QUARTET OF NATIONS NEWSLETTER, REGION 31, SWEET ADELINES INTERNATIONAL
SUMMER 2008
HARMONY RAG THRee Generations of Champagne Cornwall I was very busy at Convention this year, singing with Champagne Cornwall Chorus, the Young Women In Harmony Chorus and the Family Chorus. When I sang with Champagne we had three generations on stage, my Nan who sings baritone, I sing lead and my mum s the musical director. We got our best score, just missing out on most improved chorus by one point so we were all really happy. Then in the family chorus we sang together, it is really great singing with
all of the different chorus members and their families on such a huge stage. The rest of the weekend was fun but very tiring, I stayed up and partied with Champagne until late (or should I say early!!). I had a really good time at convention everyone in Region 31 is so friendly and I can’t wait until Croydon, if my mum will let me go….. Pleeeeeease. Lauren Bailey aged 12
Off to Convention for the First Time Not so very long ago I was asked to ‘go to Convention’. I had no idea of what was involved, but I knew it was something pretty big with all the arrangements, rehearsals and growing excitement. I learnt the songs, passed the tapes,, eventually dropped less clangers in the choreography, and desperately tried to smile with ‘apple cheeks’. Then with only six days to go they added ‘raised eyebrows’ into the mix – or the ‘batter’. Just when I thought I was getting there! Oh my, then it started, the excitement, the nerves and the sheer terror – we were going ON FRIDAY! Everything ran smoothly, travel, hotel, the invaluable check list – thanks Sheila! My room mate Carol and I (and our magic bags) made a good team. The Symphony Hall was something to behold. The Quartets amazing, the scores nerve-wracking.
A late night for me followed by an early 4.00 a.m. morning. So, no panic, tea at 5.35 a.m., plenty of time for breakfast, make-up, (with the odd lippy touch-up, it lasted the day out and almost outdid half a dozen extra strong make-up wipes). Rehearsals, traffic patterns, we made it through. Then that was it, six minutes, we were done! What a six minutes though. WOW! it was something else. (Sorry about the extra six waiting for the lights to go out, just wanted them to appreciate us). Then we were off to enjoy the rest of the entries. Time flew, the moment came, scores, nerves, it was much worse than the performing! Up to then it hadn’t mattered, it had all been so good. All the hard work put in by you all, organising, arranging, finances, gorgeous costumes, make-up, travel, songs, rehearsals,
directing, fund raising, the list is endless. Suddenly, IT MATTERED. The result was incredible, the cheers, applause, screams, tears you all deserved them, every single one. What’s more, we got not six but ten minutes to do it all again! This time with all those people out there. Linda did her stuff brill and we all did ours! So, as an official ‘first timer’, I would like to say congratulations and thanks to you all for all your wonderful support, help and encouragement. It has been fantastic. My first ever performance and gold medal. I’m still grinning! So ladies, here’s to next year when I can do my bit. We will have more ‘first timers’ and maybe a gold in mid-size chorus? OH YES ! Beverley Russell,‘First Timer’ Lincoln Sounds Chorus
See centre pages for convention news 1
SUMMER 2008
QUARTET OF NATIONS NEWSLETTER, REGION 31, SWEET ADELINES INTERNATIONAL
No Medal but worth it! Wow - what a weekend! Going back to work was a bit of a reality check though. Tell me, why doesn’t the world stop for barbershop? You may think I would be a bit down in the dumps as my quartet, Mac4, didn’t do as well as we did last year, but I’m not at all and I thought it would be a bit different to write an article for the Rag, when things haven’t worked out quite as you’d wanted. Yes, I was disappointed, yes I’d wanted to do better and it’s true Mac4 have a lot of work to do, so why am I not down? Well, for a number of reasons:I’m healthy and safe and so is everyone I care about. I still love my MacMates and know we will continue to work hard and try and improve.
The standard of singing in this marvellous job and the whole weekend Region is getting better year on year went so well. and that is brilliant. We are among lots and lots of people who go to Convention and don’t win a medal, perhaps have never won, but they keep coming back because it’s about more than the medals. Last, but not least, I’ve got it all to look forward to again next year! Convention weekend is so much more to me than the contests and I think I have only really realised that since I’ve been on the RMT. It’s a fabulous weekend of sharing highs and I met up with many friends across lows, hearing and seeing some great the Region and people are so friendly, barbershop and receiving some brilliant kind and caring. education. I wouldn’t have wanted to be Emma Riley, Convention anywhere else that weekend! Co-ordinator, Debbie Pern, Convention Elaine Hamilton,Bari, Mac4 Chair and everyone else involved did a quartet and Forth Valley Chorus
LINCOLN SOUNDS TOPS IN LINCOLNSHIRE As usual, the 2008 annual Lincoln Music Festival culminated with the Barbershop Chorus section on Friday evening, 14 March. This is always eagerly anticipated by us as it has become a tradition between ourselves and Harmony Lincs, the Lincoln men’s barbershop chorus, to ‘fight’ for the Andy Hodgson Trophy as top Lincolnshire barbershop chorus, and having lost to them by the narrowest of margins for the last couple of years, we were determined to reverse the trend. Also competing were the men’s Major Oak Chorus from Nottingham whose chorus director,Glenn, is married to our chorus director Alyson, which gives the whole event an additional bit of spice. This year it was great to hear the ladies’ Humber Bells Chorus from North East Lincolnshire who were taking part in the Music Festival for the first time. As Alyson is retiring as our Music Director, this was the last time we would sing in the Music Festival under her direction so we really wanted it to be a memorable occasion. The supporters of all the choruses were as encouraging as only barbershoppers are - so there was a great atmosphere as the competition got underway. Harmony Lincs were first to sing and sounded better than ever, so we knew we had a fight on our hands. Next it was the turn of the Humber Bells who had the difficult task of following the larger men’s chorus, and then it was our turn. We usually sing our Regional Convention package at the festival, but this time it was decided to change the up-tune, and started full-on with ‘Love Potion No 9’, followed 2
as a complete contrast by the newest song in our repertoire, the beautiful ‘If I Give My Heart to You’ - only the 2nd time we’d sung it to an audience. And judging by their reaction, it was the right decision. But we had no way of knowing if it was good enough. The Major Oak Chorus were the last to sing and gave their usual high quality performance. And then of course, there was the wait for the results they were read out by the adjudicator in reverse order after she had summarised each of the performances. As for our performance, this is what the crit sheet said: ‘Love Potion Number Nine’ ‘We were immediately in mood here. A big sound - and a rich tone in lower parts. The tension built and burst out at ‘love potion’, very effective climax and change of tempo. Very enjoyable. ‘If I Give My Heart to You’ This was very moving. A marvellous ending. Excellent control and beautiful singing from everyone. A very inspiring group. We were absolutely delighted with her comments and our winning score of 91 points which was the highest in all the choral sections of the Music Festival. A definite boost for barbershop in the area. Of course the trophy will be displayed at every possible opportunity until next year’s Lincoln Music Festival. To continue showcasing barbershop in the city, on Friday 14 November, Lincoln Sounds is presenting a joint concert with the local Fossdyke Band at the Drill Hall in Lincoln. So make a date in your diaries and come along and give us your support. Details will be available nearer the date.
QUARTET OF NATIONS NEWSLETTER, REGION 31, SWEET ADELINES INTERNATIONAL
SUMMER 2008
How We got there ! The most common question I was asked over the rest of the weekend was “how did you do that?” The answer isn’t straight forward although I guess all the elements of our build up were quite simple and, I believe, achievable by all. At the heart of the whole process had been patience, persistence and a lot of hard work by everybody concerned, coupled with vision and faith that our chosen route was the right one. The priorities were: basic vocal skills, choice of music designed to stretch those skills and focussing on what the Alexander Technique calls the means whereby rather than end–gaining a result. From our origins as a school chorus in 1990 through the formation of the Lace City Singers in 1992, our first contest in 1997 and our first medal in 2000. Then our 3rd place in 2002 (a step down from 2nd the year before), we were tumbling forward with no real plan for long term development. At that point we developed a two year plan to achieve B plus and setting that goal, rather than specifically aiming to win gold, was the crucial first step. Detailed research of the judging category descriptions and analysis of how we weren’t doing the necessary, was followed by Music Team training and specific targets for sections and whole chorus rehearsals. Exactly on schedule we hit our B plus target in May 2004 and it was good enough to win us our first gold ahead of Surrey Harmony who, along with the Aberdeen Chorus, had for a decade been our inspiration. Off we went to Detroit in October 2005 with high hopes, only to realise that we needed to serve our apprenticeship at International level. Observing those great choruses made us realise we had a mountain to climb and whilst some were demoralised by our placing (29th) the chorus resolved to do better next time. Crucial decision number 2: Before going to Detroit we had decided to take an extra year out of Regional contest. What a mistake that would have been
– I urge all choruses to think long and hard before missing a Regional contest because things move on so fast it’s a struggle to catch up. We changed our minds straight away, buckled down to do the best we could in Plymouth in 2006 and were just good enough to stay ahead of a brilliant Forth Valley Chorus.Calgary 07 provided the incentive to raise our game. Crucial decision number 3: Our Management Team agreed to invest heavily in coaching and this allowed us to bring in Claire Gardiner (our first proper coach who helped us to our
first medal in 2000), the amazing Dale Syverson and the charismatic Sandi Wright (who just happened to bring along husband David – you know David: arranges a bit!). The plan worked very well and we moved up from 29th based on out qualifying score to 18th in the contest with a B plus score. Now we really had the bit between our teeth. In April 2007 Dale gave us what she called a “total brain download” and said that it might take a whole year before we really had all the benefits. This turned out to be true. It was as if she had planted a bunch of time bombs which went off at regular intervals allowing us access to the skills. Crucial decision number 4: We adopted Dale’s suggestion to use “blending rehearsals” to develop individual responsibility and to help eliminate individual voices. By the way, this isn’t done by asking the prominent voice to move back but by bringing all the other voices out to meet the prominent voice at all dynamic levels.
Our faith in this process meant that we decided to employ only one overseas coach in the preparation for Birmingham. Sandi came for one weekend just 3 weeks before the contest. We felt we had improved since Calgary but as the progress had been gradual we really couldn’t tell. It was only when, 30 minutes into day one of the weekend, Sandi took me one side and said “you do realise they are singing ‘A’ don’t you?” Sandi adapted her plan and we set about developing our performance and really moving the energy out to audience. It was an exhausting experience, both physically and emotionally, but so rewarding. Sandi is a real treasure and we are so pleased to have been introduced to her by Ellie Mills (bass of Luminous and joint member of Lace City and St Louis Harmony choruses). Our thanks go also to Rob Barber who worked with us for one evening just before Sandi’s arrival. This has been a huge team effort by the whole chorus. Our musical, visual and management teams plus those responsible for show planning, costume and make-up have all contributed to the amazing development we have enjoyed. Every member of the chorus has risen to the challenge of raising their own individual level whilst welcoming and supporting a large number of new members. Our four fabulous quartets have made a huge contribution, not only with their obvious skills but by providing us with a fantastic boost with their achievements on the Friday night. Storm’s performance (along with that of Eu4ria) made us realise that anything is possible. We are very grateful to all our friends in Region 31 for your kind words and good wishes. We will continue to think big, aim high and represent you with all our heart. If any of you are in the Nottingham area please do come and see us. You are always welcome. And finally, every good wish to Phoenix who we know will be fantastic in Hawaii. Glenn Chaney (Director, Lace City Chorus) 3
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QUARTET OF NATIONS NEWSLETTER, REGION 31, SWEET ADELINES INTERNATIONAL
‘Becoming a member’ (Based on “Take me to the land of jazz”) Warm air rising, falling, flowing; ‘C-P-T’ Love that noise, that grace and poise, and chubbies glowing. that’s Sheffield Harmony.. Banish all that lassitude; try to sing with attitude, It was down to Ringinglow, that I heard I had to go, Should there be doubt over crotchet or quaver, To join some lasses, with masses of talent for a show. Consult Win in the corner, she’s sure to remember. Now I knew they’d got some style, so I listened for a while. “Give me five!” Judy says, “then a three and a two; Pam was leading, really pleading, with those girls to smile. Somebody’s flat – leads is it you?” They took me to the land of jazz, but Then all at once, after many a tear, the then they said I’d have to pass dread audition night was here. The big audition – it was a mission, but did I have the class? I dearly hoped my dedication, would Well I took the file away, and I practised night and day, overcome my trepidation. So many things to learn anew, I hoped I’d master just a few. But yet, that dire anticipation, swiftly cured my constipation. Not only the music, but also the moves, and Tina said “It won’t be hellish – have a as I’m well known for my two left hooves, practice now with ‘Relish’.” There was no way that me – or Cheryl – They were so kind, they said “That’s nice could possibly keep up with Beryl. – summon Pam” and in a trice But with Joan around, I quickly found, that it was generally wiser The test was very quickly passed, and I was one of them at last! Not to talk whilst on the riser. So, ladies, to sum up: Dots and tags; ribs and throat, posture, You took me to the land of jazz, and you tune-up and keynote. taught me a bit of that razzamatazz. Don’t you start off on the fence, hit I’d like to thank you, every one, for that note with confidence. making Mondays so much fun. Feet apart and power breathing, stand And if you ask me who’s the cream of the crop? up tall and reach the ceiling. Well, it’s Sheffield Ladies Barbershop! Bend the knees, shoulders down, Ergie, Shefflied open throat – lose that frown.
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QUARTET OF NATIONS NEWSLETTER, REGION 31, SWEET ADELINES INTERNATIONAL
SUMMER 2008
CONVENTION RAG
Chorus Champions 2008 – lace city
quartet Champions 2008 – Eu4ia 5
SUMMER 2008
QUARTET OF NATIONS NEWSLETTER, REGION 31, SWEET ADELINES INTERNATIONAL
Lace City: To Boldly Go! On the day of the contest we had just one 90 minute rehearsal before witnessing Lincoln Sounds’ excellent performance. On our way to our contest slot, blessed with great weather, we decided to sing outside the Symphony Hall to the passing public in full stage costume and make-up so that we wouldn’t have to sing in the warm up room. Excellent fun and a great way to reduce the tension. It certainly seemed like the final frontier when Carol Kirkpatrick was revealing the scores at the end of the chorus contest in Birmingham. Apparently I had my head between my knees and my jacket over my head for the whole time the results were being announced as if preparing for a crash landing. I just remember feeling very ill! Six A minus scores and two A scores in sound were the result of all our planning and hard graft. It was rather sobering to realise we had achieved the 6th highest score and the 2nd highest sound score in the World this year and clearly we had to be at that level to finish ahead of the fantastic
Surrey Harmony Chorus. We look forward to sharing the Nashville experience with them and together representing our fantastic region which has been such a great support to us by providing all the wonderful education in recent times. Glenn Chaney
What a fabulous weekend Eu4ia took a year off last year. Well a year off competing at least. After a number of years of contest – LABBS 2000 and 2001, Europe 2003, SAI Regionals 2004 and 2005 and of course Detriot and Vegas in 2005 and 2006 we thought it was time to CHILL OUT. No wonder John Grant spends his time telling us to be ‘less FRANTIC’ (more of that later…) Being adrenaline junkies we managed to fit in a few things – Heartbeat’s 10th anniversary show, coaching from Renee Porzel and Doug Harrington, attending Region 31 contest (for FUN), singing at the Irish convention and attending the education weekend in Newcastle. Our lead up to contest wasn’t the easiest. Sandra and Nancy both had a cough for 3 months and had three lots of anti-biotics (Nancy is still finishing the last lot and Sandra has started coughing again….). Kate damaged 4 discs in her back and ended up off work for 8 weeks. Kate was unable to travel and we couldn’t get all four of us singing at a rehearsal. Nancy had also just finished another (unsuccessful) round of IVF. Stress levels have been high… Being unable to sing Sandra issued us with some presentation homework…. - stop flapping our arms about - stop looking at the floor or gazing into space - watch America’s Next Top Model and copy Tyra Banks’ ‘soft eyes’ pose And so when they announced the results and the MARKS we were truly thrilled to bits. Those Tyra Banks ‘soft eyes’ must have done something ! Lots of emotions and a wonderful moment for us. We are really, really looking forward to going 6
to Hawaii and trying to do the region proud – along with our friends in Phoenix. Thank you again to everyone who said such nice things to us about our performance, the texts, emails and guestbook messages and for our reception on the show on Saturday night. Isn’t it weird when you go back to work and have to be a normal person again?? Nancy’s husband said to her on Saturday – what’s it like walking around with people telling you how great you were all day…(IT’S EXCELLENT…) Sandra competed with her chorus Heartbeat in the contest for the first time this year as well. We felt very proud to watch them in their understated outfits (red and gold harlequin sequins…..) and they were over the moon with their 6th place and 590 points. Pretty good first outing ! Overall it was an amazing contest and weekend. Fabulous performances from Forth Valley, Surrey and Lace City. We didn’t see Breakthrough or Storm – but heard how great they were (we have our spies !!) – and what scores. One of the judges said that our region is really starting to be noticed…. We are now going to be frantically fund raising to go to Hawaii. Speaking of frantically (I said we’d come back to that)….we have a new CD. If you would like to help us on our way to international along with purchasing a very nice CD with some good songs on it please drop us an email and we’d be very pleased to send you one in exchange for only £10! Finally as we had so many queries about who the three Eu4ia husbands were in the Cottontown Chorus we enclose a photo of us and our men so you can see who belongs to who. They are our wonderful supporters. Eu4ia - www.eu4ia-quartet.co.uk
QUARTET OF NATIONS NEWSLETTER, REGION 31, SWEET ADELINES INTERNATIONAL
Silver Medal, Storm
Bronze Medal, Breakthrough
4th Place, Flaunt
5th Place, Upbeat
Silver Medal, Surrey Harmony
Bronze Medal, Forth Valley
4th Place, Flying High Singers
5th Place, Aberdeen
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QUARTET OF NATIONS NEWSLETTER, REGION 31, SWEET ADELINES INTERNATIONAL
Midsize Chorus Gold Medal, Flying High Singers
Small Chorus Gold Medal, Lincoln Sounds
Midsize Chorus Silver Medal, Heartbeat
Small Chorus Silver Medal, Somerset Hills
Midsize Chorus Bronze Medal, Spinnaker
Small Chorus Bronze Medal, B Natural
Stockport Liberty Belles
New Land Singers
Champagne Cornwall
Mayflowers Plymouth
Coastline Harmony
Solent Sounds
Classic Harmony
Apple County UK
Riverside Harmony
QUARTET OF NATIONS NEWSLETTER, REGION 31, SWEET ADELINES INTERNATIONAL
SUMMER 2008
Congratulations to everybody Photographs courtesy ©Dave Page Photography
Dres Kernow
born to be wild Look out Nashville, the Brits are coming! The prospect of Region 31 having two choruses at International is something everyone should be proud of. It’s a reflection of the Region’s ever growing standard and the result of the sheer hard work that’s been put in over the past few years. Congratulations to Lace City Singers on their win and their amazing score. Now we can say for sure that Region 31’s singers are no longer the second class barbershoppers from across the pond. Surrey Harmony is thrilled to be in the wildcard line-up for the 2009 International Convention. Never have we been so interested in the results of other regional competitions as we were on the weekend following our own Convention in Birmingham. We held the third spot on the wildcard list going into the weekend and we wanted desperate to hang onto it. By the Saturday night after the New Zealand result was known and Valerie Taylor who was trial
scoring in Cleveland Ohio texted the result from there, we knew we were in. It was more cause for celebration after a successful weekend in Birmingham with our increased score taking us into an A minus category and a silver medal. We had 15 new members on stage with us for the first time in Birmingham and now they understand what the fuss is all about. Jenny is more fired up than ever, threatening us with even more hard work in the next 18 months. We will be running
Fancy doing some Arranging? Go to Harmony College
Jubilee Campus - Nottingham University 22 to 24 August 2008 Arranging is just one of the courses available at BABS Harmony College. Visit the Harmony College link on the BABS web site for all the latest information. Book on-line or by post. Cost for the 3-day residential event includes course fees, all meals and en-suite accommodation.
HARMONY COLLEGE www.singbarbershop.com
The British Association of Barbershop Singers Druids Lea, Upper Stanton Drew, Bristol BS39 4EG Registered Charity No: 1080930
our SH-ooters programme again for Nashville. We have sent out an email to all choruses giving information about this. Please look at the Surrey website – surreyharmony.com. Anyone interested in joining Surrey Harmony on the International stage should email Jenny at jennylwsn@ googlemail.com. There’s a line in the Steppenwolf classic song “Lookin’ for adventure. And whatever comes our way”. They are words we intend to live by between now and October 2009. Surrey Harmony really is “Born to be Wild”. Sheena Kaighin P.S. I am sad to be leaving Region 31 for four years because I am moving to Anchorage in Alaska. The good news is I am hoping to join Alaska Sound Celebration Chorus, who will also be competing in Nashville representing Region 13. I wish Region 31 continued success and look forward to coming back to the family on my return.
My Last Rag The new editor of the E-Rag will be Rose Paxman and you can email all your articles as before, with photos, to her on: rosesings@gmail.com. Please keep all articles coming in as it is great to hear from all the choruses, great and small. I would like to thank everyone for their kind words and please don’t think that this is the last you have heard of me. Deborah Editor Harmony Rag – Last time Membership Coordinator 9
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QUARTET OF NATIONS NEWSLETTER, REGION 31, SWEET ADELINES INTERNATIONAL
FEEDBACK FROM CONVENTION Wow, what a fantastic weekend!! We should be so proud • The BABS quartet and chorus. of everything the region has achieved – the highest scores • Fun in the afterglow. No hangover on Sunday! [Obviously not in our region in both the quartet and chorus competitions, the same person] and two wild cards for the first time ever! It is all down to • Inspirational! A renewed passion for SAI! your hard work and commitment that we are growing and • Just fabulous! The best convention yet! More of the same achieving even greater levels of success. It is also clear that please! the fantastic education in our region has paid off – huge Areas for improvement: thanks go to Alyson Chaney for her work over the last few • Quartets, Directors and Presidents to remain on stage before years. That’s some act I have to follow! the results are announced. [We will do this next year] • House lights were not dimmed during competition. Your Feedback • Appoint a buddy chorus for first timers. We asked everyone who attended convention to fill out a • More help for those new to barbershop. feedback form. The RMT is very interested in your comments • Have someone on duty front of house to deal with any and we are grateful to those who completed forms. We can problems once the competition has started. use your comments to produce bigger and better events in the • More water in the traffic pattern. future! Here is a summary of the comments we received: • A video feed in the lobby so those outside can watch the competition. Things you liked: • More time for Harmony Bazaar. More space for photo • Fantastic results! Medals! displays. • The friendship – meeting old friends and making new ones. • Include the size of each chorus (A, AA or large) in the • It was great to welcome the Dutch choruses. programme and models so you can draw pictures of • Great education this year – Lorraine Rochefort’s music costumes. selection class, Sharon Babb and Carole Kirkpatrick, tag • Better organisation needed for the YWIH chorus and the singing. mass sing. • A wonderful venue – can we have convention here all the • Start education classes at 11am on Sunday. time? • A brilliant Saturday night show! Great to see/perform in the Thanks again for your feedback. Roll on Convention 2009 YWIH chorus. in Newcastle! • Listening to and watching all the Region 31 performers. • Knowledge of how the whole convention process works. Valerie Taylor, Education Coordinator
Congratulations Jess - 30 Years On Monday April 7th 2008, the City of Roses Chorus presented Jess Campbell with a gift and cake, in recognition of her being a member of Sweet Adelines for 30 years. Jess is our longest serving Sweet Adeline member and over the years has contributed so much to the Chorus. On behalf of the chorus – congratulations Jess! Also, Jess and her husband, Colin, have another celebration this year. In July Jess and Colin will have been married for a sensational 60 years – 10
I’m sure you’ll all join us in wishing Jess and Colin a wonderful day of celebrations. City of Roses Chorus Aberdeenshire
Fancy trying Directing? Go to Harmony College
Jubilee Campus - Nottingham University 22 to 24 August 2008 Directing for Beginners is just one of the courses at Harmony College. Visit the Harmony College link on the BABS web site for all the latest information. Book on-line or by post. Cost for the 3-day residential event includes course fees, all meals and en-suite accommodation.
HARMONY COLLEGE www.singbarbershop.com
The British Association of Barbershop Singers Druids Lea, Upper Stanton Drew, Bristol BS39 4EG Registered Charity No: 1080930
QUARTET OF NATIONS NEWSLETTER, REGION 31, SWEET ADELINES INTERNATIONAL
Judges’ Feedback The judges were so impressed with the standards in the
region and said how far we have come. They also thought our performances were wonderfully entertaining! Their main comment was that region 31 is hot, hot, HOT!!! The comments mainly concern artistry and finesse rather than the basics of singing and performance, which reflects the high standards in the region. That is a real achievement!
Sound
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natural phrasing. There were some weak music selections, more so with quartets. Many choruses and quartets could improve pitch-taking technique: taking a pitch does not mean your quartet is unprofessional!
Expression
We still need to work on diction – put Rs in the right place and don’t put them in where they don’t belong, e.g. on the end of “Mama”. Some diction was unclear with words rather mushy. Another area for improvement is forward motion – flowing breathe/sing phrases rather than stop/start. Aim for quality of sound, not quantity (over-singing). Unity of target vowels is important: hit them, build and turn diphthongs together.
It is clear we have been working on vocal skills and barbershop delivery [hooray!]. Most choruses sang with conviction and gusto. Areas for development include sticking to the tonal centre, especially in the intro to a ballad, and Pythagorean/fine tuning of chords. We all need to continue working on stamina and vocal artistry. Quartets – avoid Showmanship scooping and the use of glottal stops. Keep working on the There are lots of great quartets and choruses in the region! lead/bass match and watch out for strident singing. For the most part quartets matched hair styles and costumes Music well. Quartets should avoid taking too long with pitch taking, Many quartets are singing at a good level and the top and avoid cutting off the audience by turning in to each other quartets have very strong vocal skills. Other areas for before starting a song. In some cases choruses were not quartets to look at include ploddy or choppy phrasing and a as successful at styling and hairstyles were too casual for messy sound affecting unit delivery. Choruses – fine vocal dressy costumes. Some directors seemed to get in the way skills demonstrated! Some arrangements were too “busy” of the performance, resulting in synchronisation errors. We with unnecessary embellishments which caused problems need to strive for more creative visual plans to avoid too rather than allowing you to showcase vocal skills. Work on much repetition within songs. controlled musical energy (no over-singing) and smooth, Valerie Taylor, Education Coordinator
All together now.. Picture this if you will, a dreary, wet day at the beginning of April. The directions you have been given lead you to a back street car park in Birmingham, where it looks as though you are being charged £4 for the pleasure of having your car potentially driven off by the local youth and a short walk to a small back door that leads into a building that has several meeting rooms. Have you been asked to a meeting of a national crime syndicate? When entering the reception room of the building, you find yourself in the company of a number of people, faces that look familiar, wearing badges with names on of people that you’ve heard of, but just can’t think where from. You start recognising group badges that people are wearing, representatives of Apple County, Sheffield Harmony and Phoenix Chorus – then other people’s badges Humber Ladies, Capital Connection and even men, representatives of Hereward Harmony, Cotton Town Chorus and Thames Valley Chorus. I should have spotted the Barbershop connection a lot earlier by the friendly welcome – but representatives of all three organisations
in the same room at the same time. Was this right? Of course it was, this was the first joint venture of British Barbershop groups, working together under the title of Barbershop in Harmony. Barbershop in Harmony is the result of bringing the organisations closer together, to spread the word about barbershop across the country. The marketing workshop held in Birmingham was the first of many events that are being organised to make this happen.
The day was made up of discussions and workshops on how best to promote our hobby, how to get the most from your website, how to write press releases and promote your chorus on the radio. The whole day was very enjoyable. It was good to meet up with LABBS and BABS representatives and find that they have exactly the same problems as we do in getting the right message about Barbershop out into the public domain,
but hopefully some of the tips and advice we were given at this workshop will help spread the word about how great our hobby is and why they should come and join us. Many other Barbershop in Harmony workshops are being planned, so watch this space for more details or go to www.barbershopinharmony.co.uk to find out more. Ally Page Region 31 Communications Co-ordinator Barbershop in Harmony Update: CD: Best of British Barbershop – in production! Choruses will be contacted when the CD is available. Barbershop Awareness Week – culminating in a show at the London Palladium on a date to be announced. The show will feature top choruses and quartets from LABBS and BABS as well as the 2009 region 31 chorus and quartet champions.Young Singers’ Harmony Camp – this will be held on 11-14 August 2009 and is being run by the BABS chorus in Lincoln with input from LABBS and Sweet Adelines.
11
SUMMER 2008
QUARTET OF NATIONS NEWSLETTER, REGION 31, SWEET ADELINES INTERNATIONAL
Regional Faculty
The Regional Faculty is our own group of trained coaches and educators. They can help in a variety of ways including chorus and quartet coaching, as well as management and administrative advice. Please feel free to contact them to see what they can do for you. Alternatively if you are unsure who to contact, your Education Co-ordinator, Alyson Chaney can advise you on who would be best for you. Fees and expenses should be agreed with faculty members in advance Anne Cargill, Aberdeen Chorus Aberdeen - 01224 704627 acargill@lochside.fsbusiness.co.uk Alyson Chaney, Lace City Singers and Lincoln Sounds Chorus Nottingham - 01636 814377 alysonchaney@yahoo.co.uk Glenn Chaney, Lace City Singers Chorus Nottingham - 01636 814377 glennsings@yahoo.co.uk
Regional Convention Dates: 8th - 10th May 2009 Newcastle 7th - 9th May 2010 Newcastle
Other Diary Dates: Educational Workshop 17-17 October 2008, Fairfield Halls, Croydon
Final IES 16-19 July 2008, Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas BABS Harmony College 22-24th August 2008
Elaine Hamilton, Forth Valley Chorus Edinburgh - 0131 334 2372 elainemrssh@aol.com Dorothy Main, Aberdeen Chorus Aberdeen - 01224 782124 emmandee@tiscali.co.uk Mike Taylor, Spinnaker Chorus Southampton - 01489 600134 mike@singwell.me.uk Valerie Taylor, Surrey Harmony Chorus Croydon - 020 8660 8037 valerie.taylor@privacysolutions.co.uk Rebecca Thorpe, Coastliner Harmony Chorus Fareham - 01329 2354491 Becks2010@hotmail.com Gwen Topp, Aberdeen Chorus Aberdeen - 01224 575366 gmtopp@tiscali.co.uk
Forth Valley Chorus Friday 3rd october, Queens Hall. Edinburgh. Tickets £12/£10 available 12
2007-2008 Debbie Pern Team Coordinator Aberdeen Chorus Tel: 01224 586430 admin@deesidegolfclub.com Elaine Hamilton Directors’ Coordinator Forth Valley Chorus Tel: 0131 334 2372 elainemrssh@aol.com Eileen Milne Finance Coordinator Aberdeen Chorus Tel: 01224 742453 ge@cromar26.demon.co.uk Valerie Taylor Education Coordinator Surrey Harmony Tel: 020 8660 8037 valerie.taylor@privacysolutions.co.uk
Michelle Walker, Lace City Singers Chorus Nottingham - 0115 9654524 shelbywalks@yahoo.co.u
Emma Riley Events Coordinator Surrey Harmiony Tel: 01737 226556 emma.riley@lexisnexis.co.uk
from the Box Office (0131688 2109|) or contact@forthvalleychorus.org.
Tracey Bailey Marketing Coordinator Champagne Cornwall Chorus Tel: 01726 63937 allthebaileys@aol.com
Let us know the details and we will print it here. Swell those audiences for free!
DEADLINE for the next issue
28th August
Got a show?
Forth Valley Chorus at Carnegie Hall, Dunfermline - Sunday 27th July, Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival, Ross andstand, Edinburgh
Regional Management Team
Editor : Rose Paxman 69A Muskoka Drive, Sheffield, S11 7RH Tel: 07768751262 Email: rosesings@gmail.com
Deborah Lamble Membership Coordinator Spinnaker Chorus Tel: 01202 487287 deborah@lamble.plus.com Alison Page Communications Coordinator Classic Harmony Chorus Tel: 01733 242937 alison page@btinternet.com