Latest News


  • Accepting Applications for the TOTR Peggy Gram Scholarship
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  •  Date Posted: Thu, Jan 11 2024
    Accepting Applications for the TOTR Peggy Gram Scholarship
    The Top of the Rock Peggy Gram Scholarship Fund (PGSF) provides scholarships specifically to women involved in Music Education or Vocal Performance Education at the secondary level to assist in the furtherance of their music education.

    The scholarship is named in honor of Peggy Gram for her more than 40 years as director of Top of the Rock Chorus. 

    Women who have completed at least one semester at the university level are eligible to apply for the scholarship, awarded annually in the spring for the subsequent academic year. A scholarship applies to one academic year.

    Applications due by April 15, 2024.
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  • It's Time for Community Carolers
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  •  Date Posted: Sun, Oct 1 2023
    It's Time for Community Carolers
    We're excited to announce that our Community Carolers program is back! 

    We'd like to invite women of all ages to come sing with us this holiday season. We will teach you three songs from our holiday repertoire, and then invite you to sing at our Christmas concert.

    If you've ever been interested in trying out Top of the Rock Chorus, this is the perfect time. There is no charge, and you get to learn about barbershop -- and why we're all hooked on ringing chords!

    Beginning Tuesday, Oct. 17, join us for rehearsal from 7-8:30 p.m. Rehearsals are held at Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1402 E. Kiehl Ave., in Sherwood.

    If you have any questions, please contact Patty Barnes at 501-915-2074.

    Come and join in the fun! We hope to see you there!
  • Top of the Rock Chorus Invites You To ‘Turn the Radio On’ on Aug. 5
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  •  Date Posted: Mon, Jul 10 2023
    Top of the Rock Chorus Invites You To ‘Turn the Radio On’ on Aug. 5
    LITTLE ROCK — Top of the Rock Chorus invites you to “Turn the Radio On” for an exploration of 100 years of music — from the Roaring Twenties to current day.

    Join us Saturday, Aug. 5, at 3:30 p.m. at the Sylvan Hills High School Performing Arts Center, 484 Bear Paw Road in Sherwood, for a musical journey through the ages. Enjoy as our time travelers take you for a stroll down memory lane — maybe one of your favorite songs will pop up on the dial!

    Keep your eyes peeled — you might even see a celebrity (or a close approximation) on the stage.

    It wouldn’t be a complete musical journey without remembering some iconic dances. Performers from Andrea’s School of Dance in Bryant will tap and twirl for your entertainment.

    “This is our first major show since COVID-19 forced us off the risers and into Zoom rehearsals,” said Kelly Causey, director of Top of the Rock. “We didn’t want to do a standard concert for our first show back. We wanted to give central Arkansas something they haven’t seen from us before.

    “We’re thrilled to partner with Andrea’s School of Dance on this performance, and we’re delighted to welcome back our Sing Like a Girl campers and include them on this show.”

    Tickets are $15 and are available for purchase at https://tinyurl.com/TOTRRadio and at the door.

    A five-time Regional Championship chorus, Top of the Rock is a fun-loving group of talented women who love to sing a cappella music in the barbershop style. Top of the Rock is a chapter of Sweet Adelines International and a member of Region 25, which is comprised of choruses in north Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas. Top of the Rock currently has more than 50 singers of all ages who live in central Arkansas — and even Memphis.
     
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  • Sing Like a Girl Summer Camp is Back!
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  •  Date Posted: Sun, May 7 2023
    Sing Like a Girl Summer Camp is Back!
    Top of the Rock is excited to announce that the Sing Like a Girl Summer Camp is back! The camp is open to 7th-12th graders and college students (up to age 25).

    The Top of the Rock Chorus Sing Like a Girl Summer Camp is a seven-week program with vocal music instruction classes that begins June 20 and culminates in an Aug. 5 show. There is a $20 cost for T-shirt and materials; however, scholarships are available for participants with financial need.

    Rehearsals are from 6:30-8:30 p.m. on Tuesday nights (June 20, June 27, (July 6), July 11, July 18, July 25 and Aug. 1). Because the Independence Day holiday falls on a Tuesday, we will rehearse on Thursday, July 6.

    If you have further questions, please contact Tina Kneisler at Jahbiri@aol.com.

    Click here to register.

    Participants under the age of 18 also need to submit a photo/video release form signed by their parents or legal guardians. Please print and fill out the attached form and bring it with you to your first rehearsal. 

    Flyer
    Attachment:
  • Member of the Year, Lou Ann Davison Kindness Award
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  •  Date Posted: Fri, May 5 2023
    Member of the Year, Lou Ann Davison Kindness Award
    Congratulations to Tina Kneisler, our TOTR Member of the Year, and Sharon Gardner, the 2023 recipient of the Lou Ann Davison Kindness Award!

    We love these amazing ladies!

     
  • Peggy Gram Scholarship Fund Benefit Raises More than $2,000
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  •  Date Posted: Thu, Feb 16 2023
    Peggy Gram Scholarship Fund Benefit Raises More than $2,000
    Thanks the generosity of our wonderful donors, the Top of the Rock Peggy Gram Scholarship Fund raised $2,170 at its yearly benefit concert on Feb. 12.

    Held at Presbyterian Kirk in the Pines in Hot Springs Village, attendees were treated to performances by Top of the Rock Chorus, Treble in the Village, Random Mix, Roundelay and Harmony on the Rocks.

    “We are so grateful for the support that we have received for the Peggy Gram Scholarship Fund,” said Sharon Gardner, who organized the benefit and leads fundraising efforts for the scholarship.

    The Top of the Rock Peggy Gram Scholarship Fund provides scholarships specifically to women involved in music education or vocal performance education at the secondary level to assist in the furtherance of their music education.

    The scholarship is named in honor of Peggy Gram for her more than 40 years as director of Top of the Rock Chorus.

    Lexie Ellis, a vocal music education major at Arkansas Tech University, is the 2022 recipient of the scholarship.
    Past recipients include Megan Ahne (2018), Haley O'Meara (2019), Alyssa Fraley (2020) and Veronica West (2021).

    Applications for the 2023 scholarship are being accepted and are due by April 15. More information is available at topoftherockchorus.com.

     
  • Oh What a Night!
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  •  Date Posted: Thu, Jun 30 2022
    Oh What a Night!
    What an amazing night!

    We had 15 amazing ladies visit us on our June 14 Membership Night! We ate yummy treats, sang some fun tags, visited with each other and generally had a ball. 

    Check it out!


    Our hostesses 


    Who's up for a tag? 


    Look at all our Rockstar prospective members!

     
  • 2022 Award Recipients
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  •  Date Posted: Mon, May 9 2022
    2022 Award Recipients
    Congratulations to Tamara Boggs and Janell Barkley!

    Tamara is our 2022 Sweet Adeline of the Year award recepient, honored for her tireless efforts as our assistant director. 

    Janell is the first recipient of the LouAnn Davison Memorial Kindness Award, named in honor of our dear LouAnn who died in 2021.

    Both women were honored at Top of the Rock's installation dinner on May 3. 
  • Congratulations!
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  •  Date Posted: Wed, Apr 13 2022
    Congratulations!
    Congratulations to our TOTR members who are celebrating 25 and 50 years as members of Sweet Adelines International!

    From left -- Brenda Craft -- 25 Years
    Janell Barkley -- 50 Years
    Kaye Washburn -- 25 Years
  • TOTR Celebrates 60 Years with Virtual Choir Video
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  •  Date Posted: Mon, Aug 2 2021
    TOTR Celebrates 60 Years with Virtual Choir Video
    Top of the Rock turns 60 this year! To celebrate, we invited current and former members to participate in a virtual choir. So pull up a chair and get ready to rock!
    YouTube Video URL:
  • TOTR's Virtual Choir for the Holidays
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  •  Date Posted: Tue, Dec 8 2020
    TOTR's Virtual Choir for the Holidays
    We miss singing together, so we thought what better Christmas gift to all of us -- and hopefully, all of you -- than a TOTR virtual choir! We hope you enjoy this as much as we enjoyed making it.

    With no further ado, we present "Until COVID's Gone!"
    YouTube Video URL:
  • Top of the Rock Chorus Featured in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
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  •  Date Posted: Wed, Sep 25 2019
    Many thanks to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for a wonderful article in the Sept. 17 Style section on Top of the Rock's trip to New Orleans for the Sweet Adelines International competition!
  • Top of the Rock Peggy Gram Scholarship Featured in College Magazine
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  •  Date Posted: Wed, Jun 19 2019
    Top of the Rock is THRILLED to announce that our TOTR Peggy Gram Scholarship was mentioned in College Magazine as a top music scholarship to apply for now! Click here to see the full list.

    We are committed to helping women succeed and are so thankful to all of our friends, family and supporters who have given so generously to the TOTR Peggy Gram Scholarship Fund.
  • New TOTR Video
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  •  Date Posted: Wed, Apr 10 2019
    New TOTR Video
    Top of the Rock performed at the Region 25 Competition on March 30, 2019, at Robinson Center in Little Rock. We are so pleased with our performance and excited that we have a video to share with you!

     
    YouTube Video URL:
  • Sing Like a Girl Concert Highlights Talents of Women
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  •  Date Posted: Tue, Aug 28 2018
    Sing Like a Girl Concert Highlights Talents of Women
    By Ellen Withers

    Top of the Rock Chorus presented their “Sing Like a Girl” concert on Saturday, Aug. 4, at the Central Arkansas Library System’s Ron Robinson Theatre in Little Rock to rave reviews. The diversity of the program, as well as the spectacular award-winning quartets, was a huge hit with the standing-room only audience.


    The program highlighted the talents of women of all ages, including members of Top of The Rock Chorus, Peggy Gram Scholarship recipient Megan Ahne, participants in the Young Women in Harmony summer vocal program and guest quartets TITANIUM, The Ladies and Minor League. Andrea Alford, Deputy Executive Director of the Arkansas Real Estate Commission, was the Mistress of Ceremonies for the show. Top of the Rock Chorus is directed by Master Director Kelly Causey.

    Over the summer, Top of the Rock Chorus offered a program open to young women to encourage musical education in the barbershop art form. Tina Kneisler was the music director of the program. The participants, who named themselves the Pebbles, were featured during the concert. Thank you to Emily Armstrong, Gracie Armstrong, Abby Ellis, Callie Messick, Beatrice Nkunga, Clara Principe, Riley Rennels and Sofia Theodore for your participation.
    Megan Ahne
    Ahne is the first recipient of the Peggy Gram Scholarship, awarded each year to an individual pursuing music at the secondary level. She is a 2018 graduate of the University of the Ozarks and will pursue a graduate degree at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. Her dream is to become a professional singer.

    TITANIUM is a Dallas-based quartet currently ranked sixth place in the Sweet Adelines International Quartet Competition standings and was awarded the 2018 Novice Quartet Award, given to the highest scoring quartet with at least two members competing at the international level for the first time. They will be competing at the Sweet Adelines International Competition in St. Louis in October.

    The Ladies won the 2016 Sweet Adelines Rising Star Competition for young women in New Zealand and have since performed and taught all around the country at various a cappella and barbershop camps. In March, they competed in their first Region 10 quartet competition and won first place, qualifying them to compete at the International Competition in St. Louis.

    Minor League won second place in the Sweet Adelines Region 25 Young Women in Harmony Quartet competition in 2018 and 2018 Region 25 Most Improved Quartet. They sing with Basically Treble Chorus in The Colony, Texas, the first Young Women in Harmony Chorus to become a chartered chapter of Sweet Adelines International.


    Fifteen-year-old Top of the Rock member, Reilly Principe, was featured in an ensemble called Reilly Principe and The Pretty Girls, formed to highlight her singing talent. Also performing was Top of the Rock’s own quartets and ensembles, Vertigo, Treble in the Village, Roundelay and Heart of the Rock.

    A sincere thank you goes to the “Sing Like a Girl” show committee and Show Chairperson Kathy Harkins for all of their hard work to make the evening such a great success.
     
    Attachment:
  • Top of the Rock Chorus Invited to 2019 International Competition
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  •  Date Posted: Sun, Jun 10 2018
    LITTLE ROCK — Top of the Rock Chorus has accepted a wild card bid to the Sweet Adelines International competition in New Orleans in September 2019.

    With a score of 633, Top of the Rock finished second in the Region 25 Sweet Adelines competition at Robinson Auditorium in March, behind Talk of Tulsa Show Chorus. Both choruses will be competing in New Orleans.

    “It is such an honor to be invited to compete in New Orleans,” said Kelly Causey, director of Top of the Rock. “We are thrilled to represent Arkansas at what is truly an international event featuring the best 34 Sweet Adelines choruses from around the world.”

    Based in Central Arkansas, Top of the Rock is a five-time regional championship chorus made up of talented women who love to sing, perform and grow as singers and musical leaders. The group, which has been performing for more than 50 years, currently has more than 50 singers of all ages.

    In addition to their second-place overall finish in March, Talk of the Rock also won second in the Division AA category for mid-sized choruses and tied for Most Improved Chorus after raising their score 26 points.

    “We were so proud of what we accomplished at regionals in March,” said Causey. “Our chorus garnered the best scores that Top of the Rock has ever achieved. Now, we are planning even greater things for New Orleans.”

    Top of the Rock Chorus is a member of Sweet Adelines International, a worldwide organization of nearly 22,000 women singers committed to advancing the musical art form of barbershop harmony through education, competition and performance. Sweet Adelines International choruses are divided into several geographical regions. Region 25 is comprised of 30 choruses from Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.

    For more information about Top of the Rock, please visit our website at www.topoftherockchorus.com or on Facebook.
  • Top of the Rock Appears in Only in Arkansas
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  •  Date Posted: Sun, Apr 15 2018
    Many thanks to Only in Arkansas for publishing news about Top of the Rock!
  • Big Weekend for Top of the Rock
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  •  Date Posted: Tue, Apr 3 2018
    Big Weekend for Top of the Rock
    Top of the Rock had a big weekend during the Sweet Adelines International Region 25 Competition and Convention on March 23-24. Click here to see our video!

    Top of the Rock tied with Show-Me Harmony Chorus for Most Improved Chorus after both groups raised their scores by a jaw-dropping 26 points! Then, Top of the Rock took home second place in both Division AA (mid-sized choruses) and overall categories, finishing behind Talk of Tulsa Show Chorus.

    Our quartets also wowed and amazed the judges. Vertigo, featuring baritone Tamara Boggs. won fifth place in the overall quartet competition.  Roundelay, featuring Kathy Allison, Mary Devine, Karen Wesson and Ellen Withers, finished 13th out of all competing quartets. Finally, the lovely ladies of Treble in the Village -- Kathy Allison, Kay Crews, Sharon Gardner and Patty Van Cleave -- won the Audience Choice Award in the quartet open division category.

    It was an amazing weekend!
  • Congratulations to our Rudolph's Raffle Winners
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  •  Date Posted: Mon, Mar 12 2018
    We want to give a big Congratulations to the three winners of our Rudolph's Raffle and a big Thank You to our generous sponsors!




    John Stark of Sherwood -- Rudolph's Raffle Winner of the Little Rock Package of a night's stay at the Rosemont B&B Inn and Cottages, dinner at Marriott Heritage Grille Steak and Fin Restaurant, and two tickets to the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra.









    Carroll Allison of Hot Springs Village -- Rudolph's Raffle Winner of the Eureka Springs Package of a night's stay at the Roadrunner Inn and Cabins, dinner at Gaskins Cabin Steakhouse, and a half-day rental of a 24-foot pontoon boat on Beaver Lake from Starkey Marina.







    Steve Drillette of Sherwood -- Rudolph's Raffle Winner of the Branson Package of a night's stay at Mabee Lodge Keeter Center, dinner at Dobyns Dining Room Keeter Center and two tickets to the Six Show-Branson.
  • Support us with Amazon Smile
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  •  Date Posted: Tue, Dec 12 2017
    Support us with Amazon Smile
    Support Top of the Rock when you shop! Just start at smile.amazon.com/ch/71-6057058 and Amazon donates to Top Of The Rock - Sweet Adelines International.
    = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = 
    What an easy way to support TOTR!
  • Top of the Rock Appears in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
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  •  Date Posted: Fri, Oct 27 2017
     

    Arkansas Sounds concert to unite voices of women, men

    Friday's Arkansas Sounds Concert Series show leaves the instruments at the door and turns up the volume on vocals as the Top of the Rock Chorus and Acapella Rising hit the stage.

    The two central Arkansas-based singing groups will each take the stage for their respective sets and then join for a finale. The concert, at the Central Arkansas Library System's Ron Robinson Theater, is the latest in the Arkansas Sounds series, a project of the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, a department of the library system.

    Read More

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