Spirit of the Gulf spreads joy through song

The music is upbeat.

The chorus is lively.

And, the audience captivated.

That’s how best to describe the Spirit of the Gulf Chorus, a Southwest Florida-based women’s chorus that is ranked seventh in the world.

“We sing the kind of music that you feel physically. People get goose bumps from our music,” said chorus director Karen Breidert, who has sung barbershop for 32 years. “We have a great time and it’s show biz quality on a smaller scale.”

The chorus is a member of Sweet Adeline’s International, a worldwide organization of nearly 30,000 women singers committed to the barbershop style of music.

Barbershop music is similar to a cappella, in which the vocals are unaccompanied by instruments and use a four-part melody, explained Breidert about her group, which will be performing holiday songs this month.

“The style has changed. People would be flabbergasted to see that it’s no longer men in straw hats and a garter around their arm,” said Breidert, whose group became charted in 2001.

The Spirit of the Gulf has more than 150 members from Miami, Bonita Springs, Naples, Estero, Fort Myers and as far north as Ocala.

“We got one gal from Ocala! It’s the music that keeps our singers coming from all over,” said Breidert, who describes the group as a large sisterhood. “We want the audience to feel the excitement we feel for this hobby of ours.”

But the hobby is more than hours of driving, the group rehearses regularly and creates costumes for their performances.

“We do a lot of dance moves, especially in the front row to entertain and sell what we are singing,” said spokesperson Paula Lasher, who has been with the group for four and a half years.

Lasher joined because she wanted to try something new but didn’t expect the audition process to be so challenging.

“You have to practice for an audition for about 8 weeks and they give you a learning tape,” Lasher said. “You pick out the song you want but there is a lot more than just singing. You learn technical things, too.”

The technical aspects of the chorus’ performances are modern with costume changes, props and dancing.

“We won the most entertaining chorus award at [the] Internationals ... it was the first time anyone had ever been given that award,” Lasher said.

The Spirit of the Gulf is a non-profit organization and a percentage of money from the shows are donated to a music scholarship.

“It’s a very special group of women who love each other and love to sing,” Breidert said. “While we are working on our songs we are having fun and we want everyone to feel the same.”