Northwest Sound Men's Chorus Gears Up for Holiday

Teaching Eastside men to sing in a capella harmony is one way that the Northwest Sound Chorus is giving back to the community.

Just in time for the upcoming holiday show "," the Northwest Sound Men's Chorus expanded its by training 30 men in a cappella harmony as part of the chorus' public outreach program. The chorus on Wednesday concluded the six weeks of free singing classes, held at First United Methodist Church in Bellevue.

"We seek grants, so we give back," said the president of the chorus, John Ludeman.

The free "Sing! Sing! Sing!" classes also serve to raise awareness of the men's chorus, a non-profit that faces an uphill battle for funding, he added.

The Northwest Sound Men's Chorus is a competitive chorus that was chartered by the Barbershop Harmony Society in 1985. The group competes against choruses with much larger budgets, Ludeman says. 

Despite its non-profut status, the group is heading in July to Missouri, where it has received a top-20 seed for a national competition. 

Offering singers the chance to take the free classes helps bring in a fresh supply of voices, and gives people who are interested some training before they try out.

"People can audition with the songs they learned," Ludeman said. "It's a nice way to try it out."

"We do have a standard, because we're a competitive chorus, but we want to be as inclusive as possible," he said.

Even men who have had a lot of previous choir experience benefit from the classes, Ludeman said.

"Our goal is to teach a cappella harmony," he said.

Don Rose, the chorus' creative director, and vocal professional Nikki Blackmer of A Cappella Joy run the classes. About 20 percent of the participants in last year's class tried out for the chorus, Lundeman said. Some of those singers won spots with the group.

The 30 new singers will make for an impressively sized chorus, which usually has about 35 active regular members. The Dec. 11 holiday show is joint production of Northwest Sound and women's group A Capella Joy. Performances are at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. at  in Bellevue.

Much of the music at the show will be in the barbershop harmony style, as several quartets are part of the show.

Songs include "Go Tell It On the Mountain," "Silent Night" and "Lo How a Rose E'er Blooming."