Harmony Rag Quartet of Nations Newsletter, Region 31 Sweet Adelines International Autumn 2009
Still Buzzing! Valerie Taylor Education Coordinator July saw two wonderful weekends of education with The BUZZ! in Birmingham and Edinburgh.
Karen, Jeannie, Debbie and Nancy delighted us with their warm personalities and excellent singing, and with the generous way they shared their barbershop secrets with us all.
Both weekends saw guests visiting us from LABBS choruses, and from our sister region, Nordic Lights Region 32, and it was wonderful to welcome them to the UK.
With sessions covering vocal skills, presentation and directing, as well as a specialist session for quartets, we hope we had every angle covered. The symposium choruses were a huge success and resulted
in very inventive performances in the Saturday night shows! Handouts from the event are now available to download from the regional website: www.sweetadelines. org.uk Look out for news of next year’s exciting education event with June Dale and Erin Howden from North Metro Chorus, 24-26 September 2010. Region 31 continues to bring the best educators to your doorstep!
And here’s what The BUZZ! had to say: “We had so many wonderful moments both in Birmingham and Tulliallan! There is something so special about the people in England and Scotland AND Sweden! Your warm welcome and high spirits - you do love to have a good time! - made our stay there a totally joyful experience.”
Quartet of Nations Regional Newsletter
The BUZZ! Feedback Feedback Section
Birmingham Feedback
Tulliallan Feedback
The wonderful rapport of The BUZZ between Lots of opportunity to join in with The Buzz – themselves and us has led to rich learning. they were very approachable. Super quartet for such an event. Good Superb educators!! Fantastic education – sheer professionals. The BUZZ are absolutely inspirational.
Buzz – very inspirational.
Have The BUZZ again! – they are the most approachable and gracious people! Remarkably talented.
It was ‘Fandabbydozey’!
Three things you learnt Loved The BUZZ experience!! Awesome!! from the weekend
The Buzz, The Buzz, The Buzz, The Buzz. Inspirational performances of The Buzz.
Inspiration/ideas from The BUZZ – fantastic! The Buzz are great teachers, so much experience to share. Pure enjoyment!!! Best workshop ever – Buzztastic! BUZZ – their absolute excellence. Re-confirmation of the joy of singing. Joy of the quartet with each other. Buzzing from start to finish. BUZZ being so open and real about singing and self. Fabulous coaching. Excellent programme. Ideas for Improvement Not this time you got it all right – Oh no, wait… Absolutely nothing – how do you improve on Maybe have The BUZZ over annually! something that is brilliant? Requests for Further Education
More of the same – but could it be possible to Bring back the Buzz! find such delightful, talented and extraordinary ladies!!
! t June e s s e r P nounce thagely creativur p o t S rilled to anom the hu s will be o dates
re th owden fr tro Choru ! Put the a e W t Erin H North Me tion even d n a l a Dale uccessfu r’s educ y now: 10 and s t next yea your diar 0 2 r a n e i b ty facul eptem
th S 6 2 4 2
Lincoln Sounds a Sweet Adelines barbershop chorus urgently requires a new MD as from September 2009.
See www.lincolnsounds.org for details or ring 01522-872697 or 01522-884523 to talk to a Committee member. 2 | HARMONY RAG | Autumn 2009
The Curtain Rises on The IVY League In June the IVY League girls, Mel, our coach Nicky and “Chorus Mums” arrived at the Y Centre in Leicester for their first ever independent show, writes IVY League singer, Heather Chapman.
There was an air of excitement as everyone took her place for our all day rehearsal, which proved invaluable to knit everything we had learned over the last few months together. Nicky Salt, bass of Finesse Quartet, worked hard coaching the chorus all day; and by four o’clock everyone was raring to go. By this time our guest acts were arriving and
the excitement increased tenfold. As the dress rehearsal ended the excitement became a small party (complete with cake) for chorus founder Mel who had given up her birthday to spend the day with us. The Show itself went
the life of the IVY League, it also provided a perfect opportunity for us to announce the very exciting news of the next chapter for the chorus. The IVY League was originally founded as the youth chorus for the LABBS organisation and it is a role we have always and will continue to proudly represent. Though a LABBS chorus we have always welcomed girls from both LABBS and Sweet Adelines, as well as girls with no
very smoothly, and according to audience members, was very entertaining. Opening with several songs from the IVY League and featuring spots from male vocal group, Yesteryear and quartets, MissDemeanour, Finesse and
barbershop background; Sweet Adelines Region 31 chapter has now offered to match the funding we receive from LABBS each year. This is fantastic news as it will allow this chorus to improve and increase our future opportunities as well as reinforce the links between the two organisations. This exciting revelation perfectly finished off a very successful day for us. For several of our girls, this was their first encounter with an audience, costumes and, dare we say, stage make-up(!) but everyone left the theatre knowing they had put on a great show. In addition to those who came to see us the IVY League would like to thank Mel and Nicky for everything they have done for our development, MissDemeanour, Yesteryear, Finesse, Crossfire and Anita for putting on such fabulous performances and also Jo Braham for her help in organising the show. Remember, the IVY League Chorus welcomes singers of all levels of experience. If you are, or know someone who is under 26 and interested in singing and performing, check our website, www. labbsyouthchorus.co.uk
Crossfire the show was of a very high standard and was very well received. Anita Bolland did a super job MCing the show and made everyone laugh with tales of her holiday. Not only was this our first ever independent show, an important milestone in HARMONY RAG | Autumn 2009 | 3
Quartet of Nations Regional Newsletter
PROSPECTIVE CHESHIRE A CAPPELLA - UPDATE! By Angela Lewis Cheshire A Cappella was successfully launched on 18th February by a group of like-minded individuals experienced in barbershop and
taking some Christmas bookings. The chorus is directed by our enthusiastic co-directors Angela Lewis and Wal Saunders, both steeped in an abundance of barbershop skills and experience. Our members are equally enthusiastic and hail
a cappella singing, a few being existing members of Sweet Adelines International.
Our vision is of a vibrant, modern, exciting, successful, performing, competitive, fun harmony chorus, for women of all ages and backgrounds, who love to sing. Following intense leafleting around Wilmslow, and local newspaper advertisements, we attracted 25-30 singers to our inaugural rehearsal, and 6-week singing lesson course, and have now reached 33 singers. Almost all are now members of the chorus having successfully passed their auditions, and we continue to attract new members. In five short months we’ve learned as many songs, with others in the pipeline, and an eye on
from all backgrounds and age groups, enjoy working on vocal techniques and developing their individual talents, and just love to sing!
We also enjoy some social activity, having recently held a fashion show to boost muchneeded chorus funds (and our wardrobes!), a forthcoming trip to an open-air concert in August at Gawsworth Hall (an ancient Cheshire manor house), and plan to hold a car boot sale in September to raise further funds. We’re performing in a mini concert to friends and family on 23rd September, another fund-raiser, where our regional quartet champions, Tone-Acity, will also perform, and we’ll donate some of the evening’s proceeds to the quartet, for their Nashville fund. We’ve already completed Step One, had our admin/ music visit, and we’ve now applied for Step Two. Our management team and performance teams are in place, and we continue to recruit new singers. All very exciting for us! We’re hoping to charter by the end of the year so that we may compete at our UK regional convention in May 2010 in Gateshead. http://www.cheshireacappella.org/
TONE-ACITY “IT JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER AND BETTER” “Our feet don’t seem to have touched the ground since winning in Gateshead.
We’ve had an amazing few weeks and it just keeps getting better and better. Since that fateful Friday in May we have been invited
to be guests of honour at the IABS Convention in Dublin in early October; to sing with the Quartet Champion’s Chorus at the London Palladium show; we’ve recorded a CD in a converted cow shed / ex POW Camp in the middle of a Derbyshire field;
and we had the absolute privilege of appearing on the Saturday night show at the Birmingham Education weekend, singing for, with and getting invaluable coaching from The Buzz!, in particular the “brilliant” Debbie, on our two competition songs for Nashville. It was so good that Claire begged a late entry to the Tulliallan event and enjoyed another fantastic weekend packed with education, laughter 4 | HARMONY RAG | Autumn 2009
and wonderful Scottish hospitality.
We want to say an enormous thank you to the RMT for the huge amount of support and encouragement they have given us already. We feel very honoured that we are going to represent such a fabulous and friendly region and we hope we will make you proud. If you want to keep up to date with our latest news and adventures, please check out our brand new website at www.toneacity.org.”
RMT Q&A:
Copyright Tips for Arrangers Q What is the etiquette on arranging existing songs? Do I need permission and how do I get it? A When you make an arrangement of a song, you need permission from the copyright holders. Most “commercial” music is owned by a big music company like Warner. If you buy a copy of sheet music that is already available (e.g. an arrangement for piano plus voice), you may find the copyright owner’s
details on there. Otherwise you might be able to search for the music on the web and try and find the copyright owner that way. The copyright holder has the right to control all adaptations of the work (i.e. a new arrangement) as well as public performances and recordings. So it’s vital to get approval if you want a properly legalised work which you can perform without infringing anyone’s rights. There will be a fee
payable to the copyright holder, and they may want ongoing fees paid if you plan to sell copies of your arrangement to others. I think each arranger deals with this themselves. Possibly they wait until they are sure the arrangement “works” and they actually want it sung by a chorus or quartet. You will also find some very useful information on the BABS website. This includes details of how to contact the MCPS
(mechanical copyright protection society – they licence the production of CDs and use of music on the web) to find out details of the owner of a piece of music. The BABS contact, Rod Adams, may be able to help you with that. You will see his recommendations for how to get copyright clearance, but note that some of these tips are specific to BABS. Sweet Adelines is not a registered charity, although we are a not-for-profit organisation.
http://www. singbarbershop. com/copyright.htm I hope this helps. One other suggestion is to contact one of the more established arrangers in the region, like Mike Taylor mike@singwell. me.uk, David Sangster Carsonsangster@aol.com, Gwen Topp gmtopp@yahoo. co.uk, or Jenny Lawson jennylwsn@googlemail. com and ask for advice. I’m sure one of them would be willing!
DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER! Cynthia & Bob Tucker - 60th Wedding Anniversary What can we say about Cynthia and her lovely husband Bob who are still happy together after 60 years of marriage, except ‘Congratulations’!
It has been a great honour to have shared a part of your lives that is both rewarding and full of friendship & fun. Cynthia & Bob are always busy and enjoy a very active life together along with their son Mark, daughter Sue and grandchildren Christopher & Molly. We celebrated the special event with a
surprise ‘Tea Party’ when chorus members brought a variety of ‘goodies’ to tempt even the most steadfast of dieters! And what a lovely day it turned out to be, just being able to spend time together socially is a real treat.
Cynthia has been the Musical Director of Somerset Hills for almost 17 years and in that time has directed the chorus at conventions all over the U.K. Winning 16 small chorus awards, including 6. First Place, 6. Second Place, 3.Third Place & 1. Most Improved. Her energy & commitment to the chorus is an inspiration to both old and new members alike. Bob has also been greatly supportive to us all, helping us with the risers each week and on sing outs, he is our ‘Hero’ always there with a big smile to cheer us on. Bob also gives tremendous support to Cynthia in many ways especially in opening up his lovely home to
endless meetings & voice section practices (he makes the best cuppa in the South West!) so a big
‘Thank you’ Bob. I could go on writing about this inspiring couple all day and still not say everything they mean to us. We love and thank you both for all the time and energy you give to us as individuals and as your chorus, and wish you continued good health and happiness for the future. From Your friends on the risers
MUSIC DIRECTOR WANTED We are a small but enthusiastic women’s Chorus, motivated to learn and improve our skills. We are looking for a new Chorus Director to succeed our present MD and would love to hear from people experienced in the Barbershop style who have skills in vocal production and direction. We meet in Lingfield, Surrey on Tuesday evenings 7:30-10pm.
If you are keen to direct a small chorus and take us to the next level please contact Vanessa on 01883 732039/ V_Lydon@Sky.com or Sam on 01342 833976 Lingfield Harmony HARMONY RAG | Autumn 2009 | 5
Quartet of Nations Regional Newsletter
FUND RAISING WITH DAME EVELYN GLENNIE Peterborough based quartet ‘Simply4’ joined forces with Dame Evelyn Glennie at her local church in Upton, Huntingdonshire on Saturday 22nd August to raise money for charity, writes Helen Glavina.
Dame Evelyn and members of the village have organised a similar event over a number of years. On this occasion more than £3,000 was raised which will be shared between local and national charities and the church. Dame Evelyn was joined by Graeme Humphrey from The Royal Academy of Music. He tutored the now
famous percussionist when she attended The Academy. This was the first time they had performed together in public. Their varied repertoire on piano and marimba included ‘The Flight of the Bumblebee’. Barbara (Tenor), Emma (Lead), Helen (Bari) and Sharyn (Bass) performed twice during the evening on a sturdy stage which was almost entirely occupied by Dame Evelyn’s famous marimba. They sang a thirteen song programme which took the audience on a journey from 1913 to the 1990s. To close the concert both musicians and quartet performed
Bach’s ‘Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring’. The members of ‘Simply4’ live and work in the Peterborough area. Emma is a CAL member of Region 31. Helen has recently taken over as Director for RhapsodyUK Chorus. Barbara is Chapter Coordinator and Sharyn an assistant director. The quartet competed at their first Convention last May in Newcastle.
The Upton Church venue was much more intimate but the occasion just as splendid. It was an unforgettable opportunity to share a platform with the
first person in musical history to successfully sustain a full time career as a solo percussionist and a privilege to take part in such a successful event.
MIDNIGHT MAYFLOWERS
her experience:
organising a training programme for us to follow. This consisted of meeting at weekends in a well-known supermarket car park and walking for between 4 to 6 hours in drenching rain, before returning to the supermarket cafe for a
“I was joined by Susie Hyslop, Juanita Jones, Lindsay Brown, Jacky Craddock and her colleague Louise, who is not a member....yet! There was a 13-mile and a 26mile route so of course we elected to do the 26 mile route, and were duly issued with our registration numbers, T shirts and outline of the route. I noticed that we would be passing very close to my house and wondered if the temptation to nip home would prove too much. Immediately our Mrs Motivator, otherwise known as Susie, set about
Exhausted Mayflowers (left to right) Gail MacWattie, Jacky Craddock, Juanita Jones, Susie Hyslop and Lindsay Brown, with their Midnight Walk for Women medals.
On a beautiful night in August, five of the Mayflowers walked a sponsored marathon in aid of St Luke’s Hospice in Plymouth. Chorus President Gail MacWattie reports on
6 | HARMONY RAG | Autumn 2009
much needed latte and bun. On the night of the walk we met at Susie’s house for a healthy carbohydrate-rich meal (vegetable lasagne and Eton mess, mmmm). We then set about the serious business of preparing our
poor feet for their ordeal. I had never realised there were quite so many products designed to protect your toes and feet from blisters and I think between the five of us we had purchased them all! The walk began and ended at the Plymouth
Argyle Football Ground and there were around 2500 of us at the start. The weather was good and the atmosphere amazing. It was also very poignant to see all the photographs and names on T shirts. It helped to bring home how many people are touched by cancer and what a wonderful service the hospice provides. Thank you to Fran Howard for our emergency envelope with encouraging words and a sheet of blister plasters to be opened at the half way stage and for being at the finish together with Jean Graham to cheer us home. Thank you also to all the Mayflowers who sponsored and supported us. It was an absolutely amazing event to take part in despite the blisters. We managed to raise in excess of £800 for St Luke’s Hospice and we will definitely do it again next year.”
Nottingham’s own
All tickets must be purchased at the same time to qualify
Quartet of Nations Regional Newsletter
ANOTHER BUSY SUMMER FOR DALEDIVA It’s only been our second
summer together but another busy one for DaleDiva with numerous public performances as well as developing plans for a busy end to the year.
We’re currently preparing to record our debut CD to be called ‘Definitely Diva’. It’s something we’re all very excited about and hoping it will be a big seller this Christmas to boost our funds as well as our profile. As soon as that’s out of the way we’ll be hosting our second ‘Diva for a Day!’ singing workshop which forms part of a popular annual arts festival. It was a huge success last year and we have already got 55 registrations this year including a few members
from other choruses coming to spend the day with us which we are really looking forward to. Performing at weddings is something which has continued for us over the summer, as well a few birthdays and also our first Christening and this is something we’d like to develop. This is a great way to generate chorus funds as we use both the full chorus and the smaller chorus. We’ve enjoyed quite a few outdoor performances again this summer and thanks to the wonderfully unpredictable British weather have quickly got used to not letting a bit of rain hamper our style. Anything from a bit of drizzle to a tropical downpour – we can cope! The Divas are a resilient lot and in fact we often seem to have the best fun when we’re soaked through with mascara
SINGING IN THE RAIN: DaleDiva never let a bit of rain dampen their spirits! running down our faces… We’ve had our first to build on the success The enjoyment, fun and DaleDiva baby, our first we achieved in May. enthusiasm has continued chorus marriage - and a Meanwhile, we’re looking since the wonderful 40th birthday for a certain ahead to get plans in experience of meeting you musical director... place to mark our second all and performing at The We’re already looking anniversary in November Sage in May - and there’ve forward to competing in and make sure the been celebrations on a Gateshead again next DaleDivas have a busy more personal note too. year and are working hard musical Christmas.
FARENHEIT Farenheit would like to take
this opportunity to thank all those people that made such nice comments about our first competition performance in Newcastle and the fantastic support from our wonderful Chorus, DaleDiva.
We certainly enjoyed ourselves, and after getting over the disappointment from the judges, didn’t we have had a busy 4 months laughing, singing and performing. A week after Regional’s we took part in the Derby Music festival and won the vocal ensemble class and gained highest overall marks in the barbershop class. Then before we
knew it we had a gig at a pub (oh, if we must!) and then sang at a French twinning association dinner, yes in case you were wondering Ally did get them to sing a round! Next we sang in a show along with the Chorus and tried out a few new songs we have been learning. They went down well and the humorous
8 | HARMONY RAG | Autumn 2009
parts even got a laugh, which is always such a relief! Next on the agenda was a mini workshop with some 8 – 11 year olds at Leisha’s school and then our Tenor – Pippa’s, hen night. Yes, she is now a married woman and we had a lovely day celebrating her marriage to Chris. She looked
gorgeous and the song we had learnt especially for the day, ‘Because you loved me’ went down really well especially as we were all nervous that we were going to blub! Then we had a live performance on Radio Derby and then last week the quartet successfully ran our first youth workshop ‘Harmony Rocks!’ This was not only to raise quartet funds but also to encourage youngsters how fantastic 4-part harmony is. They learnt two songs including ‘It’s all about you’ by McFly specially arranged by our resident
DaleDiva arranger, Lisa Hannant. The boys and girls had a great time and it was great to see them perform with such enthusiasm for their parents at the end of the day. In a few weeks time we are going to support Tone-acity’s fundraiser YEHAAAAAAA! and then the IABS convention in Dublin with DaleDiva….. phew!!! And this is only a hobby! Love Ally, Amie Leisha and Pippa XXXX
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 Coordinator, Valerie Taylor, 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
Dorothy Main Aberdeen Chorus Aberdeen - 01224 782124 emmandee@tiscali.co.uk
Alyson Chaney Lace City Chorus Nottingham – 01636 814377 alysonchaney@yahoo.co.uk
Rebecca Middleton Coastline Harmony Chorus Fareham – 01329 2354491 becks2010@hotmail.com
Glenn Chaney Lace City Chorus Nottingham – 07960 112732 glennsings@yahoo.co.uk
Mike Taylor Spinnaker Chorus Southampton – 01489 600134 mike@singwell.me.uk
Elaine Hamilton Forth Valley Chorus Edinburgh – 0131 334 2372 elainemrssh@aol.com
Valerie Taylor Surrey Harmony Chorus Croydon – 020 8660 8037 Valerie.taylor@privacysolutions.co.uk
Dates for your Diary International Convention
2009, October 20-24, Nashville , TN 2010, October 19-23, Seattle WA 2011, October 18-22, Houston TX 2012, Oct. 30 - Nov. 3, Denver , CO 2013, Nov. 5-9, Honolulu , HI 2014, Nov. 4-8, Baltimore , MD 2015, Oct. 6-10, Las Vegas , NV 2016, Oct. 11-15, Las Vegas , NV 2017, Oct. 10-14, Las Vegas , NV
IES Events
2010, July 8-10, IES East, Pittsburgh , PA 2010, J uly 15-17, IES Central, St. Louis , MO 2010, J uly 21-24, IES, West, Rancho Mirage, CA 2010, Nov. 11-13, IES Pacific Rim, Auckland , New Zealand 2011, September, IES Europe , TBD
LABBS Convention
30th October - 1st November 2009 Cheltenham
Regional Convention Dates 7th – 9th May 2010 Newcastle
Education Dates
24th – 26th September 2010
BABS Convention
28th-30th May 2010 Harrogate
Got a Show?
Let us know the details and we will print it here. Swell those audiences free!
Have you got a story for
Harmony Rag?
DEADLINE for the next issue 27th November 2009 Contact the Editor: Rose Paxman 69a Muskoka Drive, Sheffield S11 7RH Tel: 07768751262 Email: rosesings@gmail.com
Gwen Topp Aberdeen Chorus Aberdeen – 01224 575366 gmtopp@yahoo.co.uk Michelle Walker Lace City Chorus Nottingham – 0115 965 4524 shelbywalks@yahoo.co.uk
Regional Management Team 2009 – May 2010
Chris Bentley - Team Coordinator Forth Valley Chorus Tel: TBC chrisbentley963@hotmail.com
Tracy Bailey - Directors’ Coordinator Champagne Cornwall Chorus Tel: 01726 63937 allthebaileys@aol.com Nuala Hobden - Finance Coordinator Spinnaker Chorus Tel: TBC nualahelen@aol.com Valerie Taylor - Education Coordinator Surrey Harmony Tel: 020 8660 8037 valerie.taylor@privacysolutions.co.uk Emma Riley - Events Coordinator Surrey Harmony Tel: 07771 562962 emma.riley@reedelsevier.com Deborah Lamble - Membership Coordinator Spinnaker Chorus Tel: 01202 487287 deborah@lamble.plus.com Alison Page - Communications Coordinator Rhapsody UK Chorus Tel: 01733 242937 alison_page@btinternet.com Helen Gauld - Marketing Coordinator Aberdeen Chorus Tel: TBC helen.gauld@btinternet.com HARMONY RAG | Autumn 2009 | 9