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Master Director, Chris Ferguson
displalying the 2nd place award certificate.

Royal River Chorus earns Wildcard spot at International Competition!

Royal River has just returned from their annual North Atlantic Region One contest with RED ribbons proudly displayed on their chests. After many hours of rehearsals and coaching sessions, the chorus received their highest score ever of 646 points, earning them 2nd place medals and lots of wild excietment in the audience. This is the first time Royal River has ever scored the much coveted overall score of A- from the judges, and the members couldn't be more ecstatic! The score they received is the 13th best score of all the 400 choruses who competed in regional competitions and was high enough to earn them a wildcard spot at International Competition in Nashville in 2009. The winning songs: "How Many Hearts Have You Broken" and "How Deep is the Ocean."

As one observer noted:

When we talk about performances that actually blow our hair back and put us into another sphere - this was it. I was totally blown away. I knew something was different when I heard you in rehearsal earlier in the afternoon, but on stage you went beyond that. People just jumped to their feet. There was nothing polite about the applause - it came from the heart. Truthfully I am so glad I got to have that experience. It was one of the most incredible barbershop moments ever for me. So thank you all for giving every bit of yourselves and letting it all go. You should be very proud!!!!!
Marina Singer

Celebrate! Wins Top Award

A huge congratulations also for the new North Atlantic Region One quartet champions, Royal River's very own Celebrate! (Lisa Rideout, Chris Ferguson, Deb Richard, Wendi McPike). Celebrate! wowed the judges and audience alike with their powerful, smooth, resonant sound and professional showmanship on the uptune, "LuLu's Back in Town." Then they stole their hearts and took their breath away on their ballad. Royal River is SO proud to be associated with such a class act! Celebrate! will be representing Atlantic Region One at the international contest to be held in Honolulu in November, 2008.

Royal River is also VERY proud of the other 4 quartets who competed in Springfield:

Daybreak
Flashpoint
Better Together
Relative Ring (our brand new quartet)

Celebrate07Small.jpg (19809 bytes)

Celebrate!

All the quartets did an amazing job! This was Relative Ring's first competition and they looked like pros. As usual, Flashpoint! gave everyone a laugh with their comedy routine and hilarious costumes. Daybreak impressed the audience with their big sound and expression. Better Together had such a nice blended sound and emotional ballad. As usual, ALL the quartets did Royal River proud!!!

With the able leadership of Linda Colwell, Norma Marks, and Leigh Kirchner, Royal River put together a team to walk at the Falmouth Relay for Life to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Royal River has believed in and enjoyed this event for many years now.

Singers from the chorus kicked off the event with the National Anthem, then 2 of our members and a husband of one of our members took part in the Survivor's Lap, always a stirring and emotional time. Several members and family joined the team to make sure someone from royal River was on the track at all times between 6 pm and 8 am. Other chorus members donated money to the team and bought luminaries in honor of someone who is struggling with cancer or who has died from cancer. The Team is proud to announce that they raised over $2,000 for the cause and can't wait to do it again next year!

Royal River Chorus presents a $500 scholarship annually to a graduating senior at Yarmouth High School who has been active in the music and/or musical theater program for whom music will be part of his or her future studies at the University level. This year was different in that the chorus Board decided to have an application process for eligible students in order to make this decision. The process allowed the board to know a lot more about the students through a page long essay and an enclosed reference.

This year's award winner is Alex King. Alex has played the saxophone for 11 years, plays the piano as well and recently picked up the clarinet and flute. He has been actively involved during his years at Yarmouth High in their music program, and for the past couple of years he's been admitted into the All- State Band and Jazz Band. In addition, this past year Alex played lead alto in the Bowdoin College Jazz Band. He performed recently at the Merrill Auditorium with the Portland Youth Ensemble and Symphony Orchestra as first alto in the wind ensemble and solo tenor in the Symphony. He also finds time in his busy schedule to teach music lessons to a fifth and eighth grader in Yarmouth.

Dr. Tim O'Dell, USM/School of Music faculty & Recording artist for Southport Records (Chicago) writes... "Alex possesses profound musical talent and a very quick understanding of virtually any topic that I have presented and combines that talent with intellectual giftedness and serious, consistent hard work... as his resume will attest, Mr. King has become one of an elite few, superb high school musicians in New England."

Alex will be continuing his studies at The Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins this fall where he has been granted a double major in both jazz and classical saxophone performance!

After searching for several months for a new place to rehearse, Royal River has found a new home. Beginning in June, rehearsals moved to the Elks Lodge at 1945 Congress Street in Portland.

The Elks is a fraternal organization for men which has graciously allowed the chorus to rent its hall on Thursday nights. They have also allowed them to use some of their storage space. Now the chorus has a place to spread out, with extra rooms for section rehearsals and costume measuring. There is also plenty of parking. Best of all, the acoustics allow the director to hear if the synchronization is what it should be... an important requirement when getting ready for competition. Royal River Chorus would like to thank the members of the Elks for making this hall available to us. Although Portland is the current place for rehearsals, Yarmouth is where Royal River chartered 22 years ago and will always be the hometown of the chorus.

For the 5th year in a row, Royal River quartets delivered Singing Valentines on Valentines Day to people from Southern and Midcoast Maine. Five quartets sang to loved ones in various places such as homes, libraries, newspaper publishers, law offices, various businesses, elderly housing, hospitals, restaurants, and hotels. Earning approximately $1,400 for the chorus, the quartets had a wonderful day, and the recipients were surpised and very touched by the thoughtfulness of their loved ones. Click here to see photos that were taken on Valentines Day.

Rainbow Records Talent Search
Royal River's Kirsten Russell Wins Best High School Solo Artist

Reindeer Records held a talent search for the best high school solo artists in the state of Maine. Royal River's own Kirsten Russell competed for the prestigious title and $250 in cash, plus a Live Concert/Mobile Recording Package. Kirsten is a talented singer/songwriter with a beautiful pure voice who also plays the piano and guitar.

The preliminary competitions took place on January 6th and January 13th at McAuley High School in Portland. Kirsten received enough votes to compete in the finals on February 10th. During the finals Kirsten sang her heart out. Her voice was pure, angelic, and full of emotion. During her last number she had a perfomance that every performer dreams of and she won the contest.

Here's what the producer of the show had to say about Kirsten's performance:

KirstenR2.jpg (7478 bytes) "She prefaced her last song by explaining that it was about a close friend of hers that had died recently. And with that she began her set.

Never. EVER. Have I ever seen such emotion, passion, and otherwordly drive put into a single song. Nine Inch Nails, Green Day, Baptist Ministers back home in Louisiana, Sparks The Rescue, my band, NOTHING compares to her last song. And with this one song, Kirsten Doris Russell took an entire audience of 150+ people, a large portion of which had never met her before in her life, and reduced the crowd to tears.

She received a standing ovation, because that song wasn't just about the loss that she had with her best friend. It was about the loss that ANYONE suffers when they lose something that precious to them, and she conveyed it with every fiber of being. She shook the entire audience to the core.

After I presented her with her award I went backstage and came close to tears myself, because in listening to her song I was reminded about every friend that I had ever lost to anything.

Distance.
Drinking.
AIDS.
Drugs.
Suicide.
Love.

Everything.

2 of the other Finalists found me back stage, and the three of us just kind of held each other for a little while crying. We weren't just 2 competitors who had just lost in a music competition, and the event coordinator. We were three human beings reduced to tears just like everyone else in that room clinging to each other for support from 2 complete strangers.

Kirsten Doris Russell, you have reminded every single person in that room tonight what it's like to miss something that they love, and that we're all in this together. That we all lose something at some point, and that at the end of the day we all need each other to get through it."

Once a year, Royal River Chorus holds a "Divas Wanted" program for any woman interested in learning to sing better. The chorus offers 4 weeks of group singing lessons with Master Director, Chris Ferguson. Here, participants work on posture, breath support, vocal range and flexibility. Each 1-hour session focuses on a specific skill, and those skills are put to use learning a song in Royal River's repertoire. In addition to this training, the class is introduced to the fundamentals of acappella singing in the barbershop sytele. After each lesson, all singers are welcome to stay and rehearse with the chorus. No prior experience is necessary and you do not need to be able to read music.

This year we had an enthusiastic, talented group of women who really enjoyed their lessons, the music, and the camraderie. Some of the people learned about the program from an article in the newspaper. One of the ladies came all the way from France to learn what barbershop music was all about! (She is an exchange teacher in Portland for the year). There were also mothers, daughters, sisters, and friends of current members. Some of these women are looking forward to joining Royal River; the others are undoubtedly going to spread the word about the wonderful world of Sweet Adelines International!

If you would like to learn more about women's barbershop music and you missed the Diva program, have no fear! You can still visit any of Royal River's rehearsals and learn from Master Director Chris Ferguson every week. And you can also join next year's Diva program.

2007 Diva Graduates
Front Row: Director-Christine Ferguson, Kate Phillips, Meg Distini, Sheryll Hanson.
2nd Row: Judy Hawkes, Christine Daventry, Mary Brooks, Jan Caron, Lauriejane Kelley, Jessica Morrison
Missing: Kim Fox, Gail Johnson, Emily Leonard, Jessica Morrison, Linda Woodbury

Royal River has just lowered the price of their latest CD, Royal River Chorus - Live! This is Royal River's fourth CD, but it is the first time they have produced a live recording. The songs were recorded in October 2006 during their annual show, "Runnin' Wild and Feelin' Groovy."

The CD uses its title songs and other themed music to contrast today's life in the fast lane with the laid back vibe of the sixties. Favorite songs of the era are sung by the chorus and by 3 of its quartets. In addition a couple numbers are sung by the Young Women in Harmony chorus, a group of 48 girls (age 7-23) who spent six hours on the day of the show rehearsing for their moment in the spotlight. Two bonus tracks are also on the CD - Royal River's 2007 Competition songs recorded live during their contest in Springfield, Massachussetts.


Survivors, Laurie Sweetman & Linda Colwell	Survivor, Judy Hawkes