Singing in Harmony

Harriett Davis loves to sing. She compares the feeling to the joy of eating her favorite dessert, crème brûlèe.

“Every time I had that, I felt like a different person,” she said. “It was wonderful. And so the music is like that. It’s almost a spiritual experience.”

But Davis has some obstacles to overcome. She is blind and wears a hearing aid. Before she lost her eyesight, she sang with the women’s chorus Sweet Adelines in Southern California for five years. As her vision started to fade, she could no longer see the chorus director and made a hard decision.

“Little by little, I realized that I didn’t belong there anymore,” she said.

That was more than 15 years ago, and with the love and support from her family, she is singing once again with Harmony4Women in Bend.

In its sixth year, Harmony4Women is an all-female a capella chorus with singers ranging in age from 11 to 90, from varying backgrounds and musical experiences.

Davis’ granddaughter, Sierra, accompanies her grandmother to weekly rehearsals, singing alongside her and gently rubbing her grandmother’s hand to signal the director’s changes.

It took some gentle persuasion to convince her grandmother that it’s OK to be blind and still be able to sing, said Sierra.

Harriett and Sierra Davis are two of the many women with inspiring stories that join each other on the risers and sing with passion, making Harmony4Women a unique and uplifting chorus.

Each September, any woman who loves to sing is invited to join. Led by musical director Connie Norman, the group attends a total of 11 rehearsals during an eight-week period.

Norman uses her professional skills, along with plenty of laughter and patience, to shape the chorus into a dazzling four-part harmony a cappella group. But this is no amateur hour.

During the group’s first rehearsal last month, the harmonic sound of more than 70 voices made some of the women feel as if they were floating.

“I have goose bumps from that chord!” exclaimed Norman.

Norman has been directing for more than 25 years. Her choruses have competed nationally and internationally.

“She really knows her stuff,” said Nancy Ueland, founder of Harmony4Women. “Connie can take this group from a cold start and teach them how to breathe, how to sing, and how to listen to harmony parts. She is a very talented teacher.”

The group’s hard work will culminate with a public performance Saturday, Nov. 22 at the Tower Theatre in Bend. Once the concert is over, the group disbands until the next fall.

The number four in the name represents both the four-part harmony and the four nonprofits that benefit from ticket sales, explained Linda Gardner, team leader for Harmony4Women.

The nonprofits include the American Association of University Women (AAUW) Bend Branch, Grandma’s House of Central Oregon, Soroptimist International of Bend, and the Bella A Cappella Harmony Chorus.

Grandma’s House is a nonprofit, faith-based home and outreach ministry that provides safe shelter to homeless, abused and pregnant teenage girls.

The AAUW, Bella A Cappella and Soroptimist International of Bend provide annual scholarships to women, as well as various outreach programs to the community throughout the year. AAUW scholarships are for women continuing their education. The average AAUW scholarship for one student ranges from $3,000 to $5,000. Bella A Capella is affiliated with the Sweet Adelines. The group offers scholarships to young female singers. Soroptimist International of Bend offers two scholarships a year — the Live Your Dream Award for a woman who is the primary financial support for her family, and the Violet Richardson Award, a scholarship for girls ages 14 to 17 who have dedicated time to volunteering in their community.

Harmony4Women receives grants and sponsorship from local businesses to help cover the cost of renting the practice hall and theater and printing flyers and posters.

When the chorus was formed in 2009, the original plan was to get women’s nonprofits together and make money for them and to help the groups work together, said Gardner.

“In terms of grants, that’s huge because a lot of grantors like to see groups working together for a mutual benefit,” she said, adding that the gist of it was to make it a fundraiser as well as a community service project.

Last year’s concert and silent auction raised $11,000. The goal is always to raise at least $5,000 for each nonprofit, said Gardner.

In addition to the friendships and singing, Harmony4Women is an eight-week music education course for the women that also builds community. At the initial singer sign up party in early fall, each member goes home with a specially created CD and sheet music that includes all the songs they will be learning.

“The CD has all the harmony parts so the singers can actually determine in the first few days which part fits their voice the best,” said Gardner. The CDs are created by the Central Oregon Showcase Chapter of Sweet Adelines.

Harmony4Women is open to anyone who can pretty much carry a tune, said Gardner. On average, at least 90 percent of the women have some singing experience, such as a church or high school choir.

“But it’s not like we’re all terribly accomplished or 100 percent music oriented,” said Gardner. “Many of the women haven’t sung in a choir since high school.”

The number of women in the chorus this year is around 75. The biggest group they’ve had is 80, and the smallest group was 65. The director’s goal is to have 100 women and teens on stage.

With so many inspiring stories among the singers past and present, it’s no surprise the idea for this chorus was born from a profound personal experience.

In 2003, Ueland was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. After undergoing chemotherapy, she went through several bouts of bone marrow failure four years later. It was during the second round of illness that Ueland says she had a near-death experience.

“I came very close to dying, and in one of those experiences, I was at the edge. But I kept hearing music behind me,” she said.

When she felt better, Ueland was determined to do something with the music she heard — a sound she describes as a deeply resonant a cappella chord.

“When I came out of that experience, the first thing I did was open my chorus book,” she said. “I sang every song for three hours. It was like this huge healing revelation.

“I had never been sick a day in my life. Then, turning on a spin, I became a patient. But in reality, those illnesses made me who I am. When you go through something like that and then come back, you can’t go back to the normal minutia of life. You’ve got a different viewpoint. Being sick brought out the best in me, brought out the person I am supposed to be. I am eternally grateful.”

Ueland knew she wanted to sing, work with the community somehow and help nonprofit groups. She was introduced to Gardner, who at that time was involved with the Women’s Resource Center and is a past president of the Bend AAUW, and also to Woody Medeiros, executive director of Grandma’s House.

A plan was set in the spring of 2009, and they managed to put together a concert the following November.

“The first time we experienced a concert it was thrilling when the curtain opened to the roar of the crowd,” said Ueland. “A stage full of women singing, it was really amazing.”