07/17/2026
🎶🎶 Member Spotlight ~ this is Brenda! 🎶🎶
Born and raised in Iowa, Brenda graduated from high school with honors before embarking on a life that would take her across the country and around the world. She has lived in South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, Florida, England (UK), and now proudly calls Michigan home. Her professional career was centered in the financial industry, culminating as Assistant Vice President of Member Services at Northland Area Federal Credit Union. Now happily retired, Brenda jokes that she is "very good at it!"
Brenda is the proud mother of Brooke and Dustin (deceased and dearly missed), stepmother to Trisha, and grandmother to four grandchildren. An avid animal lover, she enjoys spoiling her indoor pets and spending time caring for and observing the birds and wildlife that share her little corner of the northwoods.
Music has been woven throughout Brenda's life from an early age. As a child, she sang in local talent contests and community productions, earning her first television appearance at age 10 on the Bill Riley TV Show in Des Moines, Iowa, after winning a local talent competition. Throughout school, she continued to develop her musical abilities by singing in choir, competing in choral contests, and playing flute in concert band as well as bass drum and piccolo in marching band. As an adult, she won a regional karaoke competition in Michigan.
One of the most meaningful moments of Brenda's musical journey came while living in England, where she performed with a military community choir at the historic Sheldonian Theatre on the campus of Oxford University. Selected to sing a solo, she chose What I Did for Love, dedicating the performance to the memory of her late father.
Brenda began her Sweet Adelines (now Sing United) journey in the early 1990s with Jill Pine Chorus/Sunrise Harmony Chorus. Along the way she also sang with Indian Paintbrush Chorus in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and was a charter member of Spirit of the Gulf Chorus in Fort Myers, Florida. With Spirit of the Gulf, she had the opportunity to compete twice on the international stage, performing in Indianapolis and Nashville and has some international medals to show for it!
Quartet singing has also been an important part of Brenda's musical life. She sang with Fever Pitch, Region 2's novice quartet champions in the early 1990s, and later with Studio4 in Florida, where the quartet balanced regional competition with a passion for community performances, often collaborating with men's doo-wop groups to celebrate the music of the 1950s. Today, Brenda sings with the unregistered quartet Wavelength, bringing four-part harmony to audiences throughout northeastern Michigan. She is also a proud member of Northern Blend Chorus, where she serves as Bass Section Leader and has served several terms as chorus president.
Brenda believes that music is a gift that enriches every stage of life. Years ago, a mother sought her advice when her daughter had to choose between a cheerleading competition and a choral camp scheduled for the same weekend. Brenda's response has become a reflection of her own philosophy:
"In my humble opinion, that choice is a no-brainer. Send her to choral camp! I highly doubt your daughter will be able to top a human pyramid when she is 60, but singing is a joy and a talent that we are blessed to carry throughout our entire lives."
