Performance ends on high note

They are a singing sisterhood whose voices and showmanship recently earned them the honor of achieving the highest score ever in regional competition.

On April 17, the Toast of Tampa Show Chorus, a Temple Terrace-based chapter of the Sweet Adelines International organization, scored 700 out of a possible 800 points at the Region 9 Championship in Daytona. It is the highest number of points ever recorded for any chorus in the region, which includes 15 barbershop-harmony groups from throughout Florida and South Carolina.

The 110-member female chorus is also the smallest chorus in the world that has ever scored 700 points in regional contests, said the group's spokeswoman, Julie Kelly.

The achievement also qualifies the group for Sweet Adelines' 2011 international competition in Houston. The event is expected to draw more than 30 regional groups from among the 600 choruses throughout the world.

Although individual choruses are only allowed to win regionally every two years and compete internationally every other year, it will be the ninth time in the Tampa group's 22-year history it will represent Florida in the competition.

Toast of Tampa - whose members range in age from their early 20s to mid-80s - draws singers from 10 Florida counties. The group earned a gold medal at the 1994 international competition and won its Most Entertaining Chorus award in 2007. Many attribute the a cappella chorus' success to the talent and teaching skills of director Tony DeRosa of Winter Garden, who has been on board since 2007.

"He can hear the grass grow," said Kelly, commenting on his keen ear for music.

DeRosa, 37, comes from a musical family in which both of his parents are graduates of music schools and have extensive experience in singing a cappella and playing musical instruments.

He also is music director for the Voices of Liberty at Epcot, is vocal director for Celebrity Cruise Lines and directs the Vokal Kombat youth chorus and The Big Orange, a barbershop chorus in Jacksonville. He also is a three-time Barbershop Harmony Society gold-medal recipient.

"I think what makes this group so good is that we definitely have some outstanding members, but more than that it's because of the personal accountability of each singer," DeRosa said. "These are people who want to be outstanding and they consistently strive to reach higher heights. It's a great joy to work with them."

The group's youngest member, Kristi Bennett, 26, commutes every Tuesday night from Apopka to Temple Terrace's Masque Community Theatre, where the chorus conducts its rehearsals. The trek generally takes at least an hour and a half each way.

"Tampa is really the chorus you want to be in because Tony is wonderful," said Bennett, who studied voice at the University of North Carolina.

Kathleen Padilla, a Buffalo, N.Y., resident who spends her winters as a snowbird in Seminole, is a dual member of the Tampa- and the Buffalo-based Sweet Adelines choruses. She couldn't imagine going months without singing barbershop-style harmonies.

"I'd originally planned to visit several groups down here, but went first to visit Toast of Tampa and never went to any of the others," Padilla said.

"There is a lot of satisfaction in singing with a group of women who work hard and know their music," she said. "Many devote an hour or two every day to practicing new songs."

Sandy Everly, the group's team leader, is a 20-year member who hails from Sarasota. She was a member of a home-based group before joining the Toast of Tampa, but said the experience "didn't scratch the itch."

Her two-year appointment as president entitled her to accept the recent award.

"I got to go up on stage when they announced it, and it was just such a thrill because we did the best we could," Everly said.

Beth Bosserman Curts of Temple Terrace has been with the chorus for almost 10 years.

"It is such a thrill to be among the top handful of choruses in the world right here in my hometown," she said.

The Toast of Tampa will perform its annual Standing Room Only show at the David A. Straz Jr. Center for the Performing Arts on Oct. 30.