Who we are

Harmony Classic 2022

By day, we are teachers, students, writers, homemakers, nurses, accountants, doctors, attorneys, administrative assistants ... you name it.  When we gather to sing ... we are the award-winning Carolina Harmony Chorus.

A proud member of Sweet Adelines International, we sing four-part a cappella harmony. We maintain extraordinarily high standards for singing, and we have the medals to show for it!

We love to sing, and it shows. We perform across the Triangle region for public events, charity affairs, retirement communities and more. Our repertoire ranges from traditional barbershop ballads and uptunes to jazz, pop, and rock and roll. 

We also participate in highly competitive Sweet Adelines regional and international contests. We were the 2022 Region 14 Chorus Champions and also the 2013, 2016, and 2023 international small chorus champions. In October of 2018 we brought home second-place medals at the international small chorus competition. 

Our members come from all over North Carolina's Triangle area -- and even from as far as Wilmington and Greenville. We range in age from 20 to 85. And while our musical backgrounds vary, we share a common love of music and the desire to grow as individual singers and as an ensemble. We're serious about making beautiful music. And we seriously have a good time making it. 

We welcome visitors to our Tuesday evening rehearsals, and audition new members year-round. Membership is open to women (including transgender women) and non-binary people assigned female at birth.

Come and see for yourself what makes us special!

Meet Susie

A group of singers dressed in white costumes with blue and gold accessories, celebrating on stage. The woman in front is wearing a silver hat, smiling and raising her arms.

Master Director

A singer with curly white hair and glasses smiling and dancing in front of an orange background on a contest stage. She is wearing a biker costume with a black leather jacket and black pants with a decorative belt.
A singer with long white hair, glasses, and pearl necklace, dressed in a sparkly blue mermaid costume, sitting inside a large pink seashell-shaped float, holding a clear ball, surrounded by others in similar attire.

Susie P. Smith has directed Carolina Harmony Chorus since 1997. After winning the Novice Director Award in her first competition, she then went on to qualify as a Sweet Adelines Certified Director, and then as a Master Director when Carolina Harmony scored over 600 points at their Regional competition in 2015. She has directed the chorus to two International Small Chorus 2nd Place wins in addition to two Small Chorus International Championships! 

Susie brings a rich background in music to her role as director. In addition to studying music in college, she has participated in choirs, bands, musical theater, and choruses for more than 45 years. Susie has a master's degree in teaching. She has worked as both a science teacher and a music teacher.

A member of Sweet Adelines since 1980, Susie has been an active quartet singer, competing many times in regional medalist quartets -- including four first place medals. She is also a popular coach for choruses and quartets throughout the Southeast.

To commemorate Susie's achievement as a master director, the chorus had a brick engraved in her honor at Sweet Adelines International's headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Chorus History

The Sweet Adelines International organization first appeared in the Raleigh area in 1968, when the Raleigh Chapter was chartered. The Sound of Carolina chapter formed in Cary in 1975. These two chapters merged in the fall of 1978 and became the Carolina Harmony chapter with 60 members, directed by Jan Mott. Cathy Rothey served next as director, followed by Barbara Dixon. As director for eight years,  Barbara directed us in our first medal-winning competition. Susie Smith became our director since 1997, and has led us ever since. 

Competition

We are presently one of the top-ranked small choruses in all of Sweet Adelines.

Here are our most recent competition results:

Sweet Adelines International Harmony Classic competition

Sweet Adelines Region 14 competition:

A large group of singers in matching blue sequined dresses and heels posing on risers in front of a blue curtain.
A large group of singers dressed in matching purple sequined costumes with fringes, posing on stairs in an indoor setting.
Group of singers dressed in biker-inspired clothing and accessories, celebrating and holding a large silver trophy.
Group of singers in matching black costumes with colorful dots and red necklaces, standing on risers in a choir, all wearing black face-masks during the pandemic.
Group of singers dressed as Egyptian pharaohs on stage, raising their fists in celebration, with a blue backdrop.