Missoula a capella group to come to Superior

SUPERIOR – This Saturday the Mineral County Performing Arts Council will play host to the Five Valley Chorus of the Sweet Adelines International, a barbershop-style a capella group out of Missoula.

The performance will be in the afternoon at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Superior. MCPAC has described the event as “a festive holiday concert.”

The group will perform a mix of Christmas songs and other music not common to the holidays. According to Jim Goss, treasurer for MCPAC, the tentative program included a series of songs from the chorus’ regular program, which would have been popular at the height of the barbershop era.

“Some of these songs, like Oh You Beautiful Doll, go back to the barbershop era, which I believe was the late 1890’s,” said Goss.

The barbershop-style of music was described as four-part close harmony without musical accompaniment. Despite how the style is usually associated with men, the Sweet Adelines are an all-female group with all ages represented. According to the group’s website, people 25 and under can join Young Women in Harmony, a branch group of Sweet Adelines International, which trains and teaches members about the barbershop style.

This will be the second time the approximately 40-person group will perform in Superior. Back in September of 2009, MCPAC invited the group to come to the area. Goss said the previous performance was very upbeat and enjoyable.

Because the group is based so close, there were not many concerns or special arrangements needed to bring them here. According to Goss, the chorus will bring most of the required set items themselves. MCPAC will not need to provide any risers or things related to the set up of the space. The church is expected to be fairly easy to set up and should only require a few items be moved.

“They make it very easy for us,” said Goss. “[The church has] a podium that we need to move out of the way. There’s a little bit of stage prep work.”

This will be MCPAC’s last show of 2013. However, more shows and performances will come over the course of next year.

In January, the council will host the University of Montana brass ensemble at the LDS Church. The specific date was unavailable at the time of press.

Later in the year, The New Big Sky Singers will perform Broadway songs as part of the MCPAC yearly gala in the Superior Elementary School gym.

Lastly, in August there will be a Shakespeare in the Park performance at the Superior Fairgrounds. At the time of the interview, it was still undecided what show would be performed.

The Five Valley Chorus Christmas concert will be Saturday, December 14, at 4 p.m. at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Superior. Goss emphasized this was an afternoon concert and different from other weekend performances, which take place in the evening.

MCPAC also plans to hold a Dixieland band in celebration of the county centennial. Goss said Dixieland music would have been popular in the early 1900s, when Mineral County broke away from Missoula County. Other groups and organizations in the community have planned to do special events for the centennial as well.

With the exception of the gala, all performances are free and everyone around the county is welcome.