Steve Hanft remembers the day he was catering an event at the Squalicum boathouse, singing a bit to himself to a song on the radio. “So you like to sing?” someone nearby asked. He said he was taken aback by that, but it started a short conversation that led to them telling him about the Mount Baker Toppers.
Meet the Mount Baker Toppers
Mike McDonald grew up hearing his dad sing barbershop, and he also sang in high school choir, in musicals, and in church choirs. He’s always loved barbershop, so when he found the Toppers, he decided to join.
“You can sing certain songs with anyone around the world who has been in barbershop for even a short period because there are common songs learned by all barbershop singers,” he said. It is wonderful to make and hear such a full and rich sound with only four parts.”
Corinne Slouber was invited by a family friend to join the choir. “It had been a long time since I had performed in groups myself since having a family,” she said.
“When I was younger, I was in choirs, an Irish music group, an Indian music group, and also had some classical training in clarinet in high school, performing an instrument in chamber orchestra, musical pit orchestra, and symphonic wind ensemble,” she shares. “I also played piano recreationally as a mom to relax while dinner was cooking and sang to or with my kids when they were growing up.”
Now, she said, “I love the friendships and energy created with people making music together. In barbershop or a cappella, the focus is on both listening and producing beautiful harmony parts that blend and that are moving and particularly enjoyable in live performance. The performances make me smile. There is also a lot of humor in the commentaries and lyrics of barbershop. It elevates and celebrates human experiences of love or friendship.”
The Toppers Are All Voices
Things have changed over the last few years, when only men sang barbershop.
Now, said Josh Honrud, who’s one of the directors alongside Turner Stiers, “After being an all-male chorus for over half a century, starting last year, all of the Toppers’ gigs are all voices.”
The Toppers, based in Bellingham, perform a variety of musical genres including pop, doo-wop, gospel, and barbershop. As a chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society, the Toppers specialize in singing close harmonies that add an extra element of excitement to all their songs.
Throughout the year, the Toppers sing at many local events, providing great entertainment and musical education to the community. Members hail from Whatcom and Skagit counties, as well as the lower mainland of BC, and share a common desire to make a heartfelt musical connection with an audience.
Steve Hanft recalls his audition. “They asked if I wanted to sing something with them,” he recalls. “I was so nervous. They asked me if I would sing one word, on a sustained note, while they would sing some harmonies around me while I held the note.”
“I don’t even remember what the words were, but I remember exactly how I felt. I was teared up, goosebumps on my arms in a way I never felt before. These four other guys gave me high fives and invited me to come to a future rehearsal whenever I had the time.” So he attended a rehearsal.
“I was greeted with joy, love, and a warm welcome,” he remembers. “There were more than 30 other men standing on risers. I was asked to stand with them and, if I felt like singing along at any point, to go for it.”
“They started singing a song that I recognized: ‘What a Wonderful World.’ I remember again feeling welled up with tears as we progressed through the song, singing four–part harmony, with dynamic swells, that just hit a place in my heart that hooked me immediately.”
Pop-Up Chorus
“It goes way beyond those cool, old-timey guys in striped shirts and straw hats (like in “The Music Man”), says Joy Wilson. She discovered this last summer when she saw an advertisement for the Pop-Up Chorus.
The Pop-Up Chorus was just one night a week for six weeks, which was perfect. She didn’t have to commit or pay any money, so there was no risk if she didn’t enjoy the group or if she discovered that she really couldn’t sing well anymore. Happily, she enjoyed singing with the Toppers.
“I hadn’t realized how much I had missed singing,” she says. “It had been such a part of my childhood, so ingrained into who I was, but we grow out of many things from childhood. To rekindle this aspect of me was a joy like no other. I once again became a singer.”
“A perfectly sung and in-tune chord feels like your soul is resonating inside and outside of your body,” says Anna Malpica. But what she enjoys singing with the Toppers are the people.”We laugh, we encourage, it’s just an all-around positive experience.”
Jackie Caplan-Auerbach has always liked a cappella singing, but she didn’t know anything about barbershop music until she joined the Toppers. She sang a lot as a kid, took voice lessons, and was in a variety of school choirs and musicals. But in high school, she joined the rowing team as a coxswain.
“That required me to yell for hours every day (the coxswain is something of a coach and cheerleader in the boat). As a result, I pretty well trashed my voice and stopped singing publicly. I’ve continued singing at home and in the shower, but I hadn’t sung in any formal capacity for 44 years.”
A close friend had just started singing with the Toppers after doing the Pop-Up Chorus, and Jackie decided to tag along. “The harmonies are unlike anything I’ve sung before, and I’m often really surprised by what note comes next and how it all comes together.”
Aurora Lindquist came to the Toppers with minimal vocal experience, but that was not an issue. “Singing is fundamental to the human experience,” she said. “Sound affects us in ways that we have difficulty expressing in language. It resonates in my headspace in a pleasing way, and I feel more connected to my fellow singers, humanity, and all of creation.”
Tom Martin, who’s president of the Toppers, says last summer’s Pop-Up Chorus performance at the Fairhaven Village Green was “electric.”
This summer, there’ll be a Night of A Capella at 6 p.m. on June 21, again at the Fairhaven Green.
Lynne Sluys encourages people to join the Pop-Up Chorus, which meets at 7 p.m. every Tuesday through June 17 at the Majestic Ballroom, 1027 N. Forest Street in Bellingham.
“I never learned to play an instrument, but I could always sing,” she says. “Your voice is the instrument that goes everywhere with you! I think music is a vital part of life, and as a chorus, we are making art together. A single person can sing beautifully, but you need more than one voice to create harmony. When the chorus locks into chords, I get chills and feel a profound sense of community.”
Josh Honrud’s favorite part about performing is when he gets the chance to convince the audience to sing with him. He’s had audiences ranging from 20 to 300 people to “experience that joy of spontaneously harmonizing with those around them.”
Honrud is serious about barbershop (although he exudes absolute joy and even silliness when he sings). He’s performed with more than 30 different a cappella/barbershop groups across the world, all while having a “real job” as a carpenter.
“I even took a year to travel around the United States in a trailer with my dog to visit 50 different choruses that are part of the Barbershop Harmony Society and Sweet Adelines International,” he says.
“There is no other sport where all of the competitors are rooting for their competition as much as they are rooting for themselves and there is no better group that blends the comradery of friendship and the desire to sing their best with the love of telling a story through their voice than the Toppers,” he said.
Learn more about the Toppers and the Pop-Up Chorus on their website.
