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Orlando Send-Off concert

28 Sep

Hello everyone! It’s taken us the better part of the week to circle back around to this blog post, but we are still riding high from last weekend’s send-off concert with the Fairfax Jubil-Aires. Many of you may have seen that we posted some fun pictures to Facebook (and we’ll add a little gallery here as well), but we have to take a quick moment to go “on the record” after such a great night.

We had an interesting set of circumstances surrounding this concert that made it not-so-hot in the vocal department. Kris was struggling vocally to begin with and started the day with virtually no voice at all. She was literally eating spoonfuls of honey direct from the jar. And apple juice. And tea. And potato chips (XOXO, Ashley Wright!). After some meds and a breathing treatment, she started sounding more human and less alien by the second half of the day. Still, she was so frustrated with her vocal production that we eventually decided to stop warming up or running through our sets… might as well give her a fighting chance to have something left for the stage.

Then, Anne sucked in a big ole’ lungful of grass pollen at our afternoon gig, which was outside. That triggered a lovely asthma attack and she was still struggling to get a good breath in the evening at the concert.

You get the picture. Epic noises were not so hot. But we fought through and wowed the warm (and incredibly understanding) crowd with three outfit changes instead!

We are very grateful to the folks who helped us pull it off (Cliff, Obie, Cat, Tom, Debbie, Richard, Julia and the Epic families) as well as all the people who carved out a chunk of their weekends to spend with us. The support continues to floor us. And thank you to Shameless and ACME Chord Company for being a part of the night!

A huge virtual HUG needs to go to the men of the Fairfax Jubil-Aires chorus. Once again, these guys have become our adopted chorus and continually make us feel like a part of their family. They support us in so many ways and all of our successes are shared with them. XOXO…. EpicImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImage

 
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Posted by on September 28, 2012 in Performances, Special memories

 

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Epic PRIZES!

20 Feb

 As part of our March 18th benefit concert, we are offering some epic raffles! Even out-of-area supporters can get in on the action. Just pick what you like and order your raffle tickets from one of the Epics. We will personally put your tickets in running for the raffle of your choice.

Raffle tickets are $1 each or a dozen for $10. Fill out the following form with your choices! 

Your confirmation email will contain information about where you can send your payment. Check or PayPal…whatever you prefer!

 

 
 
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Posted by on February 20, 2012 in Performances, Pictures

 

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Harmony Sweepstakes… here we come!

06 Feb
Epic, barbershop harmony quartet, selected to perform at the Harmony Sweepstakes regional competition

Yes, Anne... the skirt ripped. I guess we won't be wearing THAT one to the Harmony Sweepstakes competition!

We have had the most EPIC weekend EVER. We taught a bunch of young singers why we love barbershop, and they, consequently, fell in love with barbershop. We then spent another amazing afternoon at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, where we not only reunited with old friends (love you Lisa!!) and met new friends, but we put another set of amazing memories together as a quartet that bond us as partners and sisters in harmony. (Doesn’t that sound so sweet? Really, we just laughed a lot because Anne split her skirt during the gig after we nudged her to rip a thread… hehehehe)

And the icing on all of this crazy-awesome cake is that we received word that we’ve been invited to participate in the Mid-Atlantic Harmony Sweepstakes regional competition. This event is a celebration of a capella harmony and we are thrilled, honored and more humbled than we can say to represent the barbershop style in 2012!!

So we have some very important decisions to make in a hurry…. what do we sing? What do we WEAR?? We are open to suggestions!!!

Please consider joining us for this event. Not only would it be great to see a few friendly faces in the crowd, but we are generally in favor of anything that supports a capella harmony singing. We are so grateful that the organizers of this event are so supportive and encouraging of the barbershop style!

Saturday, February 25th – 7.30PM

THE BIRCHMERE

3701 Mt. Vernon Ave, Alexandria, VA 22305

Tickets available from Ticketmaster

 
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Posted by on February 6, 2012 in Performances

 

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A Fairfax Family

13 Jan

The Fairfax, Va., chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society has quickly become our “barbershop family.” Most quartets in our hobby have a home chapter to which they belong, but since there are no Harmony, Inc., chapters in Maryland or Virginia (yet!!), we are so blessed to have found an adopted home with the men who make up the Fairfax Jubil-Aires. These fun-lovin’ barbershoppers have included us in several of their performances and events, and we’re looking forward to singing on the chapter’s annual show in May.

Last weekend, the Fairfax chapter asked Epic to join them for their annual installation banquet as the members celebrated 59 YEARS (yes, 59!) as a barbershop chorus. The event was festive and full of good food and good-natured teasing… in other words, a true family gathering!

We’ll post a couple of fun videos from that night, and we’d like to offer a hearty thank you, once again, to the Fairfax Jubil-Aires. We are so fortunate to be an extended part of such a warm and committed barbershop organization!

And now for some videos!

First, our favorite stand-by, Cry Baby. You may notice that, right before we start singing, Chris says to the quartet, “Let’s get loud.” Just for the record, Epic celebrates “loud” much in the same way Riptide used to celebrate “tall.”

And because every barbershopper will understand this moment, we have to share with you “Epic Fail.” We’ll let you guess which part of the 8-part tune is epic and which one is fail :-) Seriously, though, we love singing with Shameless. I think we just happened to catch them off guard by inviting them up and by the second run through, they were Lida-Rosing all over the place!!! Lots of laughs about this one, but the show must go on!

 
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Posted by on January 13, 2012 in Performances

 

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Epic’s Christmas gift = Corcoran Gallery performance

19 Dec

We got the coolest Christmas gift EVER.

Today, Epic performed for the first time (and hopefully not the last!) at the breathtaking Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. We met some amazing people and pulled a gorgeous young lady into the barbershop fold [insert evil laugh here].

Epic, a premier female barbershop quartet, enjoys Sunday brunch at Todd Gray's Muse

Post-performance Sunday brunch at Todd Gray's Muse. An incentive worth singing for!

First, we have to say…it is no surprise whatsoever that Ellen Gray and her husband, Todd, have built a budding culinary experience company in the Washington area (which includes multiple restaurants and catering companies). She is so warm and welcoming, quick to smile, and super-attentive to her customers. Todd Gray’s Muse at the Corcoran Gallery is a majestic setting and–OH MAN–the food!!! It truly is worth the trip, and Epic will be the first to sing its praises (couldn’t resist… sorry) in the future as we encourage our friends, family and supporters to join us there for performances. We have some serious “foodies” in this quartet, by the way, all of whom were in HEAVEN with this particular perk of the gig!

Just a few quick highlights from the day…

First, we met the most beautiful young first grader who attended the brunch with her family. She approached us and told us it was her birthday so we would come to her table to sing for her. Turns out, her mother informed us it was NOT her birthday, but we know a fan when we see one and we headed straight to her table! We sang for her and then taught her the “Sleepy Time” tag so she could sing lead with Anne. She was awesome! A great young singer and hopefully a future female barbershop quartetter! Big hugs before she left :-)

Epic, a premier female barbershop acapella quartet, at the Corcoran Gallery, Washington, D.C.

The craziness of the holiday season put a bubble in Anne's brain. She brought the wrong cover-up top... but at least it was the right color. Close enough :-)

We also met some very notable area musicians, including an incredibly charming opera teacher who praised us for our ability to keep a perfect pitch (woot woot!! Richard Lewellen, are you reading???), and we celebrated birthdays (real ones this time) for no less than four of our kind audience members! A supporter of ours that we met at our November City Club performance, Lorrie, also attended–how great is that? We enjoyed visiting with her and we’re hoping to see her again soon, perhaps at a personal event she’s hosting!

Even though Anne was a bit under the weather and the craziness of the holiday season had us all wondering what the heck the first word of each song was, we had a fantastic time spending time together and meeting a new group of friends at Todd Gray’s Muse. We expect this will be a regular part of our performance schedule so stay tuned for future date announcements.

Today’s experience was certainly Epic’s Christmas present and we truly loved it! As we wrap up the year, we’d like to wish all of you the most joyous of holiday seasons. Celebrate with those you love and make sure you find some time to sing some songs together… music = happiness!

 
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Posted by on December 19, 2011 in Performances

 

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Barbershop Harmony Comes to the Prestigious Washington, D.C., Corcoran Gallery of Art

13 Dec

Premier Female Acapella Quartet Epic Joins Noted Chef Todd Gray for Sunday Brunch 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRLog (press release) December 13, 2011 — Epic, the Washington, D.C., region’s freshest acapella female quartet, has announced it will perform on Sunday, December 18, at the Corcoran Gallery of Art’s café—Todd Gray’s Muse—taking the rich styling of barbershop harmony to the most prestigious art gallery in Washington, D.C.

Epic will perform during the Muse’s Sunday brunch, a twice-a-month culinary event featuring seasonal options with a focus on sustainable and local ingredients and a number of vegetarian and vegan options—many sourced from nearby FreshFarm Market, by the White House. Created exclusively for the Corcoran by celebrated chef Todd Gray, the menu celebrates the culinary arts and the local community.

Epic, a female acapella quartet specializing in barbershop harmony, will present its diverse and harmonic styling 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday, December 18th. The brunch is hosted the first and third Sunday of every month.

“The fantastic thing about acapella harmony is that it complements and reflects so many diverse styles of music,” said Anne Albright, lead singer for Epic. “Whether recreating pop tunes on televised competition reality shows or taking barbershop harmony to one of the most prominent art galleries in the nation, acapella harmony is flexible enough to fit any occasion.”

“We’re thrilled to be a part of this event with celebrated chef Tood Gray,” Albright added. “The combination of local food and local entertainment is likely to create a lasting impression with the audience, especially if they’ve never experienced barbershop harmony. It will be a memorable meal worth attending, for sure.”

Epic is a vibrant quartet filled with an impressive blend musical and life experiences. Its members are Kristina Adams (baritone), Anne Albright (lead), Shana Oshiro (bass), and Christina Lewellen (tenor).

Epic formed when two barbershop acapella harmony singers, a jazz singer and an opera singer found they discovered a common love of ringing chords, fun rehearsals and fantastic shoes. The foursome hails from Virginia and Maryland and is proudly affiliated with the Harmony, Inc., a premier international organization of women barbershop harmony singers.

Since opening their first restaurant in Washington, D.C., the highly acclaimed Equinox, more than a decade ago, Todd Gray and Ellen Kassoff Gray have risen to the top of the city’s vibrant culinary scene. In addition to developing a reputation as one of the area’s most passionate and formidable hospitality and philanthropic duo, Todd and Ellen’s shared passion for inventive interpretations of American cuisine, sophisticated style, and standards of excellence have garnered them wide recognition and success. Harvest Moon Hospitality Group, their growing hospitality portfolio, includes three restaurants, two catering companies, and partnerships with leading brands and institutions. Todd has been Culinary Director for Sheila Johnson’s Salamander Hotels & Resorts since 2000, and earlier this year opened Todd Gray’s Watershed Restaurant.

Those who attend the brunch are eligible to gain admission to the gallery for just $5. Collections currently on display include 30 Americans, Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro: Are We There Yet?, Hank Willis Thomas: Strange Fruit, and Gordon Parks: Photographs from the Collection. For more information about Sunday brunch at the Corcoran Gallery, visit www.toddgraysmuse.com.

About Epic

Epic formed when two barbershop acapella harmony singers, a jazz singer and an opera singer found they discovered a common love of ringing chords, fun rehearsals and fantastic shoes. The foursome hails from Virginia and Maryland and is proudly affiliated with the Harmony, Inc., a premier international organization of women barbershop harmony singers.

Epic is a vibrant quartet filled with an impressive blend musical and life experiences. Its members are Kristina Adams (baritone), Anne Albright (lead), Shana Oshiro (bass), and Christina Lewellen (tenor).

Christina and Kristina (yes, fun during rehearsals) are “barberbrats,” having grown up the daughters of fathers who are notable barbershop harmony singers. With past regional and international accolades between the two of them, Kris and Chris teamed up in early 2011 with the goal of forming a performance- and competition-driven quartet. They connected with Shana, an opera singer, and Anne, a jazz singer—both of whom were new to the barbershop style but have proved to be naturals at the musical art form.

Visit EpicQuartet.com to learn how the quartet aims to fill its days with Epic laughter, Epic music, and Epic shoes!

 
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Posted by on December 13, 2011 in Press Release

 

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Epic goes to Hershey!

14 Nov

Granted, we haven’t been a quartet for too long, but Harmony, Inc.’s International Contest was a truly amazing experience for Epic. We won’t give you the blow-by-blow, but we’d like to blog a few highlights of our long weekend in Hershey, Pa.

With maternity leave for Kris and two members brand new to barbershop, Epic didn’t get rolling early enough in 2011 to be in the competition cycle. With no real duties, we decided to volunteer to work at the International Convention as a quartet. We worked the registration desk on Friday for a while—and learned just how complicated things can get for Gayle and the rest of the HI organizers who try to keep track of hundreds and hundreds of women!! Dealing with tickets and registration for that brief time leaves us forever grateful for the behind-the-scenes folks who work so hard to put the rest of us in the position to enjoy a great contest.

We also pulled a long shift on door duty during the chorus competition. While this may be among the most dreaded volunteer jobs on the docket, Epic found a way to make it epic anyway. We took turns stepping into the auditorium so we could each see a good handful of choruses do their sets, and the “outside” door guards visited with friends and competitors in the hallway. We also pulled up a new arrangement on our smart phones while we worked so we could read through the chart and learn our parts!

There were many touching and impressive moments from the contest stage and, while we were all impressed, our “newbies” were particularly stunned at the vast range of artistic styling that characterizes the barbershop genre. While we’ll run the risk here of forgetting some of our favorites we should highlight just a few—Stardust’s “Cheer Up Charlie,” Foreign Exchange’s “For Sale” ballad, Blaze’s smokin’ “Night of a Thousand Eyes,” Katie Taylor and For Heaven’s Sake performing “Papa, Can You Hear Me?” on the Champion Showcase, NBC’s middle of the night “Dancing Queen” jam session, a super-clean contest set by the Village Vocal Chords, and the very touching final swan song by the Ringtones!

Because we live in an area of the country that is not fortunate enough to have Harmony, Inc. chapters (yet), we are Associate members that call Area 2 home. This was our first chance to meet a lot of our Area 2 sisters and we had such a WARM welcome from so many people! After our experience in Hershey, we are beyond excited about reuniting with these new friends and supporters in Montreal at the Area 2 contest in the spring.

We sang Saturday night in the Chordyard and in various hospitality rooms—what a BLAST. We are always striving to be better and we know we have an exciting year of growth ahead of us, but the Harmony family treated us like rock stars!! Check out the videos below.

We were getting more requests to sing than our poor tired voices could handle! At 3:30 a.m., we declared a victory and headed to our room. Still, we stayed awake for at least an hour more talking through our Hershey experience and our favorite moments of the weekend.

This contest will always hold a special place in our hearts, without a doubt. Not only did we meet so many cool people and have buckets and buckets full of laughs, but we also bonded to a whole new level as a quartet. We were thrilled to share the experience with John and Judy Rector, Rob and “mascot William,” Dawn Crane, and the ridiculously fun and funny Dawn Langdon. Can we do it again next weekend??

Videos from the Chordyard

And a couple of goofy clips from warming up in our room on Friday…

 
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Posted by on November 14, 2011 in Performances, Uncategorized

 

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A Night of Barbershop Harmony at the Prestigious Washington, D.C., City Club

20 Oct

Premier Female Acapella Quartet Epic Featured in “Sentimental Journey” Show

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRLog (Press Release) – Oct 15, 2011 – Epic, the Washington, D.C., region’s freshest acapella female quartet, has announced it will perform at the City Club of Washington on November 2, taking the rich styling of barbershop harmony to the most prestigious private club in Washington, D.C. Epic will perform alongside the Fairfax, Va., chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society, the Fairfax Jubil-Aires.

The event opens the exclusive City Club to the public for the barbershop harmony performance. The acapella singers invite attendees to take a sentimental journey down memory lane for the evening, with musical selections from the movies, a touching salute the troops, and humorous selections that aim to have the audience laughing and humming along.

Epic, a female acapella quartet specializing in barbershop harmony, will present its diverse and harmonic styling starting at 6 p.m. The performance is scheduled to include Epic singing an eight-part song with Shameless, a male barbershop quartet hailing from the Fairfax Jubil-Aires chorus.

“The fantastic thing about acapella harmony is that it complements and reflects so many diverse styles of music,” said Anne Albright, lead singer for Epic. “Whether recreating pop tunes on televised competition reality shows or taking barbershop harmony to one of the most prominent private clubs in the nation, acapella harmony is flexible enough to fit any occasion.”

“We’re thrilled to be a part of this event with the talented Fairfax Jubil-Aires chorus,” Albright added. “The high-energy evening is likely to create a lasting impression with the audience, especially if they’ve never experienced barbershop harmony before. It will be a show worth attending, for sure.”

The Fairfax Jubil-Aires is an active chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society, the largest all-male singing society in the world, with more than 750 chapters in the United States and Canada, and with affiliate groups in eight other countries.

Epic is a vibrant quartet filled with an impressive blend musical and life experiences. Its members are Kristina Adams (baritone), Anne Albright (lead), Shana Oshiro (bass), and Christina Lewellen (tenor).

Epic formed when two barbershop acapella harmony singers, a jazz singer and an opera singer found they discovered a common love of ringing chords, fun rehearsals and fantastic shoes. The foursome hails from Virginia and Maryland and is proudly affiliated with the Harmony, Inc., a premier international organization of women barbershop harmony singers.

For more information about the upcoming City Club performance, visit www.fairfaxjubilaires.org. City Club members can call (202) 347-0818 for ticket purchases.

# # #

Epic is a female acapella quartet specializing in barbershop harmony. Epic formed when two barbershop acapella harmony singers, a jazz singer and an opera singer found they discovered a common love of ringing chords, fun rehearsals and fantastic shoes. The foursome hails from Virginia and Maryland and is proudly affiliated with the Harmony, Inc., a premier international organization of women barbershop harmony singers. Visit Epic on the web on Facebook and http://www.epicquartet.com.

— end —

 
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Posted by on October 20, 2011 in Press Release

 

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Our first gig!

19 Oct
Epic, a Harmony, Inc., barbershop quartet

Epic is all smiles right after our first performance, Oct. 2011

It happens to every quartet… at some point, you finally perform your first gig! For Epic, our official public introduction came just two days ago, on October 16. The day was truly epic in many ways.

First, October 16th is shared birthday of two very important people in the Epic universe. Morgan Lewellen, Christina’s daughter, turned 8 years old, and John Rector, Kristina’s dad, turned something other than 8 years old! We were thrilled that John, and his lovely wife Judy, took a time out from his birthday celebration on Sunday to join us for our first performance.

After we were dressed and blinged and properly perched on top of sparkly gold heels, we walked past our venue (the auditorium/cultural center at a local community college) and found an empty gym in which we could do a little warming up. John found us (well, heard us…) when he arrived and joined us in the gym. He hasn’t heard us sing in a while and the look on his face was priceless! We can tell you right now–there’s no better feeling than having a talented, decorated barbershop singer give you that little knowing nod and say, “You guys are sounding really good, and you look great.” An awesome start to the night!

Epic, a female barbershop quartet, poses for a self portrait in the dressing room

Synchronized-self-portrait-taking in the dressing room at NoVa Community College. Always time for a little fun :-)

Our audience was warm and engaged and attentive. We sang our four songs with a couple of brief talk spots and every moment seemed well received. This is what singers live for… all the driving and rehearsals and homework time are completely worth it for those moments!

We’re all still walking on cloud nine two days later and the icing on the cake came in the form of an email today from the organizer of the concert who hired us. He writes:

“OKAY…OMG! EPIC is AWESOME! I am tee-totally blown away by the gorgeous, artistic, and soulful performance that EPIC offers…I look forward to working with EPIC in the future!”

When’s the next one??? November 2nd can’t come soon enough! We’re ready!!

 
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Posted by on October 19, 2011 in Performances

 

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