"The Sing-Off"
Sweet Adelines International’s
Renaissance Rhythm Chorus
Invites Singers To Visit Us At One Of Our Rehearsals!
Young ladies and women who have a sparked interest in the new television show, “The Sing-Off,” Renaissance Rhythm Chorus has a place on our risers waiting for you to Sing-Off. “The Sing-Off” is a four-night NBC series hosted by Nick Lachey that premiered on Dec. 14 and featured eight singing groups vying for an Epic Records/Sony Recording contract. The only instruments allowed were their own voices.
A contestant of “The Sing-Off”, MAXX Factor, has been competing among the best a cappella groups across the nation and the globe for nearly three years as a Sweet Adelines International quartet. As a member of Renaissance Rhythm Chorus you too can experience the exhilaration of performing and singing four-part a cappella style barbershop harmony. As a member of our chorus you become a member of Sweet Adelines International, a highly respected worldwide organization of women singers.
Women of all ages who enjoy singing are invited to attend the chorus’ weekly rehearsal on Monday Evenings at 7:30 PM. at First Reformed Presbyterian Church, 209 Darlington Road (Patterson Twp.) Beaver Falls, PA. Any woman of average singing ability, with or without vocal training, will find a part that fits her voice range with the help of the chorus’ musical leaders and director. Singing, performing and music education are only a portion of the benefits that members of Sweet Adelines International enjoy. More information on membership benefits is available on the Sweet Adelines International Web site at, http://www.sweetadelineintl.org/membership-benefits.cfm
To learn more about Sweet Adelines International and how to become a member of Renaissance Rhythm Chorus contact Dottie at dewakin@aol.com
About Sweet Adelines International
Sweet Adelines International is a musical force in the United States and throughout the world. This nonprofit music education association is headquartered in Tulsa, Okla., where it was founded in 1945. It is one of the world's largest singing organizations for women, committed to advancing the musical art form of barbershop harmony through education and performance. The membership encompasses nearly 25,000 singers, 1,200 registered quartets and 600 choruses in most of the fifty United States, Australia, Canada, England, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Scotland, Sweden, The Netherlands and Wales.
About NBC’s “The Sing-Off”
The Sing-Off” is produced by Joel Gallen's ("America's Best Dance Crew") Tenth Planet Productions, Outlaw Entertainment and Sony Pictures Television. Joel Gallen, Deb Newmyer and Sam Weisman are executive producers.
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Renaissance Rhythm Chorus
First Reformed Presbyterian Church
209 Darlington Road (Patterson Twp.)
Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania 15010
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Joyful music may promote heart health
Posted by NA Admin in November 16, 2008
Some say that laughter is the best medicine, and research seems to back this up - studies show that laughing has a positive effect on the cardiovascular system.As it turns out, Music might be an even better medicine than laughter.
Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore have conducted a study which concludes that listening to your favorite music may be good for your cardiovascular system: Music that causes you joy has a positive effect on blood vessel functions.
In the study, participants were allowed to select music, which made them feel good and brought them joy. Researchers found a healthy response that matches the response found by an earlier study on laugher. The music caused tissue in the inner lining of blood vessels to or expand which increased blood flow. Conversely, listening to music that was perceived as stressful caused their blood vessels to narrow, producing a potentially unhealthy response that reduces blood flow.
It’s what I’ve been saying all along: listening to good music gives you life, listening to bad music will kill you.
Compared to a control group, the average blood vessel diameter in the arm increased 26 percent after the joyful music phase, while listening to music that caused anxiety narrowed blood vessels by six percent.
“I was impressed with the highly significant differences both before and after listening to joyful music as well as between joyful and anxious music,” said principal investigator Michael Miller, M.D., director of preventive cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center.
During the 2005 phase of the study, a 19 percent increase in dilation was seens. The relaxation phase increased dilation by 11 percent on average; a number that the investigators determined was not statistically significant.
That physiological impact may also affect the activity of endorphins in the brain. “The emotional component may be an endorphin-mediated effect,” says Dr. Miller. “The active listening to music evokes such raw positive emotions likely in part due to the release of endorphins, part of that mind-heart connection that we yearn to learn so much more about. Needless to say, these results were music to my ears because they signal another preventive strategy that we may incorporate in our daily lives to promote heart health.”
The results were presented presented at the Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association on November 11, 2008, in New Orleans.
So there you have it. Next time you see someone clutching at their chest, forget the difibrulator & throw on some Jimi Hendrix.
Beaver County Times
May 12, 2000
By Sandra Fischione Donovan
Times Staff
Renaissance women are well versed in four-part harmony
It’s almost unheard of for a chorus that hasn’t yet received its charter from Sweet Adelines International to have an international show. Yet a Beaver County chorus, formed only last year, will do just that, in two performances Saturday in Chippewa Township.
Area residents will be able to hear the Renaissance Rhythm Chorus of Beaver Country and the award-winning North Metro Chorus of Toronto, Canada, at 2 and 8 p.m. in the Blackhawk High School auditorium.
Lorida Harvey of Chippewa Township, who founded the Renaissance Rhythm Chorus last year, said the group of 33 women still hasn’t received its charter from the Sweet Adelines International headquarters. The Tulsa, OK-based organization charters groups of women committed to advancing the musical art form of unaccompanied four-part barbershop harmony.
Harvey, who said she still has “vim and vinegar” at age 74, called the North Metro Chorus to see if the group would be available for the Beaver County group’s first big show. Because 2000 is not a competition year for the group, the Canadians were available and willing to come to Beaver County for the two shows.
Penn State-Beaver will house 100 of the Canadian singers, with members of the local group and their friends housing the other 50 or so women.
After the evening show, the Renaissance Rhythm Chorus will play host to the Canadian women and members of the public at an Afterglow event at the Monaca Turners in Center Township. Admission of $10 includes food and entertainment by the singers.
The North Metro Chorus is “the top chorus” internationally, said Carol Wright, 52, a Center Township resident and member of the Renaissance Rhythm Chorus. The Canadian group won first place for choruses in international Sweet Adelines competition last fall in Atlanta.
“Oh, they were marvelous,” said Gladys Stauffer, 60, or North Sewickley Township, who directs the Renaissance Rhythm Chorus.
Wright says people who see Saturday’s shows will think they are watching a Broadway production.
“They not only sing, they perform,” she said of the Canadian chorus.
So will the Beaver County women, Stauffer, a retired Riverside School District music teacher, said the local group is also working hard on choreography for three of their songs.
The theme of the show is “Harmonize the World,” and will feature the four-part harmonies for which barbershop quartets are famous.
“I don’t think there is a song that you can not put in four-part harmony,” Wright said.
The Guardian
August 26, 2008
By Alice Wignall
Guardian Staff
Keeping body and soul in tune
'The only thing better than singing is more singing," said Ella Fitzgerald. Perhaps such a statement is to be expected from a world-famous artist with an era-defining voice, but she wasn't the only one to wax lyrical on the benefits of a good vocal performance. "He who sings frightens away his ills," said Cervantes. Even John Harvey Kellogg - Mr Cornflakes himself - had this to add in 1931: "Singing promotes health, breathing, circulation and digestion"
Singing might be fun, might be joyful and uplifting, might inspire poetry and paeans. But could it actually be good for you? Oh yes. It seems that Kellogg was on to something.
Singing is also in fashion at the moment. BBC1's Last Choir Standing has taken it on to Saturday-night television, while this month the Sing The Nation project organised a programme of group singing events around the country that culminated in a nationwide singalong on August 24 to mark the Olympic handover from Beijing to London.
Last year, the government announced £40m of funding in the National Singing Programme to get every primary-school pupil singing regularly. And there are, apparently, now more choirs in this country than there are fish and chips shops.
But there is also an increasing interest in the physical, psychological and emotional benefits of singing. In December of this year, the charity Heart Research UK will run a Sing for Your Heart week to raise money and also to highlight the health benefits of singing. And in September the Sidney De Haan Research Centre for Arts and Health at Canterbury Christ Church University will host a conference to explore the role of music and singing in health, social care and community development.
The Sidney De Haan centre undertakes research and provides evidence to support their aim of getting the NHS to provide "singing on prescription". Professor Grenville Hancox, director of music at the university and co-director of the centre, says, "We are convinced that it is a powerful tool. Research we've just done involving international choirs and over 12,000 people identified several particular benefits of regular group singing, including specific examples of people who say it helped them recover from strokes or heart attacks."
The research available on singing identifies some key physical benefits. It exercises major muscle groups in the upper body. It is an aerobic activity that improves the efficiency of your cardiovascular system and encourages you to take more oxygen into your body, leading to increased alertness.
Aerobic activity is linked to stress reduction, longevity and better overall health. Improved airflow in the upper respiratory tract is likely to lessen the opportunity for bacteria to flourish there, countering the symptoms of colds and flu. Singing also aids the development of motor control and coordination, and recent studies have shown that it improves neurological functioning.
But the benefits of singing extend beyond the fizzing of synapses and the whizzing of oxygenated blood cells. "There is an increasing appreciation that the way people feel about themselves is going to have an impact on the budgets of the NHS," says Hancox.
"If people are content they are less likely to encounter physical problems." He points out that feeling better through song is not a new discovery. "There is evidence to suggest that in their infirmaries, monks used to sing to each other as part of the healing process. And other cultures use singing constantly as a means to live."
There is nothing like singing for generating that feelgood factor. "It's almost indescribable," says singer and singing coach Helen Astrid. "It's an incredible endorphin rush. You feel like you've got a spring in your step. You feel like you're being totally true to yourself. It is like making love in a way. You're using your whole body, everything is involved."
But as well as the sheer pleasure of opening your mouth and belting out a tune, there's also evidence to show that singing can have a tangible impact on your sense of wellbeing in a variety of ways. Professor Graham Welch, chairman of music education and head of the school of arts and humanities at the Institute of Education, University of London, says: "There is currently a lot of interest in wellbeing and social inclusion and an increasing interest in how music in various forms can support a sense of being part of society and increase your self-esteem. A great deal of research is being done into music and medicine and how music can ameliorate pain."
Indeed, research published in the Journal of Music Therapy in 2004 suggested that group singing helped people to cope better with chronic pain.
Colette Hiller, director of Sing The Nation, is convinced that singing with other people can help individuals connect to each other, and to their environment. "Think of a football stadium with everyone singing," she says. "There's an excitement, you feel part of it, singing bonds people and always has done. There's a goosebumpy feeling of connection." She cites some research in Italy that demonstrated a link between the vigour of local choirs and the level of civic engagement.
Nikki Slade, who runs chanting and voice-work classes for everyone from City bankers to addicts at The Priory, believes that the benefits of singing are linked to the primacy and power of the human voice - and our basic instinct to use it. "People are naturally free and expressive," she says, "but it's something that has been lost on a day-to-day basis."
You need only watch the evolving behaviour of your friends at a karaoke night - from shy microphone-refuseniks at the start of the night to stage-hogging stars by the end of it - to see that, basically, everybody wants to sing. Though some find it harder than others to take the first steps. Madeleine Lee, a singer/songwriter, singing coach and practitioner of "holistic song therapy" (which uses voice work to help individuals confront insecurities and explore their creativity), says she has worked with clients in their 80s, helping them to finally realise a lifelong urge to sing.
She says, "There is no such thing as not being able to sing. It's the most natural thing, but you can be so conscious of it.
It's a question of unprogramming all those voices that say, 'You can't do that' and 'You can't sing.'"
One of Lee's clients, Jo Finnigan, agrees that singing happily can have powerful implications for the rest of your life. "I could already sing," she says, "but Madeleine helped me not try so hard, to be able to sing effortlessly and openly. It felt much more a part of me and that carried into my life. I felt more confident about being myself."
But it's not only in the realm of holistic medicine and alternative healing that the basic power of singing is acknowledged.
"The point about singing is that it is something we all did when we were born, regardless of colour, creed or anything else," says Hancox. "All the billions of us on the planet sang and for the first nine months of our lives relied on the manipulation of our voice's pitch to meet our basic and fundamental needs."
Advocates of singing lament its diminishing role in our lives: from the days when we sang round the piano in the pub and to pass the working day, to soothe babies and to mark moments of celebration and sorrow. Singing is sacred and everyday, ritualistic and spontaneous. It makes us better, and makes us feel better. And we should all be doing more of it.
"Even if a person does it only once a month, it makes an extraordinary difference," says Hancox. "It's a staggering thing".
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