We should have been 87 in number but our youngest member, Lucy, was in hospital recovering from appendicitis....everyone say “Ahhh!” A superhuman effort on the part of our organisation had enabled this longawaited event to be hastily rearranged from the stricken New Orleans - and indeed our friends in New Orleans were never far from our thoughts during this emotional rollercoaster of a week in Detroit.

By lunchtime on the Sunday most of the chorus had arrived, with tales of delayed flights, horrendous queues at US immigration, unscheduled overnight stays in Washington DC, and lost or delayed baggage. Our illustrious Chorus Director’s first task on arriving in Detroit was to replace his stage costume which had been stolen along with his hand luggage whilst boarding the coach for Manchester. Chorus wags reckoned that a sure fire way to recognise the thief would be to find someone wearing a glittery black shirt and tie, humming the baritone part to Big Bad Bill!

Monday was a true R & R day, with some of the chorus sampling the joys of Canadian wine in an idyllically warm SW Ontario, and others exploring the delights of Detroit - the zoo, the malls and the Ford museum and village. By Tuesday we were ready for work. Our friends from Coastline Show Chorus (Rhode Island, Region 1) had generously arranged to let us have the use of their risers and rehearsal room at the Cobo Centre, and so it was an emotional first rehearsal when we met up with our e-pals for the first time and exchanged gifts. We watched each other rehearse, cheered each other wildly and wished each other tons of luck for the Big Day. Wednesday swept past in a whirl of rehearsals and quartet watching. We were thrilled and overjoyed to see our wonderful quartet champions Eu4ia gain a well-deserved 12th place in the quartet contest.

What an achievement! It’s got to be top 10 next year, girls! A reasonably early night on Wednesday - and then the day dawned. More rehearsals, then it was our turn to perform to the highly partisan crowd. Our Region 31 fans (of whom there were many) plus our many friends in other choruses, including a very vocal Coastline Show Chorus cheered so loudly that it was like appearing at a Regional Convention! We were completely bowled over by their response. We came offstage exhilarated and happy... then the results... 29th! We were so thrilled, and delighted for our Coastline friends who had made it to the finals.

Friday and Saturday finals days were of an unbelievable standard. Congratulations to Spotlight, the new quartet champions, and also to Region 32 (Nordic Light) who had 3 Swedish quartets in the top 10! A remarkable achievement! Scottsdale (new chorus champions) blew everyone else away in their finals package with some exquisite singing and performing. And Coastline came 4th - fabulous! Our joint banquet with our Coastline friends proved to be quite a celebration as we sang together and caroused well into the night. What a thrill - and what a week! Thanks to our wonderful supporters from all over the Region (and world) who cheered us on and encouraged us throughout the whole time we were there. We learnt so much... and we’d love to go back and do it all again... maybe one day...?

This article appears in the Winter 2005 edition of the Harmony Rag