Heart of Columbia Chorus invites new voices in preparation for 2025 competition

Betty Hodges and her husband, Mark, drive 120 miles roundtrip to Columbia every Thursday so Betty can sing.

“I do it because she loves it,” Mark said.

Betty auditioned for the Heart of Columbia Chorus, also known as The Risers, 14 years ago after a career in high school teaching. She said joining the chorus was one of the best decisions she has made.

“We are exactly like a family. These are my sisters,” Hodges said.

The Heart of Columbia Chorus is looking for more women to share their voices and join them in preparation for a Spring 2025 competition.

Jamy Claire Archer, the chorus director, said the experience is an opportunity of a lifetime.

“Whether you’re a college student, heading toward retirement, or an empty nester, we want you to see that there’s a place for you on the risers,” Archer said.

The chorus hosts a formal guest night every fall and winter. It is designed for people who have never been to the chorus but can try it out and see if they’re interested in becoming members.

Archer said any rehearsal is a potential guest night.

“Anybody is welcome at any time to come visit us,” Archer said. “There is an audition process, but after three rehearsals, they’re eligible to audition whenever they feel ready. But they don’t have to.”

The chorus rehearses every Thursday from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at Pilgrim Lutheran Church in Lexington. 

Chorus member Lovell Nguyen joined the Risers in 2019 through a work colleague and had no prior singing experience.

“You don’t need to have any previous experience in a singing group or any kind of voice training,” Nguyen said. “It’s all about having fun, and we have a lot of it.”

The chorus competes once a year at the international Sweet Adeline’s Region 14 competition against more than 20 other groups from Atlanta to Washington, D.C., singing barbershop style.

Barbershop style is a four-part a cappella harmony.

“We sing two songs,” Archer said. “We sing one that is an upbeat and faster-paced, a sassy song from the ’20s called ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’.’ Then we sing one that is a ballad, which is currently ‘In My Life’ by The Beatles.”

Nguyen described competition weekend as “crazy fun.”

“We take over the whole Embassy Suites,” Nguyen said. “There are women of all ages wearing glitter and sparkles and singing in the elevator. It’s amazing.”

Aside from competing, the chorus has performed all over the Midlands to help get its name out in the community.

“We performed at the Governor’s Mansion, USC basketball games, Soda City, Fort Jackson, nursing homes, and even did Christmas caroling,” Archer said. “We aim to bring joy and light through singing, sharing in the community’s light as we do it. That is something really special to us.”

Nguyen said it’s a special experience to hear everyone in the chorus come together and perform as one.

“When I hear us singing, I get goosebumps because everyone is so good,” Nguyen said. “Our voices just lock together, and the harmonies are awesome.”

A South Carolina Arts Commission grant helped the chorus greatly, Archer said.

“It’s given us opportunities to do more unpaid performances, so we don’t have to charge, so it’s not at a financial detriment to either our members or the community,” Archer said.

Crystal Elder, the chorus’s president, said members have been trying to gain attention and bring on new singers through community performances. 

“Sometimes we will get a whole group of people, but there was one time I came and was the only one there,” Elder said. “But as soon as I walked in, I knew this was what I wanted to do.”

Archer said the multi-generational and community aspect is one of her favorite parts about the chorus.

“There are people that I may not encounter in my everyday life, but I get to learn from them,” Archer said. “I learn about their life and all their experiences, and it enhances my life. And then we bring that together on the risers.”

Elder said that this is the place if you love to sing and you want to experience it in a different way. 

“It’s fun, it’s educational and it feels like this is where you belong when you sing here, and I love that,” Elder said. “We love each other like sisters and we take care of each other. And when we sing together, we feel that.”