Piney Hills Harmony Chorus of Sweet Adelines will present a preview of its regional competition package during Friends and Family Night at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 9. 

The event is a dress rehearsal for the chorus’s upcoming performance at Sweet Adelines International’s Region 10 competition March 24-25 in Houston, where choruses and quartets from four states will participate. The Friends and Family Night will be in the fellowship hall of the Presbyterian Church of Ruston, 212 N. Bonner. 

This is the first time Piney Hills Harmony will compete since COVID-19 forced the international organization to cancel competitions in early 2020. During COVID, the chorus missed only one rehearsal and held Zoom sessions from March 2020 until June 2021.  

At Friends and Family Night, in addition to the chorus’s presentation, a quartet from within the chorus will also perform – Forte! The quartet is composed of Candice Bassett, Lynette Murphy, Sheila Nugent and Judy Sisson. 

Bassett also serves as director of the chorus, and Murphy, as assistant director for musical expression. They will share duties in Houston, with Bassett directing “Love Letters Straight from the Heart” and Murphy directing “L-O-V-E.” “We have worked hard to rebuild since the COVID-19 pandemic kept us from singing together in person,” Bassett said. “We lost members to health issues, family issues and just the fact that singing together on Zoom was not the same experience. 

“We have worked hard to rebuild since the COVID-19 pandemic kept us from singing together in person,” Bassett said. “We lost members to health issues, family issues and just the fact that singing together on Zoom was not the same experience.

“We are proud of our members who have stayed through the hard times and the new members who have found us on the other side. This will be a joint effort of both sides of the equation as we take the stage and sing at competition once again.”

Participating Piney Hills Harmony members come from Lincoln, Caldwell, Ouachita and Union parishes.

“Sharing the harmony of song and sisterhood is what keeps us strong and what we feel will resonate with the audience,” Bassett said. “We want to share that experience with those close to us who won’t get to see us in person in Houston.”

Admission to the Ruston performance is free.