ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, February 28, 1997 TAG: 9702280042
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: ANGIE WATTS STAFF WRITER
Sing a song to your neighbor, she'll start humming along. Those are the words the Wilderness Road Chorus sang at the conclusion of their rehearsal Tuesday night. And while there is no doubt a love for music, specifically barbershop harmony, unites this group of 28 women, fellowship is what keeps them coming back for more.
"I have about 29 members that are an extension of my family," said Sherry Hirt, president and seven-year member of the chorus. "It's a good group of women, clearly devoted. Anyone who needs something to have in their life - this is it."
The Wilderness Road Chorus is an extension of Sweet Adelines International, an exclusively female organization comprised of approximately 500 choruses around the world. The group is gearing up for a performance at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Recital Room at Squires Student Center on the Virginia Tech campus.
The Wilderness Road Chorus, which unites women across the New River Valley, is celebrating its 10th anniversary as a charter member of Sweet Adelines this year.
"My music is my life," said nine-year member Shelby Mahaffey. "I live in Roanoke, the farthest away, but I drive down here because I love these girls. Plus I'm a native of Giles County, so I really am a woman of the New River Valley anyway. We're a very close group. We have a lot of love for each other, and a lot of patience."
Patience is perhaps the key. Between formal rehearsals, committee meetings to discuss such topics as costume design, choreography and fund raising, and hours of individual rehearsal, the women of Wilderness Road estimate they spend two to four hours each day working on their music. With an array of professionals in the group ranging from teachers and students to nurses, homemakers and veterinarians ... rehearsals that run from 7 to 11 p.m. can leave the women a bit exhausted.
The person responsible for keeping all 28 members of one accord is, ironically, a man. Virginia Tech associate professor John Howell, who can't be a charter member of Sweet Adelines for obvious reasons, is in the midst of his first year as director of the chorus.
"They simply needed someone," said Howell, who after 14 years of heading Tech's "New Virginians" was without a group. "And I had started barbershop [singing] in high school, so I was familiar with the style - although it's changed some in 40 years."
Barbershop music is four-part harmony sung a cappella. Despite the women's voice range differing from that of men, the barbershop groups have retained the original terminology used by the male quartets. The group is comprised of the "lead," who carries the melody; the "tenor," who provides the harmony above the lead; the "bass" melody; and the "baritone," who fills in the missing note in every chord.
Howell said the women tenors are actually singing soprano, while the basses are the equivalent of a low alto. In a female group, the lead and the baritone are sung in ranges of alto as well.
Howell was quite possibly the perfect choice of the Wilderness Road Chorus. Having grown up in a house where his mother and father taught music, he knew at a young age he was destined to follow their path. After changing musical instruments each year in an effort to learn them all, he decided to try the singing route as well.
"I grabbed three friends and we really just learned one song for a talent competition," Howell said. "But I guess we were the only ones who could carry a tune and so we won. It eventually led to a full-ride scholarship to the University of Puget Sound [in Washington state] as a group."
The men took their sound to the U.S. Air Force Band in 1961 and "defended our country for four years with our trumpets," Howell joked. After completing their service, the four men began touring professionally as The Four Saints. They appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson, but never got the big break they were looking for.
After 10 years on the road, the men decided to go their separate ways and Howell headed back to school, this time at Indiana University, to pursue his master's in choral conducting. Mere coincidences took Howell from the faculty at Indiana to Disney World, where he directed the show group for two years, and eventually to the campus of Virginia Tech.
"I was the director of the New Virginians for 14 years," Howell said. "Then the music department wanted to restructure the New Virginians program. They kept the same name, but turned it into a small-scale vocal jazz program. And I guess I have been drifting back to my roots ever since."
Howell said he signed a one-year contract with the Wilderness Road Chorus in case the new experiment didn't work out, but doesn't foresee any problems.
"So far I'm having a wonderful time," Howell said. "These women are wonderful to work with. They are very dedicated to improving, they have good attitudes and are open to new ideas. What more could I ask for?"
The members mirrored his compliments.
"John is very open and flexible," Hirt said. "It's a lot of fun to work with him. He makes it exciting and he is teaching us a lot. We definitely hope he'll stay."
LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ALAN KIM STAFF. The Wilderness Road Chorus rehearsesby CNBTuesday evening for their Saturday performance at Squires Student
Center at Virginia Tech. color.