From Maiden Vermont

Maiden Vermont -- Central Vermont's Women's Barbershop Chorus

Who We Are

If you love to sing, can sing on pitch, and can hold a part, join us! We don't limit ourselves to standard barbershop -- you'll be singing doo-wop, swing, Broadway show tunes, spirituals, the Blues and other great tight-harmony pieces. Maiden Vermont began in January 2004, with about 20 women's voices. We're up to about 50 voices, but we'd love even more!

Our chorus, or small groups from our chorus, sing regularly at fundraisers for non-profit organizations, summer, fall and holiday festivals, reunions, naturalization ceremonies, and private functions.

If you would like a particular song sung for your special occasion, and you don't see it on our repertoire, just ask us about it! If the music is available to us, with enough advance notice, it may be possible for a quartet to learn it for your event.

You can hire Maiden Vermont for parties or events; just e-mail the director, Lindi Bortney, at lindibortney@gmail.com or call 388-1012 for further information.

Valentine's Day We spent the day delivering Valentine telegrams in person, to 25 individuals around the Middlebury area. We also sang to countless recipients over the phone throughout the day. Our "home base" was a member's house in Middlebury. We arrived at 8 AM, potluck meals for the day in hand. We went out in groups of 6-10 to sing for individuals in homes, businesses, gyms, restaurants and even a construction site! We laughed, spread good cheer and sometimes cried with some of our recipients. What a rewarding day full of warm fuzzies!

Upcoming Performances

• Sun Aug 8 - Dragon Boats Benefit performance, Burlington waterfront
• Sat Aug 28,7:30 - Brandon Town Hall Benefit Concert, Brandon
• Sun Aug 29, 3:00 - New Haven Mills Benefit concert, New Haven.
• Sat Sept 11 - Maiden Vermont Benefit Concert, Middlebury
• Sat Sept 25, 7:00 - Burlington Peace Concert, Universalist Unitarian Society Church, Burlington
• Sat Oct 9, Guest Performers at Curbstone Chorus annual concert, Rutland

Our Repertoire

Our repertoire includes about two hours of memorized barbershop, doo-wop, swing, Broadway tunes, holiday and other a capella music. Many of the numbers include choreography. Our repertoire includes the following songs and more:

"Star Spangled Banner" "O Canada" "Let There Be Peace on Earth" "My Romance" "I Don't Know Why I Love You Like I Do" "I've Got A Crush On You" "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" "I Love You Truly" "Sh-Boom" "Eyes Of Love" "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" "Swing Down Chariot" "Rise Again" "Climb Every Mountain" "Java Jive" "Mr. Sandman" "Long Ago Lady", by Jon Gailmor "Basin Street Blues" "One Fine Day"

"Let Me Call You Sweetheart"/"The Band Played On" "Crazy" "When Will I Be Loved" "Aba Daba Honeymoon" "Mister Sandman" "Blue Skies" "Love Is Here To Stay" "I Feel A Song Comin' On" "It's A Small World" "Hallelujah Get Happy" "One More Song" "Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor" Quartets: "Ain't Misbehavin'" "Mood Indigo" "Dream A Little Dream Of Me" "Moments To Remember" "Dedicated To The One I Love" "Second Hand Man" Orange Colored Sky

Letters of Recommendation

• Town Hall Theater
• Salisbury Summer Series

Lindi Bortney, Music Director

Lindi taught music and directed school choruses on Long Island for over 30 years, and we are lucky that she and her husband, Jerry Shedd, chose to retire in Addison County. Lindi has coached choruses throughout New York state, Idaho and Vermont and teaches music educators about barbershop singing. Most recently, Lindi was the music director for "Smokey Joe's Cafe" in Middlebury, Vt. (October 2008), for "Swingtime Canteen" in Bristol, VT (October 2007), "Forever Plaid" in Middlebury, Vergennes, Randolph and Burlington, VT (July 2006), "Little Shop of Horrors" in Middlebury VT (June 2005) and "Of Thee I Sing" in Rochester VT (April-May 2004). Lindi will be music director of "The Music Man" for the Middlebury Community Players production to be performed in November 2009.

Rehearsal Schedule

We rehearse every Thursday from 7 to 9:15 p.m. at the Bingham School in Cornwall, VT, on Route 30. (From Middlebury, drive south on Route 30 until you get to School Road on your left. The school is at the end. If you reach the intersection with Route 74, you've missed School Road.) Call Lindi Bortney at 388-1012 to let her know that you are coming.

How to Join

Here's how to apply to join the group. This sounds very formal, but it's really not. We're fun and friendly, so don't get scared off. We just need to ensure that all our members can sing on pitch and can hold their own part when surrounded by women singing other parts. You can do it!

1. A singer can come to a rehearsal and listen for as long as she wants. She can borrow a folder of music for the evening so she can follow along with what we are rehearsing, but she gives the folder back at the end of the rehearsal.
2. At the point that she wants to apply for membership, usually after attending two or three rehearsals as a guest, she gets to take home the music to two songs, "I Don't Know Why I Love You Like I Do" and "Star Spangled Banner" to learn them for her audition. She also gets a CD of these two songs to help her learn them. There is a $10 fee at this time.
3. After about three weeks, the applicant asks Lindi for an audition, and Lindi arranges for the Section Leader quartet to sing with her, singing these two songs from memory. (We usually do this at the end of a rehearsal.)
4. If she passes the audition, she receives a folder which contains the chorus repertoire and accompanying CDs. If she doesn't pass, or if she decides not to try to audition, she returns the audition sheet music and CD, her $10 audition fee is returned to her, and we wish her well.

Maiden Vermont, c/o Lindi Bortney, P.O. Box 178, Ripton, VT 05766. Contact lindibortney@gmail.com for information