The Toronto Accolades chorus and its two quartets, Spellbound and Ricochet, will be competing at AC&C in Batavia, New York, in early May. All will be taking new songs to competition. The quartet contest will take place on Friday, May 4, and the chorus contest will take place on Saturday, May. 5. Check the Area 3 website for more information, as it becomes available
Past Events
IC&C, Hershey, Pennsylvania – November 10 to 13, 2011
For the second year in a row, the Toronto Accolades qualified for International Competition. Some drove to Hershey, Pennsylvania for the contest, while others joined A Cappella Showcase on their chartered bus. Contestants stayed at Hershey Lodge, a large complex containing 665 guest rooms, 5 restaurants and a huge convention hall with stage where we held our contest.
Spellbound competed just after noon on Friday in a long Quartet Contest which saw 32 quartet entries. They were really happy to see their efforts rewarded by moving from the bottom of the pack up to 21st place. The Toronto Accolades once again drew an early spot in the Chorus Contest the next day, singing third. (How do they keep doing that?!) They also placed 21st, holding onto the marks they came in with from AC&C. They have plans to continue their climb up the ranks with 2 new songs at AC&C 2012.
Saturday evening was the time for celebration. All of the Accolades and a few of their friends attended a sit-down dinner in the convention hall, along with fellow Harmony, Inc. members and contestants. This was followed by a Showcase featuring all the quartet and chorus medalists. But that was not the end of the evening. Accolades then adjourned to our suite, occupied by Lorna, Melissa and Terry (poor souls), for a chorus party. By posting a notice out near the elevators, we drew a number of fantastic quartets to our party room to sing for us. Meanwhile Spellbound took a short meander around the hotel to sing to a few other choruses, as well. Best of all, though, was when they met a bride and groom in the elevator and followed them down the hall to their room singing a love song to them—joined by people from other choruses who were already out in the hall or came out of their rooms as the couple passed! We will all be a vivid (if embarrassing) part of their wedding day memories! Mindful of the long drive—or bus ride—back home the next morning, most of the chorus packed it in some time after midnight—leaving the night owls, Elsie and Judy, to seek out other diehards and roaming quartets to hang with for a while before they also called it a night.
Of course, we couldn’t go to Hershey, famous for its chocolate, without seeing something of this little town of 13,000 people, where the streets are named after chocolate and the street lights are shaped like Hershey Kisses. A number of us found time to visit Chocolate World for the short tour showing how chocolate is made, followed by a dangerous visit to the gift shop!! Some of us also took a trolley tour of the town, with a special stop at the 100 year old Milton Hershey School for children in financial and social need. We were told the fascinating history of Mr. Hershey, his school and the town--and were plied with chocolate throughout the tour! But now it’s back home to a more normal routine. And while a few people may still be nibbling on chocolate from their gift store purchases, ALL of us are thinking about next year’s IC&C in Orlando.
Installation Dinner – May 5, 2011
Installation Dinner is held each year to thank the outgoing chorus Board, present awards, and install the new Board of Directors. This year’s dinner was a catered affair, held in the party room at Jo Anne Chisholm’s condo. Great location! Great food! …And plentiful BYOB wine!
As outgoing President, Marlene Parker was the emcee for the evening. Joan Fontaine, an Associate Member of the Toronto Accolades who is presently celebrating her 50th year of membership in Harmony, Inc., acted as Installation Officer, assisted by Jo Anne Chisholm as the chorus Membership Representative. Elsie Rueter presented year pins, attendance awards, and the Accolade of the Year award to this year’s recipients. See “Our Members” page for a list of award winners and the new 2011-2012 chorus Board of Directors.
It was a pleasure to have long time associates of the chorus Barb Mortensen, Joan Fontaine, Bev Eastwood, and Joan Chapman with us to celebrate. Bev and Joan Chapman were charter members of the Toronto Accolades and Joan was also one of the founding members of Harmony, Inc. itself! It was an evening of friendship and fun, concluding, of course, with song, as Gail Connor directed us in our qualifying contest package. Hershey, Pennsylvania, here we come!
Chorus Show, The Magic of Song – April 2, 2011
Their most ambitious show yet! And their largest audience to date! The Accolades performed to an almost full house at the Crescent School Theatre (Bayview and Lawrence) on April 2. Dazzling in their glittery aqua blue costumes, and directed by Wendy Arnold, the chorus performed a number of well-known songs, both old and new. The chorus-associated quartet, Spellbound, also performed a couple of their contest songs, and Act 1 concluded with a short set by U4X, a fantastic female barbershop quartet, and Gold Medal winners of the 2008 Harmony, Inc. International Quartet Contest.
At the beginning of Act 2, U4X was back with more of their amusing wit and beautiful harmonies. Then it was back to the 1970s with the Accolades dressed in their ‘groovy’ best and singing a completely new repertoire of 70s songs, including John Denver, ABBA and the Carpenters, to name a few. Various trios and quartets added an extra dimension to some of these songs. In keeping with the 70s theme, a chorus member, Joy, and her husband, Jamie, performed a banjo-and-guitar version of “Duellin’ Banjos”. And a 13 member ensemble, consisting of chorus members and calling themselves “Girls Night Out”, sang several new songs as well, including the fun, toe-tapping – and oh, so appropriate – “Good Ol’ A Cappella”.
A lot of work! A lot of fun! A lot of excitement! All in all, it was an amazing experience of learning, growing and accomplishing, for everyone in the chorus, and they are already looking forward to the next time!
Our Next Performance
Where: Area 3 Contest and Convention, Batavia, New York
When: May 4-6, 2012
The Toronto Accolades chorus and its two quartets, Spellbound and Ricochet, will be competing at AC&C in Batavia, New York, in early May. The quartet contest will take place on Friday, May 4, and the chorus contest will take place on Saturday, May 5.
Check the Area 3 website for more information as it becomes available.
The chorus is available for both private functions and public events. If you would like to book the Toronto Accolades to perform for your organization or function, please email us.
JOIN US
Discover the joy of singing a cappella harmony by coming out to one of our rehearsals, held Thursday evenings from 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Earl Bales Community Centre, located at Bathurst and Sheppard.
Come and experience the joy of a cappella singing with the Toronto Accolades. “Ordinary women coming together to make extraordinary music.” 
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