Let Your Performance Do the Talking

If you have wanted to learn to sing, check out the Talk of Tulsa Chorus.

The Talk of Tulsa Chorus is looking for new singers to learn four-part, a cappella harmony and barbershop style. So if you sing in the shower and croon in your car, Talk of Tulsa Chorus wants you!

Patty Friedemann, assistant director of the chorus, says, “Every rehearsal is really a vocal lesson. Women can really learn to sing, and almost anyone can do it,” she smiles. “Members not only learn vocal production and performance techniques, but I have seen people blossom in self confidence as they learn and grow in their leadership and singing skills,” she adds.

Frank Friedemann, Patty’s husband, is the director of the chorus with his wife alongside as assistant. It’s been a family affair for the couple for over 32 years, since they met at a barbershop convention and married soon thereafter. Frank is an experienced and fun director. One year he directed Talk of Tulsa in drag, dressed in a red sequined dress and red wig, complete with stockings and false eyelashes.

Talk of Tulsa, whose motto is “Let your performance do the talking!” is a “young” chorus, in that they have more youth members than most other choruses. Their members range from 17 to 66 years of age, and the generational blend works incredibly well. There is much laughter and hilarity at chorus rehearsals along with the hard work of learning to perform well. Rehearsals are Monday nights at 7 p.m. at the Christ Church on 109th and South Yale,

The 21-member Talk of Tulsa Chorus chartered as a Sweet Adelines International chorus on October 28, 2002, and has been thrilling audiences and winning major competitions since then. They are heading to regional competition next year, and hope to be on stage in Dallas with over 30 singers. This is an ambitious goal for this small, but impressive chorus.

The first time the Talk of Tulsa Chorus competed, they won the small chorus contest. They competed with only 19 singers, but due to the “big sound” these singers generated, the chorus sounded much larger.

The chorus placed fourth and fifth during the last two years and is improving their music and performances every year.

The holidays are the busiest time for performances, and the chorus begins the season with their annual show, Talk of Tulsa Presents Their Wild Side, on November 18 at the Monte Cassino School on 21st and Lewis in Tulsa. The show begins at 7 p.m. and features more than 12 full-length songs and a 20-minute performance by the brass band, Tulsa Praise Band. If you are interested in getting tickets for this great showcase, or in finding out more, you may call 379-0868. It will be a near two-hour performance.

Patty Friedemann sings in the quartet CABARET, and they will be competing at the Sweet Adelines International Convention and Contest in Las Vegas in this month (October). Friedemann’s previous quartet,

GINGER N JAZZ, won the international championship in 1987. She has high hopes again this year!

When asked why she seems to have dedicated her life to her passion of barbershop music, Friedemann says, “Music has always been a big part of my life. I grew up singing in church with my family and took part in high school madrigals. And I love the unique close four-part harmony of barbershop.”

So, if you’ve always wanted to learn to sing, check out the Talk of Tulsa Annual Show or just drop in on one of their rehearsals on Monday nights, 7 p.m. at the Christ Church on 109th and Yale. You could be performing in the chorus by Christmas!

For more information, contact

Talk of Tulsa Chorus

To purchase tickets, call 379-0868

www.talkoftulsa.org