Wednesday evenings are a big deal for the ladies of the Heart of New Jersey Chorus.
They get together, forget about the stressors of the week and sing.
For KellyAnne DiBello, it’s a reset as she manages the chaos of mom life of two.
“It’s meditative,” she said on spending one night a week just focusing on the music and singing. “I find that I’m a better mom. You have to take care of yourself and everyone’s happier.”
For some others, it provides a relief.
“We have people going through chemo and this is their relief,” Chorus director Jeanne Elmuccio said. “Or they have a parent who is ill … one young lady is pregnant with her first child and very excited. Last year she said, ‘My husband always knows when it’s Wednesday night’ because she can’t stop smiling.”
Elmuccio has led the chorus since 2015. She is the third director for the Heart of New Jersey Chorus, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.
The oldest member is 75 and the youngest is 27. Every Wednesday, the ladies travel from all over the state and Staten Island, N.Y. to meet up and rehearse at the Millstone Township Primary School.
The Heart of New Jersey Chorus is part of the region 15 chapter of the Sweet Adelines International organization.
“It covers the greater New York area, most of New Jersey and Long Island,” Elmuccio said, noting they picked up a number of members a distance away through the pandemic. “We are one of many choruses and considered a small size chorus with just about under 30 members.”
Sweet Adelines is “one of those organizations where instead of people coming and going, they tend to stay with it, build friendships and support each other,” said Elmuccio, who has been part of the Sweet Adelines organization for 25 years.
She had left the chorus to pursue other musical endeavors but came back after missing it.
Sweet Adelines was founded in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1945 and started as a small group of women who loved to sing. Since then, it has evolved into an organization that spans the globe connecting thousands of singers around the world in song.
“We’re dedicated to preserving the unique sound of a cappella barbershop harmony, sharing our passion for music and empowering our community in every area of their lives,” according to its website.
Along with celebrating a milestone of 30 years, the Heart of New Jersey Chorus is also celebrating two goals they met this year.
“This year we got most improved [at our annual regional competition], we are very excited about that,” Elmuccio said. “It’s a goal that sort of levels the field because there are choruses that go to the international competitions. So we used to get discouraged because how do you compete with that?
“With most improved, everybody has a shot.”
The other goal was to reach a score of over 500.
“That makes me a Harmony 500 director,” Elmuccio explained. “It puts them [the chorus] in a different category. It bumps you up in levels.”
The Heart of New Jersey Chorus is a not-for-profit organization that sings in a four-part harmony – barbershop style.
A normal choir has four parts – soprano, alto, tenor, and bass.
The voice parts in barbershop style are named after the men’s parts. The highest voice is called a tenor – equivalent to a soprano; next is lead, which is the alto part – lead has the melody; then it’s baritone and bass.
“One characteristic [of the style] is the melody is in the middle with harmonies below and above,” explained Elmuccio.
Another characteristic – “we memorize everything.”
“It’s all about telling the story about the song,” Elmuccio said. “We try to connect with the audience. It’s a characteristic of what we do. We are not our mother’s barbershop years ago.
“We are more modern, contemporary … it attracts the younger crowd, which is what we want.”
Every spring, dozens of choruses compete. There is a quartet competition as well. The Heart of New Jersey Chorus also performs an annual show in December every year. This year’s performance is scheduled for Dec. 7 with a snow date of Dec. 8 at the Millstone school.
It will be the chorus’ anniversary celebration and holiday show.
“Last year we had TCNJ’s (The College of New Jersey) A Capella group come as a guest,” Elmuccio said. “We try to invite guests, a variety … it’s been great.”
Sprinkled throughout the year are performances throughout the region from retirement communities to street fairs. Sometimes it’s with the whole chorus and/or with a smaller group. The chorus receives a grant from the Monmouth County Arts Council, adds Elmuccio.
Currently, the chorus is learning several new songs in preparation for the December show.
“I like to try to find new songs, new arrangements,” Elmuccio said.
Some in the works include “Cups” from Pitch Perfect; “Seasons of Love” from Rent; “Sing, Sing, Sing,” as well as Serena Ryder for more contemporary work.
“We haven’t hit Meghan Trainor yet,” Elmuccio said with a smile. “We do some traditional barbershop then more contemporary to mix it up.”
As part of the 30th anniversary, members shared how they became part of the Heart of New Jersey Chorus.
DiBello, of Brick, has been singing her whole life
“Once you graduate from college and are done with school, now what?,” she said. “You kind of fall off of your hobbies.”
DiBello had her first daughter during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We were in isolation and I just felt that I missed that part of myself,” she explained of her passion for singing.
That’s when she Googled “women singing groups near me.”
Fast forward, she found a Sweet Adeline chorus in Princeton and moved to the one in Millstone to be closer to home.
“It’s a very different type of singing,” said DiBello, who is used to singing in a church like setting. “This was nothing I expected.”
DiBello is also part of a quartet in the chorus named Hearts and Harmony and is part of a quartet named Amethyst for another organization.
Lois Taylor, of Lebanon, likes singing. That is why she is part of Heart of New Jersey Chorus.
“I was always in church choirs,” she said, noting she saw the chorus advertised in her local newspaper.
After being part of several choirs, she became part of Heart of New Jersey Chorus.
Taylor, who has known Elmuccio for 30 years, said the songs are easy to learn. One doesn’t even need to know how to read music, she said.
“One of things people are probably nervous about is you have to memorize everything, but they do give you great tools to help you learn the music,” she said. “You can just follow along with the tape, that’s how I learned. I just listen to the tape over and over.”
Karen Urban-Grande, of Manalapan, joined the chorus in 1996 when her kids were toddlers.
“I was bored so I figured let’s look at the newspaper,” she recalled. “Back in the day, there was not much internet, and I came … I never left.”
Urban-Grande said the challenge of the music has kept her in all these years. She is one of the only original members from the initial chorus.
“The chords are really tight, they sound different,” she said of the barbershop-style. :When I first heard it, it was weird to me. Almost like a harmonica.”
To learn more about the Heart of New Jersey Chorus visit https://honj.org/ or email HONJ.Membership@gmail.com. There is an audition process mostly to see where one is comfortable singing, Elmuccio said.
The Heart of New Jersey Chorus rehearses year round with exception to holidays. The group also meets for a retreat every year prior to their annual competition, which is now called a convention, to focus on their songs. The next retreat will be held in January 2025.
