A small chorus with a big heart

Throughout the halls of the Sayville United Methodist Church on Monday nights, the sweet sounds of vocal harmonies interweaving fill the air with warmth on otherwise chilly nights.

The tunes emanating from the church are songs performed by the Heart of Long Island Chorus, a 12-member barbershop group that has been singing across the island for over 60 years.

The chorus has brought together women from diverse musical, professional, and life backgrounds through the unifying power of song, with numerous members singing with the group for decades.

The barbershop chorus is a chapter of Sweet Adeline’s International, a barbershop organization that brings together thousands of women across the globe in song at annual competitions and conventions.

While many women might have experience singing in a church or school choir at some point in their lives, the members of the Heart of Long Island Chorus said singing barbershop provides unique challenges that feel fulfilling to overcome.

“Barbershop is a different animal,” said Melissa Leahy, the interim director of the Heart of Long Island Chorus.

Leahy said that, as a style of a cappella music, each performer can’t rely on instruments to guide them through a song, but must listen to themselves and their fellow members.

“It’s a combination of self-learning, learning together, and then following the director for how she wants,” said Anne Amato, Heart of Long Island Chorus team coordinator.

Even if a performer is slightly off pitch, the mistake can become noticeable to a listener.

“The notes have to be precise. Vowel shapes have to be precise,” said Leahy. “Everything has to be very, very precise to get the sound.”

But members of the Heart of Long Island Chorus take the challenge in stride at each rehearsal, which used to take place at St. John Nepomucene in Bohemia and will transition to the Sayville United Methodist Church from 7 to 10 p.m.

The group rehearses every Monday night, with a break for the holiday season, and performs at venues across Long Island throughout the year, including local senior living homes, MacArthur Airport, VFW Halls, and even at Long Island Ducks baseball games over the summer.

The barbershop chorus is looking for new members, and accepts interested singers with any background or experience, with many of the dozen singers not musically trained and having limited experience in church choirs or when they were younger.

Singers are divided into different sections, with the same titles as a men’s barbershop group. The tenors have the highest part, followed by the leads, who usually hold the melody, followed by the baritones, who have a harmony part with the lead, and the lowest octave singers, the basses.

While the leads tend to have the melody, Leahy said that unlike in other types of musical groups, they aren’t sticking out too much as each section complements one another in expression and intensity throughout a song, allowing each individual and section to have their moment.

With the holiday season over and the chorus returning for rehearsals, their new focus is preparing for the annual Sweet Adelines regional chorus competition and convention in Albany in late March.

The Heart of Long Island Chorus will perform two songs: the up-tempo “Ten Feet Off the Ground” and the ballad “Chase the Rain Away,” in front of a panel of judges who provide constructive feedback for each section and performer on how to improve themselves.

“It is such a great experience,” Leahy, who has gone to regionals with other groups, said about attending the regional competitions.

Half of the chorus hasn’t participated in a competition before, as the group has only performed for observation-based judging over the last few years due to struggles with membership in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But with the pandemic behind, and finally reaching a dozen members—the minimum needed to compete—the Heart of Long Island Chorus is preparing to show the world that the tinier the chorus, the mightier.

During rehearsal this past Monday night, Leahy ran through “Chase the Rain Away” with the group, with stops to help each section find their notes and come together, while introducing dynamics that fluctuate throughout the song.

“I remember sunny days when you are by my side,” the chorus belted.

“Keep going!” Leahy encouraged.

“You loved me then, and rainbows filled the sky! But then you found another love and left me here alone. I lost my sunshine when you said goodbye,” the group sang solemnly.

“I come back home and chase the rain away. Bring me back my bright and sunny day!” The chorus sang louder.

“Bring back all the joy that left me when we had to fall, take away the sorrow from my heart.” The ladies slowed.

“You know, darling, I still love you so. And I wish I’d never let you go. Say you’ll come back sometime, turn the rain to sunshine. Come back home and chase the rain away,” the chorus stretched.

“Chase the rain away,” the women sang in harmony, slowly fading away.

“Beautiful!” Leahy proclaimed, ending the night’s rehearsal.

To learn more about Heart of Long Island Chorus, visit their website sites.google.com/view/heartoflongisland.