It is a very sad time for all of us with the passing of our dear chorus sister Lynn Weiner. First & foremost, Lynn was a loving mother to her son Matthew & beloved wife to Jeff. Lynn was a baritone, front row member, past board member, energetic physical warm-up team member and quartet member. She will be greatly missed.
2020 has made us all too familiar with pandemics, hurricanes, quarantines, earthquakes, concerns about the health and safety of family and friends near and far. Thank goodness we had our Liberty Oak Chorus activities and experiences to look forward to each week. Oh wait. LOC as we knew it was suddenly gone. Literally here one day and gone the next. It felt like we lost not only the music but each other and it was devastating.
Congratulations to Brenda Strauss, who is celebrating 55 years as a member of Sweet Adelines International! We are so proud and honored to have her as part of our chorus.
Liberty Oak Chorus and Heart of New Jersey Chorus got togther to celebrate Halloween and rehearse! We danced, played trivia, sang some songs and enjoyed looking at each other's costumes! A great time was had by all.
Another terrific outdoor, socially distant rehearsal in Freehold, NJ. It was a beautiful evening packed with harmony and friendship.
A facinating rehearsal session with the talented Karen Breidert, Sweet Adelines Master Director, Master Faculty Member and two-time International Quartet Champion. LOC was honored to have her as our guest coach.
After six months of virtual rehearsals, 68 of our chorus members gathered at the Freehold Senior Center parking lot for a socially distant rehearsal. We sang everything we knew. It was a joy to be together again!
COVID-19 has not stopped the Liberty Oak Chorus from sharing music and friendship. The chorus has continued with virtual rehearsals packed with singing, learning and supporting one another. Contact us if you would like to visit. Next week: Socially distant IN PERSON parking lot rehearsal. We can't wait to sing live (with masks, of course)!
This year the Jean Revere Ferguson Scholarship was presented to Julia Lupi, a senior at Howell High School, the Monmouth County performing arts high school. Julia plans to attend American University in the fall. She is an extremely talented young woman who was very involved with music and other programs during high school. She is a member of the National Honor Society, the New Jersey All State Chorus, the Howell High School Drama Club, the Howell High School Chorus to name a few of her accomplishments. Julia has performed in the Papermill Playhouse Summer Conservatory, the Algonquin Arts Theater, the Two Rivers Theatre, the Count Basie Center for the Arts and many more. She volunteers at the Gateway Care Center and tutors students after school with their homework at the Joseph J.
In May 2020, Liberty Oak Chorus celebrated our director, Katie Blackwood’s, 15th anniversary directing the chorus with a video tribute from our members. LOC had been a small chorus when Katie took the reins as our director in 2005. That first year, Katie worked on vocal skills with the chorus and at our regional competition in 2006, we went up 127 points, the largest jump of any chorus in Sweet Adelines at the time.
With Katie’s talent and leadership, LOC continued to grow and improve. In 2010, LOC made its first appearance on the Sweet Adelines International Competition stage as a wild card in Seattle.
