Frenzy Quartet - Meet Us

Anne Downton, Baritone

Anne has been singing barbershop since 2000, when she joined Westcoast Harmony Chorus. Anne is now the Master Director of Westcoast Harmony (the youngest person ever to attain Master Director status!) and, under her direction, Westcoast has won the Region 26 Chorus Competition, and are the 2013 International Harmony Classic Division AA Champions. Anne is also the Education Coordinator for Region 26, serves on the Regional Education Faculty, and has established herself as a trusted vocal coach for individuals, quartets and choruses around the pacific northwest.

Anne started as a lead and made the switch to baritone in 2006 to sing with Young Women in Harmony quartet, Stir It Up, winning a 2nd place medal at the International Rising Star Contest.

Anne lives in the Greater Vancouver area, and in her “other life”, works at a law firm as a senior corporate legal assistant. In 2010, Anne completed her Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Criminology from Simon Fraser University.

Judy Pozsgay, Bass

Judy discovered the wonderful world of Sweet Adelines in 1994. She spent 15 years at Lions Gate Chorus, where she was the Choreographer, an Assistant Director and Artistic Director. Judy is now a Chapter-at-Large member of Region 26.

Judy’s talents are shared beyond the chorus level, and she is very active within the Sweet Adeline world at both the Regional (member of Region 26 Education Faculty) and International levels (Showmanship Judge and International Faculty). Professionally, Judy is a talented visual and performance coach and shares her choreographic and musical skills with choruses and quartets around the world. Not being one to simply create and teach, Judy has been a member of multiple Top 10 International Quartet Finalist quartets over the years (former quartets Unplugged and Mojo), and is having a blast singing bass in Frenzy.

Although a proud Canadian and die-hard Vancouver Canucks fan, she married her American Sweetheart, Chris, and she is now based in Seattle, Washington.

Melissa Pope, Tenor

Melissa has been singing barbershop since she was a kid. She wrote tags for her dad’s gospel quartet, before she knew what ‘barbershop’ was. She also had a quartet in high school called ‘Treble Tones’ that she was involved in writing and arranging their music.

Since joining Sweet Adelines, over 20 years ago, she has had the privilege to sing with two top-ten choruses (Toast of Tampa and Song of Atlanta) and three top-ten quartets (Crystal Clear, Journey, and Frenzy!). Her husband lured her away from the balmy south to the Seattle area in 2008, which makes Frenzy her first ‘local’ quartet in a long time. (Anytime she doesn’t have to board a plane to get to rehearsal is considered a ‘local’ rehearsal!)

She enjoys making learning tracks in her spare time. And, when she’s not in the recording studio, she’s at home with Jeremiah and their adorable baby, Ethan.

MEET FRENZY

Nikki Blackmer, Lead

Nikki is a classically trained Soprano with a Master’s Degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Washington. Before discovering the joys of a cappella singing, she sang with the Portland Opera and the South Australian State Opera.

Nikki teaches private lessons, is the Director of Music at the Lake Washington United Methodist Church, and directs the award winning women’s a cappella chorus, A Cappella Joy.

Nikki’s primary teaching area is voice where she teaches everyone from those who have never sung before to those brushing up for concerts, but also spends some time teaching beginning and intermediate piano.

Music takes up the majority of Nikki’s time and energies, but Frenzy, Airedale dog rescue, and music arrangement occupy important corners of her time as well. Nikki creates communities and is never happier than when people find the joy of life while creating art.