Mic Warming at National Competition
Jo, Liz W, Emma and Liz T, the "Fourtuned Cookies" are members of a relatively new, local, quartet that sing a capella songs in the barbershop style. Accolades include winning their class at Portsmouth, and Isle of Wight Music Festivals as well as singing at parties and for fun. They told us:
We were so excited to accept an invitation to sing as mic warmers at the Labbs (Ladies Association of Barbershop Singers) Quartet Semi-Finals last weekend. What an opportunity!
Then the nerves kicked in.
What were we going to sing? What were we going to wear? Where were we going to stay?
So many more questions!
Once we answered most of those we set to work on our songs and decided that our goal was clear: to "razzle dazzle" the judges, enjoy the experience and hopefully charm the small crowd that had gathered to watch our performance.
Everyone familiar with this scene knows that the journey isn't always smooth sailing. In the chaotic moments before entering the stage our preparations were filled with unexpected challenges. Just before stepping out, we discovered a missing back from an earring, dealt with disappearing scarves and battled with wands that refused to cooperate. There was even a moment where one of the canes took an unexpected flight across the warm up room, eeek!
Despite these hurdles, simply making it to the stage felt like a triumph. Yet, when the moment arrived, "fortune" smiled upon us. (See what we did there). The mishaps were few and with the lights shining down we embraced the moment letting our nerves settle down and we focused on telling our stories.
During our short time on stage we felt we performed well - proving that sometimes achievements come from overcoming adversity and just finding joy in singing together.
As we left the stage, we were proud of ourselves and looked forward to watching the amazing quartets compete for the rest of the day.
Thank you to our friends, including those from Spinnaker and Cascades Chorus and to our family members that travelled there to support us.
The photos were fun and we laughed a lot looking at them, guessing where in the song we were! We are looking forward to singing at a local Christmas show and singing a requested arrangement of a song at a wedding next year. It's so exciting!"
Fourtuned Cookies Quartet arePart of Spinnaker Chorus who rehearse at Park Community School in Havant and are holding an Advent A capella course over the next couple of months. Interested? Come and join in! No pressure, just a whole lot of fun!