Saved by the Belles

COEUR d’ALENE — The singers of the Sweet Adelines Coeur d'Alene Chorus will be changing things up a bit as they sing and ring in the 2019 yuletide season.

This year's Christmas show has moved to the Kroc Center, 1765 W. Golf Course Road in Coeur d'Alene. The concert is cleverly titled "Saved by the Belles" as a spin on the Victorian style the singers wear when they go caroling each year at The Coeur d'Alene Resort.

"We are elevating our show to a new level," said Coeur d'Alene Chorus public relations coordinator Cherie Letts. "We're branching out."

As well as changing venues, the concert is at a different time this year — 3 p.m. — and it's expanding to include the talents of quartets from within the chorus as well as these special guests: locally famous fiddler Arvid Lundin, the Coeurly Q Square Dancers and men's barbershop quartets Front Porch Swing and the newly formed Vox IV.

Vox IV's tenor is Mike Elliott, who is the master director of the Spirit of Spokane Sweet Adelines Chorus. 

"That’s a big deal in the barbershop community," Letts said, adding that Elliott hasn't performed in a barbershop quartet in some time.

The time change, Letts explained, is to give guests a break early in their day, rather than have an evening concert after a day of running around shopping and dealing with holiday stress.

"The Saturday after Thanksgiving and Black Friday, we thought people would welcome the opportunity to get out, maybe get a nice breakfast and enjoy an afternoon concert," she said.

The Saved by the Belles holiday concert is one in a long tradition of annual holiday concerts lovingly performed by the Sweet Adelines for at least two decades. The show will feature timeless Christmas classics and some new songs that are sure to get everyone in the spirit of the season.

"I believe that the community gets to feel the holiday instead of just see the holiday," Letts said. "There's something about holiday songs, and then you add that unique barbershop style, which just makes the chords ring extra pretty."

The singers usually begin rehearsing in June when the weather is warm and a white Christmas is months away, but Letts said it's worth every moment.

"For us to be that dedicated when it's 100 degrees outside is a no-brainer because we get back what we put out there," she said. "When someone has tears in their eyes and says 'I've never experienced Christmas like that,' as singers and entertainers, there is no better feeling than that."