The many voices behind the Redlands Rhapsody Chorus have added another title to their collection as the first Queensland group to win the Sweet Adelines national competition.
The all-women ensemble performs a cappella and performed a repertoire of crowd-favourite tunes including A Wonderful Day Like Today from the 1964 musical The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd and Maybe This Time, originally sung by Liza Minelli in the 1972 musical Cabaret.
Chorus coordinator Carol Baker said the group had competed many times in the nationals, placing third in 2023, and would represent Australia in Columbus, Ohio in October 2025.
“Sweet Adelines is essentially an American artform and was founded in the USA in 1945, so the annual convention is mostly held there,” Ms Baker said.
“The national convention is always a buzz. Competing with over 500 women is pretty amazing and a great opportunity to meet friends old and new.”
Despite the competition, Ms Baker said there was no intense rivalry, with every chorus incredibly supportive of each other.
“We work all year for these competitions,” she said.
“We rehearsed incredibly hard for competition and bring in regional and international coaches to perfect our performances.
“I think we knew we had performed well when we got a huge standing ovation after our package … one of our strengths other than our amazing sound and musicality is our energy.”
The Redlands Rhapsody Chorus will be fundraising for the trip to America and Ms Baker said there was still a lot of brainstorming and planning ahead of the group.
“We’re hoping we might get some sponsorships from Redlands businesses who are keen to support us, and no doubt you’ll see us cooking up the snags at Bunnings … there’s a lot of work to be done.”
On behalf of the members, Ms Baker said she thanked the Redlands Rhapsody Chorus families for their support.
“Other than our incredible director Louise Brannon, there are just too many others to mention who we need to thank, but they know who they are,” she said.
The Redlands Rhapsody Chorus is welcoming any business sponsors and supporters for the upcoming international competition, and recruitment for new members begins in July.
