Since the onset of COVID-19 in our region, we have canceled our weekly rehearsals. Our national organization, Sweet Adelines International, canceled contest season 2020. This means that our Regional competition in Springfield was canceled, as is our preparatory performance, Cabaret.

We were also deeply saddened to cancel our Retreat 2020, which we planned to spend with the fantastic Vicky Maybury. Since then, it seems the entire world has gone into a retreat. Be safe. We won't stop singing! When it's safe we hope to sing for you all again!

#ChangingLivesThroughSong #COVID-19 #Retreat2020

Home is where the heart is, and MVA is looking for a new place to call our home after the 2020 contest season. With help from our community members, barbershop family and friends we are sure to find the perfect place that our members fall in love with again. Contact us at [email protected]

If you know a place in the Merrimack Valley or surrounding communities where we might be able to rehearse and become part of the community, please reach out!  We do have some specific requirements:

This spring Patti Newman, co-coordinator of MVA’s Membership Program, envisioned an outreach program for young women singers with the intent to share our love of barbershop and a cappella music, while fostering ongoing music education during the summer. The program attracted about 12 young women singers and the success of the program was truly due to a group effort!

Program Design

This year Merrimack Valley A Cappella’s contest package was Somewhere Over the Rainbow (ballad) and Smile (uptune); two arrangements about encouragement and hope. There were hundreds of instances when we talked about manifesting dreams, and encouraging loved ones with our stories of enduring challenges until we reached success.

Everyone who plans to sing at contest makes a commitment to rehearse with focus in January. To be prepared for rehearsals, sectionals, coaching sessions and more. Then, we are expressing these encouraging messages every week, sometimes twice week. It can activate you in ways you didn’t expect.

Patch.com posted news about our very own Associate Director Carol Smolenski's 8-week singing course, which is running via Andover's recreation department, DCS, and the Merrimack Valley Community Music School.

http://patch.com/massachusetts/andover/capella-singing-all