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Prime Times Weekly feature of the Mail Tribune , Medford, Oregon In tune with ... LIFE'S HARMONIES Photo by Bob Pennell Chris and John Dutcher are spending their retirement singing in barbershop choirs -- the Valley View Chorus of Sweet Adelines and Rogue Valley Harmonizers, respectively. The photo was taken in Dave Doran's barbershop on Main Street in Medford. Lee Dressker, of Jacksonville, is getting a haircut. Chris and John Dutcher's passion for barbershop singing keeps the Medford couple young at heart in retirement By JOHN DARLING John and Chris Dutcher share three passions: cats, not acting like seniors and barbershop-style singing. The belt-it-out delivery and tight, a cappella harmonies of barbershop music are clearly their No. 1 passion. "When you're singing, you just forget everything else," said John, 63, a retired Bureau of Land Management employee and baritone for eight years with the Rogue Valley Harmonizers. "The stresses of life just fade away. You just can't sing and be angry. And you come back totally exhausted." "It's a blast," said Chris, 61, a lead (melody) singer with the Valley View Chorus of Sweet Adelines International. "It's not easy. It's a big commitment. But the singers are probably the most friendly, loving, supportive women I've ever met." HARMONIZERS PERFORM MAY 27 What: Performance of the Rogue Valley Harmonizers, with an appearance by the Valley View Chorus of Sweet Adelines International and the Most Wanted Quartet When: 2 and 7:30 p.m., May 27. Where: Craterian Ginger Rogers Theater. Tickets: $10 ($5 students). Available at Paddington Station, 125 E. Main, Ashland, Piano Studios & Showcase, 1024 Court St., Medford, or at the door. The Dutchers' are the only local married couple singing in barbershop chorales. Both are busy preparing for a joint performance of the groups Saturday, May 27, at the Craterian Ginger Rogers Theater. John is show chairman of the performance. For the big show, the Dutchers have been rehearsing favorites from the Mississippi riverboat period, including "Old Man River" and "If the Lord Be Willing and the Creek Don't Rise." The Dutchers both sang in high school in their hometown of Syracuse, N.Y., and, on retirement, they found it the perfect way to focus on staying youthful. "I don't feel we're getting old at all," said Chris. "I feel senior starts at 95. We love doing this singing because it gets us out of the house and with a wonderful group of people who have energy and enthusiasm. They don't have time to dwell on their aches and pains because they're having a good time." Both Adelines and Harmonizers try to perform at least once a month somewhere -- churches, nursing homes, sporting events, high school assemblies and holiday events like the Jacksonville Victorian Christmas and Ashland's Fourth of July, said John. They travel to regular barbershop competitions in such places as Coos Bay, Spokane, Eugene and Portland, where they are rigorously judged in the three areas of musicality, presentation and singing. Like all barbershop singers, the Dutchers are in search of the lost chord, that elusive extra sound called the "lock" or "ring'' that happens when singers are all "tuned, blended and balanced," said Chris. "You have the four voices -- lead, tenor, bass and baritone -- but sometimes when you hit a chord directly, you strike a fifth overtone and even a sixth." This is combined with a "giving, bringing forth or sharing," so the listener experiences a breathtaking emotional impact. "Everyone is so focused," said Chris. "It can't be done unconsciously. You've got to be concentrating and thinking ahead all the time and projecting that you love and enjoy this music." "Every time you sing, you've got to put everything into it," said John. "You have to energize, pitch forward on your feet and sell your song. If there's no applause for a few seconds at the end of a song, you know you've got them." The Dutchers take a break from their singing by volunteering at CATS (Committed Alliance To Strays) and "playing with them to keep the cats socialized so people will adopt them." They own two cats. Chris quilts at the Mountain Stars quilting guild and John keeps fit running 25 miles a week. He's usually in the Pear Blossom run and he confesses to being propelled by mentally playing such tunes as "Toot-Toot-Tootsie, Goodbye." Prime Times Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA