Those looking for a different kind of valentine to send this year might consider a singing valentine delivered by members of Acapella Rising, central Arkansas’ chapter of the nonprofit Barbershop Harmony Society.
The chorus is offering those in the Little Rock area the opportunity to order a barbershop quartet to deliver a romantic song, a card and a small box of candy to the person and location of their choice as a chorus fundraiser for Valentine’s Day.
The singing valentines will be delivered Feb. 13 and 14, which is Valentine’s Day. Orders might also be delivered Feb. 12, depending on requests. The quartets will deliver the singing valentines to both women and men.
The cost for a singing valentine starts at $50. Proceeds from the fundraiser will be used to sponsor a daylong music clinic for high school boys, as well as to help with expenses related to performances the chorus presents annually.
Orders will be accepted online at www.acapellarising.com, by phone at (501) 791-SING (7464) or on Facebook.
Mark Carter of Jacksonville will be among the chorus members making these special valentine deliveries. He sings tenor in the Just in Time quartet, which is one of several quartets that will deliver the valentines. He is also a member of the organization’s board of directors and serves as vice president of programs.
“In my position on the board, I keep the rehearsals running smoothly, promote the chorus and coordinate outside activities, such as picnics and chorus get-togethers,” he said. “It takes a village to run this hobby — a lot of hard work — but nothing happens until we make plans and a direction. [The board of directors] meets once a month, more if needed.
“I’ve been doing the singing valentines every year since I joined the chorus in 2001,” said Carter, who is a candy broker. “I really don’t have a favorite story about this project. Just seeing the women tear up while you’re singing a love song to them from their significant other just makes my heart happy. It’s hard to not get emotional sometimes.”
Carter joined the barbershop chorus at the urging of his family.
“For about 20 years prior to joining, I bowled in leagues with my best friend, or we shot pool on Monday nights,” Carter said. “He died suddenly in February of 2001, so I was at a loss of what to do.
“My wife and daughter encouraged me to seek out where the barbershop rehearsal was and to go try out,” he said. “I sang in choirs all during school and sing in church, so I was comfortable with my singing ability. I went, got hooked and joined a couple weeks later.”
Carter is also a member of the chorus’s senior quartet, Southwind, which won the senior quartet contest at the 2016 District of Champions competition, sponsored by the Southwestern District of the Barbershop Harmony Society in Dallas.
Jim Shannon, also of Jacksonville, is treasurer of the board of directors and maintains its website.
“I joined the chorus nine years ago. It was my introduction to singing this style of music,” Shannon said.
“I have sung most of my life and started playing the clarinet in the fifth grade. My wife and I used to sing duets for worship service and sang in the choir,” he said.
“I love doing the singing valentines,” said Shannon, who works as an electrical engineer for the 19th Civil Engineering Squadron at the Little Rock Air Force Base. “It is great bringing a bit of joy into someone’s life. I will be singing this year in a quartet, but I’m still working on forming a permanent quartet. We’re looking for a bass singer. I sing the baritone part.”
Several other members of Acapella Rising live in the Three Rivers Edition coverage area. They include Jim Berkau, Jimmy B. Cashion and David Willard, all of Cabot, and Joshua Timmerman of Jacksonville.
Members of Acapella Rising rehearse at 7 p.m. each Monday at Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Sherwood; visitors and prospective members are always welcome.
Members of the chorus will sing the national anthem at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Trojans’ basketball game at 6 p.m. Feb 25 at the Jack Stephens Center at UALR.
Public performances are also scheduled Aug. 19 for the annual Acapella Rising Show at the Pulaski Technical College Center for Humanities and Arts in North Little Rock; Dec. 9 for the annual Christmas show with the Top of the Rock Chorus, which is the Little Rock Chapter of Sweet Adelines International, at Pulaski Tech; and Dec. 10 for a Christmas show in Hot Springs Village.
Members of the chorus will compete in the District of Champions competition, sponsored by the Southwestern District of the Barbershop Harmony Society, Oct. 6 and 7 in Dallas. The group won a “most improved chorus” award in 2016.
Acapella Rising is a new version of what since the 1970s has been known as the Diamond State Chorus, an all-male barbershop chorus. It was chartered in 1955 as the Central Arkansas Chapter of the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America Inc. (SPEBSQSA), which is now known as the Barbershop Harmony Society — a nonprofit men’s singing group in America with more than 34,000 members.