SACRAMENTO, Calif. (June 13, 2013) – So, how would three employees of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District get to New York City’s famed Carnegie Hall? Well -- practice, practice, practice – of course!
Lynne Erickson, LaDonna Hulcy and Robin Rosenau, employees of the Sacramento District, performed with the Sacramento Valley Chorus in a Memorial Day weekend concert at Carnegie Hall May 25.
Erickson, a budget analyst for the Sacramento District, has directed the 100-member Sacramento Valley Chorus for the past seven years.
“When we sang ‘Proud to be an American’ and the audience rose to their feet at the end of the song … wow,” said Erickson. “Hearing my chorus singing the best they ever have – I was so proud of what we have accomplished.”
“The hall was such a strong and resonant environment,” said Hulcy, a cartographic technician at the Sacramento District. “You sang out and it just bounced right back in your face.”
“The house lights stayed on during our performance and I could see people enjoying the music -- we could interact with them,” said Rosenau, an environmental biologist in the Sacramento District.
The Sacramento Valley Chorus is a member of Sweet Adelines International, a world-wide organization that performs and promotes the female version of barbershop music. Barbershop music is always sung without instrumental accompaniment and always sung in English as a genuinely American musical art form performed in four-part harmony.
Erickson, Hulcy and Rosenau also sing in the “Corps-a-liers,” the Sacramento District choral group that performs patriotic and seasonal songs for official district gatherings.