Diablo Vista Chorus

Last updated
Diablo Vista Chorus
Choir
Origin Walnut Creek, California, USA
Founded1966
Genre a cappella
DirectorCaitlin Castelino
Affiliation Sweet Adelines International
Website diablovistachorus.com

Diablo Vista Chorus (DVC) is an amateur women's a cappella singing group, based in the "East Bay" of the San Francisco Bay area. DVC is a chapter of Sweet Adelines International, the world's largest singing organization for women, with over 21,000 members worldwide. DVC primarily performs four-part-harmony works, often in what is traditionally called "barbershop" style.

Contents

History

Founded in 1966, DVC averaged 35–45 members throughout the 1990s and 2000s. As of 2019, the chorus has about 70 members.

DVC is directed by Caitlin Castelino, a member of the 2014 international champion quartet LoveNotes [1] and thus a Queen of Harmony".

Competitions

The chorus competes each year at the "regional" level of Sweet Adelines. SAI Region 12, Pacific Shores Region, [2] covers northern California, northern Nevada, and southern Oregon. [3] Regional competition is limited to songs in the barbershop style.

Sweet Adelines choruses that score high enough in their region qualify for international competition in the following year. Thus a spring 2022 regional win earns an autumn 2023 international appearance. (Quartets go to international in the same year as their regional competition.)

International Competition 2019

At the regional competition in 2018, [4] DVC finished first as a "midsize" chorus (the AA division) and third overall, and they scored high enough to qualify for Sweet Adelines' international competition in that division.

As a result, in September 2019, DVC went to New Orleans for the 73rd SAI convention, and there won the Harmony Classic competition [5] [6] for their division.

International Competition 2023

Due to covid-19 concerns, Region 12's 2022 competition was conducted through video performances by the choruses and quartets at several designated filming locations. [7] Diablo Vista finished first overall out of nine competing choruses, thereby qualifying for international competition. [8]

As a result, in October/November 2023, DVC went to Louisville, Kentucky, for the 75th SAI convention. This was the first time DVC had ever finished first in region and first time they had qualified for international in the top division. [9]

On 1 November 2023, DVC finished in the top ten in the chorus semi-finals (out of 33 competing choruses), qualifying for the finals two days later. DVC then scored 8th in the chorus finals. [10]

Performances

DVC produces their own shows, [11] at least annually, where the chorus can perform a wider range of styles including pop, show tunes, jazz, and even country. These shows often include guest acts such as a cappella quartets.

The chorus has sung the national anthem at an Oakland A's game annually for several years. [12] Chorus members often sing at local events such as festivals, holiday parties, and senior facilities.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbershop quartet</span> A cappella close harmony singing group

A barbershop quartet is a group of four singers who sing music in the barbershop style, characterized by four-part harmony without instrumental accompaniment, or a cappella. The four voices are: the lead, the vocal part which typically carries the melody; a bass, the part which provides the bass line to the melody; a tenor, the part which harmonizes above the lead; and a baritone, the part that frequently completes the chord. The baritone normally sings just below the lead singer, sometimes just above as the harmony requires. Barbershop music is typified by close harmony— the upper three voices generally remain within one octave of each other.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbershop Harmony Society</span> Barbershop music promotional organization

The Barbershop Harmony Society, legally and historically named the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America, Inc. (SPEBSQSA), is the first of several organizations to promote and preserve barbershop music as an art form. Founded by Owen C. Cash and Rupert I. Hall in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1938, the organization quickly grew, promoting barbershop harmony among men of all ages. As of 2014, just under 23,000 men in the United States and Canada were members of this organization whose focus is on a cappella music. The international headquarters was in Kenosha, Wisconsin for fifty years before moving to Nashville, Tennessee in 2007. In June 2018, the society announced it would allow women to join as full members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbershop music</span> Type of vocal harmony

Barbershop vocal harmony, as codified during the barbershop revival era (1930s–present), is a style of a cappella close harmony, or unaccompanied vocal music, characterized by consonant four-part chords for every melody note in a primarily homorhythmic texture. Each of the four parts has its own role: generally, the lead sings the melody, the tenor harmonizes above the melody, the bass sings the lowest harmonizing notes, and the baritone completes the chord, usually below the lead. The melody is not usually sung by the tenor or baritone, except for an infrequent note or two to avoid awkward voice leading, in tags or codas, or when some appropriate embellishment can be created. One characteristic feature of barbershop harmony is the use of what is known as "snakes" and "swipes". This is when a chord is altered by a change in one or more non-melodic voices. Occasional passages may be sung by fewer than four voice parts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sweet Adelines International</span> Womens barbershop singing organization

Sweet Adelines International is a worldwide organization of women singers, established in 1945, committed to advancing the musical art form of barbershop harmony through education and performances. This independent, nonprofit music education association is one of the world's largest singing organizations for women. "Harmonize the World" is the organization's motto. It has a current membership of 23,000 and holds an annual international singing competition.

Gotcha! is an American barbershop quartet formed in 1996 by four members of the Masters of Harmony chorus.

The Rich-Tone Chorus is an all-female, barbershop chorus, located in northern Texas in the United States. The group was founded in 1968 in the city of Richardson. The musical director is Dale Syverson.

Pacific Coast Harmony (PCH) is the San Diego, California, chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society. The mixed-gender chorus sings in the a cappella style known as barbershop music. In its origin, PCH was an all-male chorus, placed 19th overall at the chorus competition at the Society's international convention in Indianapolis in 2006, and placed 22nd in Portland in 2012 and Las Vegas in 2017. In 2019, Pacific Coast Harmony converted to mixed-gender membership, and is currently directed by Sweet Adelines member Bonnie McKibben.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metro Nashville Chorus</span> American all-female a cappella chorus

Metro Nashville Chorus is a women's a cappella chorus located in Nashville, Tennessee in the United States. The group was founded in 1971 and currently has approximately 50 members. The chorus is led by Master Director Kim Wonders, a chorus member since 1979 and director since 1988.

The Pride of Baltimore Chorus was an all-female, a cappella chorus based in metropolitan Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in the early 1990s, the chorus once boasted over 110 members hailing from 5 different states: Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. They were a chapter of Sweet Adelines International, the world's largest women's singing organization.

The Melodeers are an all-female, a cappella barbershop harmony chorus based in the metropolitan Chicago area.

Martini is the barbershop quartet that won the Sweet Adelines International Quartet Championship for 2012 on October 21, 2011, in Houston, Texas. SAI, "one of the world's largest singing organizations for women", has members over five continents who belong to more than 1200 quartets.

Tim Waurick is a barbershop tenor singer, and coach for various barbershop choruses and quartets. Waurick creates learning tracks – recordings in which one part is dominant and the others are sung softly in the background – for the Barbershop Harmony Society, Sweet Adelines International, and various other quartets and choruses around the world. His learning track company is named TimTracks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sweet Adelines International competition</span> Annual womens barbershop singing competition

The Sweet Adelines International Competitions are the annual global championships for women's barbershop harmony a cappella singing – in quartets and choruses – for members of Sweet Adelines International (SAI) and have been held annually between September and November since 1947. They are now the largest women's singing competition in the world with over 8000 participants at the 2014 convention. There are two competitions for choruses, and two competitions for quartets. Currently, the first three of these competitions are held together and form the Sweet Adelines International Convention. Over the course of competition history, the most successful chorus has been Melodeers Chorus from Chicago with seven championship titles, and the most successful quartet singer was Connie Noble who won with four separate quartets. Lustre Quartet from Baltimore holds the record for highest quartet score, and Rönninge Show Chorus from Stockholm for highest ever chorus score.

The results of the Sweet Adelines International competition for choruses in 2010–2019 are as follows.

The results of the Sweet Adelines International competition for quartets in the years 2010–2019 are as follows.

The results of the Sweet Adelines International competition for choruses in the years 2000–2009 are as follows.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sweet Adelines International Harmony Classic competitions</span>

Harmony Classic is a women's barbershop competition for small and mid-sized choruses run by Sweet Adelines International as part of the organisation's annual convention since 2010. The results of the competition are as follows. For a full explanation of the scoring system, qualification process, awards and records, see Sweet Adelines International competition.

Toast of Tampa Show Chorus is an a cappella, female-only chorus, composed of 100 women singers of all ages. The non-profit group, a chapter of Sweet Adelines International, competes and performs around the world, and is considered locally to be among the best barbershop music choruses in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harmony, Incorporated</span> Womens barbershop singing organization

Harmony, Incorporated, is an international organization of women singers whose purpose is to empower all women through education, friendship and singing. Founded by 1959 by Peggy Rigby, Charlotte Sneddon, Mary Avis Hedges, Jeanne Maino and Mary Perry in Providence, Rhode Island, the organization currently has just under 2000 members in the United States and Canada and is closely affiliated with the Barbershop Harmony Society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Finest Hour (quartet)</span> 2016 British Association of Barbershop Singers Quartet Champions

Finest Hour is the 2017 European barbershop quartet champion. The quartet also won the 2016 British barbershop quartet championship in Harrogate in May 2016. Finest Hour went to Las Vegas for the international competition in 2017, placing 28th in the world. Since then, their qualifying score of 83%, the UK record for a male quartet, scored in May 2018 in Harrogate, qualified them again to represent the British Association of Barbershop Singers (BABS) at the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS)'s 2019 international competition held in Salt Lake City, where they placed 22nd.

References

  1. ↑ "LoveNotes Quartet - 2014 International Quartet Champions - Home". LoveNotes Quartet. 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  2. ↑ "Sweet Adelines Region 12". Sweet Adelines Region 12. 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  3. ↑ "Regional Boundaries Map March 2014" (PDF). Sweet Adelines International. 2014. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  4. ↑ "Tabulations_Reg2018" (PDF). Sweet Adelines Region 12. 5 May 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  5. ↑ "Harmony Classic Div AA 2019 Results Final" (PDF). Sweet Adelines International. 18 September 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  6. ↑ "Diablo Vista Chorus, Harmony Classic Div AA, 2019 - YouTube". YouTube. Sweet Adelines International. 17 September 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  7. ↑ "Sweet Adelines Region 12 Convention" . Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  8. ↑ "Chorus Results Report: Region #12 Chorus VIDEO Contest - May 21, 2022" (PDF). Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  9. ↑ "In Brief: Diablo Vista Chorus places eighth in international contest". East Bay Times. 11 November 2023. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  10. ↑ "2023 International Chorus Finals - Louisville, Kentucky - by Placement" (PDF). Sweet Adelines International. 4 November 2023. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  11. ↑ "Diablo Vista Chorus concert April 27". Martinez News-Gazette. April 14, 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  12. ↑ "2015 National Anthem - YouTube". YouTube.com. Diablo Vista Chorus. 23 July 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
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