HarmonyRag Quartet of Nations Newsletter, Region 31 Sweet Adelines International Summer 2009
CHAMPIONS! By Jeni, Lesley, Lorna and Claire
dream. We never thought that we could win against such tough competition and that makes it even more special. We received so many lovely
our best to make you proud when we travel to Nashville in October and can’t wait to cheer on Lace City and Surrey Harmony. Our chorus Heartbeat is still on cloud nine too with bronze medals, first place in midsize and top marks in both presentation and sound. What a way to end the perfect weekend!! We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported and believed in us over the years; to Lesley Carson senior for setting us out on this journey and for her never ending confidence that we could make it; our fantastic chorus Heartbeat; Eu4ia, John Grant & Neil Firth for their inspirational coaching and to all the many people who have contacted us since our win with messages of support
comments both over the weekend and since we returned home and are truly touched by people’s kindness. We will do
and congratulations. You have made us four of the proudest and happiest people in the country right now!”
“When Tone-Acity were announced as the 2009 Region 31 Quartet Champions we finally realised our dreams!
When we originally formed as “New Generation” back in 1999 I don’t think any of us had any idea of the long and winding journey we were starting on. Jeni (tenor), Lorna (baritone) & her sister Lesley (lead) are lifelong friends who got coaxed into helping Lesley senior when she decided to form Heartbeat Chorus 12 years ago. Claire (bass) answered a newspaper advert around a year later and soon became part of the barbershop family. The quartet was born and Jeni, Lesley, Claire & her friend Katie formed “New Generation”. Our first ever competition experience was in the Millennium joint LABBS and BABS convention in Brighton where we shuffled onto stage in our pink outfits, missed out a page of our uptune and finished a distant last place! We carried on singing and learning and in 2002 we were placed 5th in the LABBS quartet competition. Katie decided to move on to pastures new, Jeni switched to tenor and Lorna joined as our baritone, and in 2004 we were again placed 5th at LABBS. In 2007 we entered the Region 31 contest
for the first time. We decided we weren’t the “New Generation” anymore and picked “Tone-Acity” to represent our stubbornness and determination. We placed a respectable tenth and made a lot of new friends. In 2008 we knew the quartet standard was going to be higher than ever and worked hard hoping to grab a spot in the medals. When the results were announced and we had placed tenth again, there is no denying that we were disappointed. We decided to give it one final shot. We planned a rehearsal schedule, picked our competition package and set to work. We were very fortunate to receive coaching from Sandra, Nancy, Kate & Jane of
Eu4ia, John Grant and Neil Firth, who helped us to make our sound and technique better and learn how to sell the song’s message to the audience. We were given the opportunity to mic warm at the European Convention in Holland in March this year. We are hugely proud of our chorus Heartbeat, who were awarded bronze medals in the Chorus contest and Eu4ia on their brilliant silver medal performance in the quartet competition. It was the perfect preparation for Gateshead. We cannot begin to tell you how proud and excited we were to be awarded the gold medals and most improved quartet. We all still think we will wake up and it will have been a wonderful