Harmony Falls looks to upcoming competition

Every Monday night at Trumansburg’s First Baptist Church, Harmony Falls, a women’s barbershop chorus, cheerfully rehearses. The whimsical and welcoming group has delighted audiences for over 30 years and is now preparing to compete at Harmony Inc.’s International Convention in Verona (harmonyinc.org/icc2022/). The competition will be held the first weekend of November.

The chorus, directed by Karen Trotter of Newfield, with Nancy Oliver of Trumansburg serving as assistant director, includes singers from all over the area. The barbershop chorus performs at various community events throughout the year, including Interlaken Olde Home Days, Juniper Manor and Trumansburg Winterfest.

Harmony Falls began in 1984 when a group of women who had previously sung barbershop decided to form a local chorus in Trumansburg.

Trotter, who began singing barbershop in Ithaca during graduate school, was a charter member of Cayuga Chimes, a 1978 chorus group. She quickly made friends with other singers and began attending educational weekends, harmony training programs and individual coaching to hone her craft. Trotter was then offered a position as director of a women’s chorus in Trumansburg in 1990, an opportunity she had to take.

“Harmony Falls welcomed me with open arms and were very patient with me as I learned the art of directing from the ground up,” Trotter said.

Despite her many years of experience, Trotter continues to attend weekend training programs, and Harmony Falls works with vocal and performance coaches from all over the country to fine-tune the chorus and quartets.

“We work very hard at our musical education in order to constantly improve our audiences’ experience,” Trotter said.

Every year, the chorus competes at the area level and, in recent years, at the international level. To compete at the international level, competitors must first achieve a qualifying score at an area contest, which Harmony Falls accomplished for the first time in 2015. Trotter recalls the experience fondly as she prepares for the next competition.

“It was probably the most exciting moment of my life,” Trotter said. “The chorus was so elated! The dedication of chorus members is amazing. This year is our first year back post-COVID, and we are super thrilled that it’s in Verona again Nov. 3 [through] 6. As for our feelings going into it — we are excited!”

N2Q and MetaFour, two quartets affiliated with Harmony Falls, will also compete at the international convention.

Harmony Falls is well known in the barbershop community for its comedy routines in addition to its singing. Trotter said that concentrating on making others laugh is a great way to alleviate performance anxiety.

“For contests, we usually sing parodies of well-known songs and do crazy stuff — and audiences love it,” Trotter said. “For example, this year, we have a Kentucky Derby theme and we are singing ‘Taking a Chance on Love,’ where Love is a racehorse that we are betting on. When your main goal is to make the audience laugh and enjoy themselves, it’s easy to avoid performance nerves.”

Aside from preparing for the upcoming competition, Trotter said Harmony Falls is looking ahead to 2023, when they hope to learn new music, organize a big show with guest performers and attract new voices.

“Our last major show was in 2019,” Trotter said. “We also would like to recruit more members, but especially tenors — that is the highest part in soprano range.”

During COVID-19’s challenges, the chorus group got creative, rehearsing via Zoom and meeting outside once the weather warmed up while masked and adequately distanced. Though the pandemic hampered Harmony Falls’ annual holiday concert, the singers banded together to create a virtual Christmas card. Each member recorded themselves singing a portion of the popular holiday song “Warm & Fuzzy” to spread some cheer.

“I put the tracks together, and the photos went into an accompanying slide show/video,” Trotter said. “We then shared the video link with friends and family. The chorus actually learned two new songs during that year — what we call our COVID anthem, ‘That’s Life,’ and ‘Sweet Caroline,’ our post-COVID anthem.”

The pandemic tested the group’s ability to collaborate in novel ways, and Trotter was pleased with the results.

“Working with a singing ensemble by Zoom is a real exercise in trust,” Trotter said. “You have to trust your members to be truly engaged — and Harmony Falls members came through with flying colors. We essentially learned ‘That’s Life’ entirely by Zoom, and when we finally gathered in person, they were able to sing through it quite well — which is harder than you might think when it’s four-part a cappella harmony.”

Rehearsing via Zoom also brought about some laughs for the singers during the challenging time.

“In case you’re wondering about what it sounds like if everyone is off mute and we all sing at the same time, … we would do that to sing Happy Birthday for our members — and it sounds like geese in a blender!” Trotter joked.

Trotter encourages others to join, pointing out that an audition isn’t required to become a member of Harmony Falls and that the group is patient and helpful. A perfect time to try out the chorus is for the holiday season, as most people are familiar with the seasonal songs.

“You can’t expect to sound like Adele straight out of the gate,” Trotter said. “It takes practice and a certain amount of review if you haven’t sung for years. The chorus is patient, kind, caring and helpful, and we’re willing to work with anyone who may be having trouble at first.”

Besides being fulfilled with singing and entertaining, Harmony Falls brings a deep sense of connection among the members.

“We are a community with shared goals (great singing and personal improvement) and shared love for each other,” Trotter said.

As the holiday season approaches, Harmony Falls is preparing for some upcoming performances. On Dec. 3, the group will perform at the Trumansburg Winterfest at the Ulysses Historical Society at 1:30 p.m. and then at the Ovid tree-lighting ceremony at 3:30 p.m.

Harmony Falls will also host its annual holiday concert at the First Baptist Church on Dec. 19 at 7 p.m. Admission will be free, and the group hopes to hold a reception with refreshments after the performance.

Learn more about Harmony Falls at harmonyfallschorus.com.

Trumansburg Connection appears every Wednesday in Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to editorial@VizellaMedia.com.