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Posted Dec. 6, 2002

Towne Square Singers Still Great at 20

To the editor:

After three months of practice, each of the 38 members of the Herndon Towne Square Singers knows almost all of their music, words or cues.

Founder and director Jean Goldsby, after 20 years creating and directing the productions of this community chorus, is used to this precarious state preceding concert weekend. She knows it will come together well. Audience regular Carol King of Reston attests, "The talent is deep, and the beauty is that it's home grown!"

What King and others watch is a production that was first envisioned by Goldsby many months ago. She routinely conceives a theme, selects and purchases sheet music, writes a script, assigns singers she thinks are best for certain solos, and allows others to compete for short solos in long medleys. Costuming and staging come much later. Goldsby encourages volunteer participation, especially with costumes and set construction.

Goldsby conceived a troop unique among choruses. Not only do they perform a wide spectrum of music types and levels of complexity, but also they memorize the selections. This facilitates expression, movement and connection with the audience throughout the show.

Productions can be described as mini-musicals. One winter, they even performed the entire musical "Scrooge." Pop music of the 20th century dominates in the spring, always connected by Goldsby's script and usually sprinkled with choreography and always topped with a big dollop of nostalgia.

Singing and playing the piano were Goldsby's first loves. Not formally trained, she recalls she "learned through doing." When she was five, in fact, Goldsby "monkeyed around" on the piano so insistently that her teacher gave up, recognizing that this child was someone who must do things her own way.

Having taught herself piano, Goldsby progressed musically by singing in two choirs in high school, concurrently.

In the 1970s, Goldsby, her guitar-playing teen, and other young members of Holy Cross Lutheran Church decided to start a contemporary service using acoustic accompaniment§a new trend in churches. They ran the 8:15 Sunday services for seven years.

In 1982, she approached Art Anselene, head of Herndon's parks and recreation department, who agreed that the department would sponsor the singers. Ellen Anderson of Reston, still with the group, was hired as accompanist, and the town's community center gym was offered for performances.

The singers routinely perform in the 110-seat Industrial Strength Theater in early December and early May of each year. And they have been regulars on stage at the annual Herndon Festival. A subgroup, The Trebelclefs, perform "gigs" in smaller venues. Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Herndon hosts rehearsals and an occasional concert.

Gloria Jean Goldsby looks forward to the synergy that will occur during the concerts next weekend. She'll wonder if she has the energy to do it again next season, but before she can rest her head on the pillow, a theme for the next show is sure to start dancing in her head.

Suzanne Fulton

Herndon