Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Harmony in harmony
Sweet Adelines’ camaraderie appeals to ArkAppella director
Although Prudence Hagan had been a singer all her life, she resisted Sweet Adelines International for many years — much to the distress of her sister, Rose.
Eventually, in 1992, Rose won the battle — but only because she cheated.
“I had moved to California in 1986, and she told me, ‘Oh, there’s an awesome chorus out there, one of the best in the world.’ But I still didn’t take her up on the idea,” said Hagan, who now lives in Bella Vista. “But the director of that chorus visited my sister’s chorus in Minnesota — she went all over the world and taught — and my sister asked her to come back and call me. So I was kind of pushed in to it.”
Founded in Tulsa, Okla., in 1945, Sweet Adelines International boasts some 25,000 members, 1,200 registered quartets and 600 choruses in most of the 50 United States, Australia, Canada, England, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Scotland, Sweden, The Netherlands and Wales. Even at her first meeting, Hagan wasn’t sure she wanted to join the ranks — until the end of the night.
“By then, I was sold, 100 percent,” she said. “It was the camaraderie, the friendliness, the joy they got out of singing together. They wanted to work hard at it, to be good at it, and yet the togetherness was a big deal.”
Since then, Hagan has won the international Sweet Adelines championship with the San Diego Chorus, competed and earned medals with various quartets — including singing in quartets with that very same sister since 2005 — and she has just become the new director of the ArkAppella Show Chorus, based in Rogers.
“I just got sucked in,” she said.
Now, she wants to spread the singing sensation at an open house at 7 p.m.