorus also enjoys singing at community and charity events. The singers practice a running repertoire of songs, including patriotic songs, ballads, holiday tunes and plenty of upbeat music, all sung in the barbershop style. They also sing at holiday events, nursing homes and other community venues.

In addition, they put on an annual show for the community. For their most recent show, they performed a choreographed program at the Cultural Activities Center in Temple.

“We are performers who sing,” Mouché says. “We want to put emotion and character into everything we sing. Even if we are not holding props, we are embodying a character. We want to visually communicate a story to the audience because that’s when music moves you — when you feel like the music is speaking directly to you.”

The group often hires professional coaches to help chorus members focus on specific areas of vocal training and movement. For the past year, the chorus has benefited from a yearlong program where the coach introduces new topics each month, which are then incorporated into whatever music the group is working on at that time.

“I have been a member of Chisholm Trail Chorus for more than 25 years, and I still learn something new each rehearsal,” Mouché says.

The Sweet Adelines offers a myriad of educational seminars at the regional and international levels. Everyone brings talents from their personal lives and careers to share with this group — event coordinating, financial expertise, music education (they have several former and current music educators in their chorus), technology, and even baking talents.

“We are like a family,” Mouché says. “We are friends, and we take care of each other and we honor each other. We especially enjoy showing young singers how they can perform with us, take a break for personal or career changes, and return to any Sweet Adeline chorus around the world. This has been great for folks who are transferred to this area through the military, then move elsewhere. They can find a Sweet Adeline ‘home’ wherever they land.”

Chisholm Trail Chorus rehearses weekly on Thursday evenings at the Cultural Activities Center, 3011 N. Third St. in Temple.

LEARN MORE
Website: www.chisholmtrailchorus.org
Email: contact@chisholmtrailchorus.org
Social media: www.facebook.com/ChisholmTrailChorus