For the longest time, anyone within earshot heard that the Choraleers snagged Barbara Whitesides straight out of water aerobics at the Canyon Lake pool. Vanessa’s playlist is legendary, and we ladies do tend to sing our way through lunges and leg lifts. I liked to imagine Barbara simply following the harmonies from the shallow end straight into rehearsal.
But that version doesn’t quite hold water.
The truth is, she came to our James Bond concert with her beloved sister, Gay. Somewhere between the intrigue and the final bow, she made up her mind. She was joining. And when Barbara decides, things move.
What we are only now fully realizing is this: a bona fide broadcasting force is sitting in our rehearsal chairs. A woman who spent thirty years stepping up to a microphone, commanding it, and earning the trust of millions—now bringing that same discipline, timing, and stage instinct into our rehearsals, quietly raising the bar for all of us.
For three decades, Barbara stood behind the microphone as a radio newscaster and later as a talk show host. Ten of those years were at KFI AM 640 in Los Angeles, one of Southern California’s premier news and talk stations. This is major-market, breaking-news, no-room-for-error broadcasting. To hold that microphone for a decade at that level requires authority, composure, and absolute command of your craft.
Live radio offers no retakes. No edits. No second chances. There is only preparation, instinct, and the ability to think clearly while the clock is ticking. Barbara did that every day for thirty years. She covered breaking stories, conducted interviews, navigated fast-moving conversations, and built an audience that depended on her voice. It was steady. It was credible. It mattered.
When her radio chapter closed, she did not step away from the microphone. She simply changed the stage. She turned toward storytelling, where timing, nuance, and emotional cadence carry the day. She became an active member of Storytellers of San Diego and, after moving to Canyon Hills, joined Spoken Word Storytelling and Poetry Reading. Different venue. Same command. The microphone has always suited her. It is part of her story.
So yes, she may have shown up at a James Bond concert. But what we truly discovered was that a seasoned professional—an accomplished broadcaster and storyteller—had been in our orbit all along.
Since last fall, the back row has never been the same. Add one commanding tenor voice, undeniable stage presence, and a personality that fills the room, and the result is unmistakable.
The Choraleers didn’t just recruit Barbara Whitesides.
We landed a star!