The all-female Crescent City Sound Chorus recently won the title as the top small chorus in the Gulf Coast Region of Sweet Adelines International, but that’s not the best part of this musical story: It also scored high enough to qualify for the annual Harmony Classic, where it will face off with four other groups for the international title in its division.
Its four competitors in the 2025 Harmony Classic, which will be held this spring in Columbus, Ohio, are from the United States, Canada and England.
“We have won the regional title several times before, but didn’t score high enough to make it to the Harmony Classic, so it’s a big deal for us. We’re very excited,” said Jill Harsch, a chorus member and its marketing coordinator.
Sweet Adelines International is one of the largest singing associations for women who harmonize in the barbershop style with more than 23,000 members in chapters around the world. There are 24 regions around the globe.
Director Mary Beth McMurray, second from left, with assistants Donna Oliver, left, Emily Lapouble and Jeannine Thibodaux.
More than just singing
The local chorus has 25 members who come from as far away as Galliano and the north shore for three hours of practice every Monday night and an all-day practice that breaks only for lunch one Saturday a month.
Director Mary Beth McMurray describes their art as a cappella musical theater and she says everyone puts their heart into their performances.
“These ladies get after it,” McMurray said. “We feed off of each other’s energy.”
McMurray explained that once they are onstage at the world championship, they will have only six minutes to impress the judges, who score each routine based on music, sound, expression and visual communications.
For the regional competition last March in Houston, the singers were all dressed as various incarnations of Barbie. Their song choices, “On a Wonderful Day Like Today” and “If I Ruled the World,” fit the upbeat theme of empowerment, and there was some choreography.
For the Harmony Classic, chorus members will get to add dialogue, said Harsch. “We’ll expand to an entire skit with more staging. Each chorus designs its own package. … We will have people playing parts of characters. We write our own skit, and have to use music to match what we’re trying to say.”
“There’s quite an expansive rulebook, and it’s a nice study on how to actually touch your audience with your performance,” McMurray said. “We follow the rules closely because we have to meet and exceed the requirements of each category.”
From far and wide
McMurray has been directing the chorus since 2012, although she currently lives 600 miles away in Fort Smith, Arkansas. She connects every Monday via Skype to give directions and lay out lessons, and she has several assistants who make it easier to direct from afar.
McMurray comes to every Saturday practice to connect with singers and make sure the group is headed in the right direction.
The chorus gathers with the trophy after the regional contest in Houston.
Member Jeannine Thibodaux said she was hooked from the very first meeting she attended many years ago. She has sung with Sweet Adeline groups for 43 years, including chapters in Houma and Baton Rouge before moving to New Orleans in 2004.
She still has friends in the Baton Rouge group because Sweet Adelines is a friendly competition, she added, where the clubs help each other and everybody roots for everybody.
Educators come from other choruses to help members of the local chorus improve their voices.
Sue Galliano drives in from Cut Off for practices on Mondays and Saturdays, as she has done since the 1970s, and she describes the group as a fellowship with many long-standing friendships that go way beyond singing.
“We’re a small chorus, and we write shows and do the whole thing ourselves, so we get to know everyone very well and there’s a lot of camaraderie,” Galliano said.
She particularly enjoys the creative aspect of being in the group.
“Our chorus just loves to do costuming since we’re all essentially from New Orleans,” said Galliano, who describes herself as a nice grandmother with a good voice and a closet full of costumes. “Last year … everybody got to be the Barbie of their choice.”
Galliano said the chorus is always open to new members, and the only requirement is that “you can carry a tune.”
Voice lessons are a big part of every practice, and it’s easy to learn by listening.
CCSC is also one of the few opportunities to sing with others, Galliano said.
“In the New Orleans area, where do you go to sing? You can sing in a bar or at a funeral, and there’s not much else out there, particularly if you’re older,” she said. “This is a fantastic outlet for people who like to sing and don’t have a dedicated place to do it.
“The nice thing is that we don’t have to drag any instruments with us. We just show up with a pitch pipe and sing.”
As the director of the group, McMurray says she’s always thinking about what they can do to up their game.
“We want to make our music something to remember,” McMurray said. “How do we touch the audience, how do we touch their heart, how do we move people at the core of their being? That’s what we’re trying to do.”
This year’s annual convention and Harmony Classic competition will be held on Oct. 20-25. The Crescent City Sound Chorus will compete on Oct. 25. It’s currently looking to expand membership and seeking sponsors to support its efforts.
Visit www.crescentcitysoundchorus.com for more information, and see the recent competition video here.
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