Harmony Rag 2011 Summer Edition

Finesse – 2011 Region 31 Champion Quartet

Region 31 Quartet of Nations, Sweet Adelines International

Summer 2011 | Issue 2

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY AND WELCOME International Convention October 18 – 22 2011, Houston, TX October 30 – November 3 2012, Denver, CO November 5 – 9 2013, Honolulu, HI AAA International Education Event July 22 – 23 2011 California University of Pennsylvania in California, PA. 2011 Visual Leadership Conference And the Music Shall Lead Us July 15 – 17 2011, Toronto, Canada

Regional Education Dates “In the Spotlight” Directors, Assistant Directors and Music Team members Education, with Lori Lyford 7th January 2012, Q3 Academy, Birmingham

Sweet Adelines Internati

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Spring 2011 | Issue 1

WELCOME

Education weekend with Coastline Show Chorus, July 26 – 28 2013 (Venue TBC)

I wanted to say thanks for all the positive feedback about the new look Harmony Rag – I’m glad you like it! If you have any questions or queries then do please get in touch with me at harmonyrag@ sweetadelines.org.uk. It is so important that we hear your views, so that we can tailor this magazine to you!

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In harmony, Emma Duguid

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Region 31 Marketing Coordinator,

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Vocal Dimension Chorus

@SAIRegion31

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Region 31 Quartet of Nations,

Regional Satellite Education, September 2012 (Venue and Date TBC)

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Regional Convention Dates May 11 – 13 2012, Birmingham

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NEWS AND VIEWS FROM REGION 31, SUMMER 2011

WHAT DID OUR 2011 CONVENTION JUDGES SAY ABOUT THE REGION AS A WHOLE?

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ach year, after the chorus contest is over, certain members of the Convention Team and the Regional Management Team meet with the judges to receive their overall comments about the convention.

As your

you are choosing? I’m sure we’ve all watched DVD’s of International and loved the songs the top quartets sing, but maybe they’re a bit too difficult for a lot of us at this moment in time? To those quartets who improved from last year, many congratulations! We all want to be up there with you!

I thoroughly enjoyed convention again this year. The contest is important I know, as it lets us see where we are at that moment in time. However, the best bit really is getting together with everyone. I love the fact that our Region is so supportive of each other and that we come in to the hall to watch each other compete and to cheer for everyone, even if moments ago we were competing against them!

Now, if I was a judge and I had to give a score for our friendliness, it would be an A+!!

Please contact me if you have any specific questions with regard to education and don’t forget we have a very talented pool of educators on our Regional Faculty, who are very keen to come to help you improve for next year! I will keep you updated with future education plans as soon as they are confirmed.

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Elaine Hamilton, Region 31 Education Coordinator Elainemrssh@aol.com

WHAT IS THE YOUNG SINGERS FOUNDATION ALL ABOUT?

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am pleased to have been invited to be the Young Singers Foundation Coordinator in our Region for another year. The Foundation were delighted that we were able to submit some packages from different parts of our Region in the Silent Auction last year. Unfortunately, I am not able to go to International in Houston

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wouldn’t want to do it anyway! As I have mentioned a few times, we are working very hard to get quartet specific education within the Region for 2012 and I will keep you posted about that. Quartets, in particular, need to look very carefully at their choice of music for contest, as you will see some arrangements were either marginal for suitability, or too difficult for the stage the quartet was at. Why not have a look at this and other Region’s scores on the SAI web site and find out what music quartets at the level above

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Education Coordinator, I attend that meeting to glean what areas in particular I need to address through future education in the Region. This year, as last, the summary sheets each judge provides for both contests are on the Region 31 web site, so you can see for yourselves what they wanted to highlight.

In summary, they all felt the quartet and chorus contests were very different in standard and I think that has been reflected in the scores awarded. They were extremely impressed by the fact that we don’t have a single chorus in this Region scoring below 401 something they don’t get very often at Regional contests! I feel, at this

point, I must thank our previous Regional Education Coordinators for their contribution in helping our Region’s choruses attain the high standard we have achieved. Also, all the hard work our Directors do week in and week out and, of course, each and every chorus member plays their part by working as hard as they can at weekly rehearsals across the Region. Every member of every chorus should at this point be giving themselves a pat on the back!

With regard to quartets, I know there will be some disappointments amidst the celebrations, as some quartets did not fare as well, in terms of points, as last year. We know it’s not easy and, if it was, we probably

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in the next edition! In this edition, that ticks the ‘barbershop’ so will not be able to take anything Valerie Taylor, Approved Candidate boxes. It’s suitable for a contest along. However, if choruses are Judge (Sound) has answered a environment but because it’s too prepared to collect loose change question on song selection. difficult for the group, they are in a jar or tin from now until next Q: I don’t understand the Music unable to perform it well and it year’s convention I will be happy to category. Why was the arrangement highlights their weaknesses rather send you a sticker and receive any of “Yes Sir That’s donations between now and then.

My Baby” that we The Young Singers Foundation has sang deemed a increased the number of Grants poor choice when they are awarding. These are Luminous did so available twice a year and you can find information on the YSF website. well with it?

A: Every year the Grants are offered groups setting judges at our up or working with Young Singers contest identify who work on a cappella singing. regional trends They also offer Scholarships to for both choruses 2nd year University Students and quartets – who are studying music, which see the regional includes vocal studies too. Again, website and Elaine applications should be made to the Hamilton’s article YSF. Grants and Scholarships are in this issue. This awarded in June and November year the Music so, although it is too late for June, judge’s feedback why not pass the YSF website for quartets detail on to schools, universities highlighted that or colleges (who run recognised several of the songs degree courses) in your area as selected were there may well be someone who “marginal” contest would like to apply. The website material, and is: www.youngsingersfoundation. that many others org or go onto the Sweet Adelines were too difficult.

International website and click on Songs that are “The Foundation”. not good contest choices generally Valerie Taylor don’t follow the chord structure requirements that are detailed in the Music category Fran Pocock, Region 31 YSF Liaison description (for example they may than their strengths. B level says: frances.pocock@sky.com include many minor chords) or they “Good song, well arranged” and this may not have the right “form” (e.g. suggests that the group has chosen verse, chorus, verse, chorus, tag). a song that is a good contest vehicle Start by taking a look at the and matches their skill level. A level requirements of the Music category says: “Creative arrangement of performance level guidelines (this strong song”. ver wanted to know the answer document is included in your results Obviously the details of to a comment you have had on package) and look at the description the arrangement – use of your competition score sheets? of the level achieved by your chorus embellishments, choice of chords, A new feature of the Harmony or quartet. etc. – are not within the control Rag is the Judge Jukebox – send The C level description says: “Song of the group. But it is within your your question in to harmonyrag@ and arrangement good, but may control to choose an arrangement sweetadelines.org.uk and we’ll have be difficult”. This suggests that the that showcases your abilities as it answered and played back to you group picked a solid arrangement performers. As the skill level of

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NEWS AND VIEWS FROM REGION 31, SUMMER 2011

Thameside Harmony is looking for a NEW Musical Director!

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o who is ROSA? The Rest Of Sweet Adelines! Being a bit of an Excel geek I have been gathering the total regional statistics for the last couple of years. This means I can find out such wonderful things as how many virtual medals my chorus would have won in the other regions, a pretty marvelous haul this year! Ah the joys of custom sorting!

So… how did our Region do in comparison with the Rest of Sweet Adelines? Well here are a few facts:

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REGION 31 vs ROSA – THE STATS!

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Valerie Taylor, Approved Candidate Judge (Sound) valerie.taylor@privacysolutions.co.uk

Quartets Vocal Dimension, who came 9th A total of 466 quartets and 10th overall respectively, competed in 2011. 84% of these would have won 3rd, 4th and 5th scored over 400 points, 39% over place overall medals in all but 2 500 points and only 8% over 600 other regions (16 and 19) plus points may more 1st and 2nd place Div A We had the 2nd largest quartet medals competition, Region 34’s was the Our Division AA winners largest with 30 and the smallest Heartbeat would have won the was Region 5 with just 8 overall 1st place in Region 13, Finesse would have won the have come 2nd overall in 7 other quartet competition in 17 other regions plus 3rd overall in 11 regions and Storm would have additional regions along with Div won in Region 17 AA 1st place in 7 other regions Finesse with their 613 points Hillfoot Harmony has the 5th beat 452 of the total competitors, highest most improved score which is 97% of quartets! across the 29 Regions. The highest Our average score for quartets most improved was 130 points was 475 this year, down against and the lowest by just 4 the 2010 average of 496 Our average score for choruses Choruses was 512 this year up against A total of 389 choruses the 2010 average of 506. Happy competed regionally this year. Of Statting! those 221 were Division A (Small) Emma Riley, Team Coordinator, and 129 were Division AA (MidSize). 88% of choruses scored 400+ Vocal Dimension Chorus points, 50% 500+, 13% 600+ and a emma.riley@reedelsevier.com tiny 1% with 700 or more points!

We tied with Region 19 for the 2nd largest Chorus competition with 23 Choruses, Region 16 was the largest with 26 and Region 35 the smallest We are a lively, friendly ladies with 8 barbershop chorus with a wide Forth Valley Chorus with age range,based in Hampton (near their 630 points Twickenham), West London. beat 370 of the total choruses We need someone to help us take our who competed; that’s 95% of enjoyment of singing to the next level! competing choruses in Please contact us: Sweet Adelines!

Our Div A 1st thamesideharmony@googlemail.com and 2nd place for further information. choruses, Viva Acappella and

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a group increases, so they are capable of pulling off more complex arrangements. If a C level chorus chose to sing “Honey’s Lovin’ Arms”, it would still be a creative arrangement of a strong song but they wouldn’t be able to cope with the tricky rhythms and tuning. If the Melodeers sang “Side by Side”, it wouldn’t offer them the opportunity to demonstrate their impressive vocal skills or fully engage the audience.

There are good arrangements for C level groups and good arrangements for A level groups and each chorus and quartet has the opportunity to pick arrangements that show off their skills to best advantage.

Music judges are always happy to advise on song selection. You can email Jan Meyer (our Music judge this year) or Carolyn Healey (Music category specialist) or any of the other Music judges and they’ll be glad to help. You will find their contact details in your results package.

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NEWS AND VIEWS FROM REGION 31, SUMMER 2011

LIKE BROWNIE PACK HOLIDAY AT CHRISTMAS…

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o, Convention has been and gone for another year!

Phoenix had a fabulous time and you may have noticed how thrilled we were with our 2nd place medals! Huge congratulations go to wonderful champions, Forth Valley, who are going to do a great job in Denver. “Our” Rosalind, who joined Forth Valley when she

Phoenix Newbi

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went up to Edinburgh University, has already started counting the sleeps! But there’s another convention between now and then and we’re all already on that cycle again!

When you’ve been following this pattern for a while, it’s easy to forget that first contest experience and how it felt to take the stage in front of your peers and, of course, those scary judges! Phoenix had 7 first timers on stage this year and this is how some of them describe their experience: “My 1st convention experience: Wow! What a lot of ladies and glitter! A bit like brownie pack holiday at Christmas (midnight feast included). Singing on stage into that huge space was a wonderful experience, inhibitions were left in the wings.” Debbie 6

“It was a fantastic and unforgettable experience to perform on stage with Phoenix. Everyone in the chorus was so supportive to all of us “first-timers” and made it lots of fun. I found watching the other choruses who followed us to be a great learning experience - and the biggest lesson for me: when you’re on stage there’s no such thing as “over-performing”, something I think you can only learn by watching other successful choruses perform.” Michelle “To just put into a few words about my first convention, I can only say I was frightened to death. However, there is a strength that appears out of nowhere when women are put together, naturally supporting, encouraging and nurturing as only we women know how to do best.

I was so nervous, so apprehensive, my stomach in my mouth - but as soon as we were called, we were out there - nerves forgotten; our job was there to be done. I felt so proud of myself and the chorus afterwards.

To leave a comfort zone and return smiling is a wonderful feeling. It’s such a lot of work and commitment in our already busy lives. Is it worth it so far..? OH YES!!” Helen “Wow”, “fun”, “wonderful”, “supporting”, “nurturing”, “unforgettable”, “proud” …they’re all right – this is a fantastic ‘hobby’ (for ‘hobby’ read ‘way of life’!). We are part of an association brimming with phenomenal talent. It’s good to remember that first experience and just how amazing it is to be part of “ladies and glitter”!

Caroline Donovan, PRO Phoenix Chorus

BYE FROM OUR MEMBERSHIP COORDINATOR

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hat can I say about my four years as Membership Coordinator? Do I mention the many hours answering queries, learning all about standing rules, learning the chapter guide almost by heart, driving or flying to meetings Deborah Lamble or do I talk about all the other things?

How can I forget Eileen Milne’s “mouse” in Pictionary? (the standard post-meeting RMT game!). I laughed so much I was crying. The rivalry between the North and South was always greater during these Saturday night games – we would work hard all day and then relax in the evening by getting very agitated and excited by Trivial Pursuit or lately Pictionary. This would always be accompanied by a “Soft” (yer right!!) drink to stop us getting thirsty and some snack or other. I have even now started making my own Sloe Gin as I am somewhat addicted to it, thanks to Nuala!

Apart from all the friends I have made along the way, being on the RMT has allowed me to realise how much time and effort is put in by just nine people to make the whole Region run smoothly each year. There is so much that goes on away from the meetings and we are all in contact daily on email. Email makes us all contactable instantly and undoubtedly has made it easier to keep in touch with the members and make all the RMT more approachable.

NEWS AND VIEWS FROM REGION 31, SUMMER 2011 I have learnt a lot over these four years and it has now spurred me on to pastures new! I have been accepted as a trainee presentation judge in LABBS and I am taking on being Assistant Director of Wessex Harmony ( LABBS). I am still a Sweet Adeline as well and will continue to sing with Spinnaker Chorus.

I am delighted to hand over to Jeanette Yuile who, as you know, has now taken on my role as Membership Coordinator. You will be hearing from Jeanette in the next issue of the Harmony Rag

to complete part 2 papers, which Technical Skills and Management/ Communication Skills. Each module are written “closed book”. Should CAL members wish to participate, can achieve a total of 10 points.

Some modules are divided into two it would be really appreciated if sections and each section can score a chorus would be prepared to allow that person time to complete 5 making a total of 10 if the 2 parts the Directing and Teaching skills are completed. Anyone who takes evaluations. Candidates cannot part in the Program needs to have achieve the Certified Director status access to an up to date copy of the DCP Modules as well as the Judging but if they go on to direct or act as Assistant Director in an existing or Category Handbook. These are new chorus, then they only need available through SAI Sales. to complete the chorus evaluation Directors/Co-Directors and tests to achieve that status.

Associate/Assistant Directors: Mentoring: All members taking They need to score a minimum of part will need a Mentor, who is 7 points in directing skills and 6 in Deborah Lamble, Spinnaker Chorus Sweet Adeline member, and is musical/technical skills (minimum prepared to receive the paperwork, total 33 overall) and Management/ liaise with participant or chorus Communication a minimum of 4 when they are ready to take tests. (minimum of 26 overall). Out of the 10 modules 4 come in two parts Without their help you would not be able to complete the Program.

– Skills 4-Teaching, 5-Management, Finally: It is not a waste of time 8-Communication and 10-Rehearsal for anyone to work through the Planning & Implementation.

Teaching - Part 1 - chorus evaluation DCP. It is a great learning tool for all members in our region whatever only and there is no written paper.

In the remaining 3 participants have their status. I would urge all to go through the chorus evaluation choruses to support anyone who wishes to enroll! and complete the written test and achieve an overall score of 6 points “The DCP is an educational homeFran Pocock, Region 31 DCP Coordinator or more. On completion, they will study program designed to frances.pocock@sky.com become Certified Directors. Any develop skills for Sweet Adelines *http://www.sweetadelineintl.org/pdf/ DCPResourceModulesTableofContents.pdf test can be retaken if the minimum International directors, potential scores are not achieved and for directors, and musical leaders” this reason, feedback would not Find out more about the content normally be given until the pass here* Here’s what Fran Pocock, our very score is achieved. If their chorus goes on to achieve a score of 600 own DCP Coordinator has to say: points or more in a Regional Contest “What a great time we had in 20 pairs of Black Palazzo they are automatically upgraded to Birmingham – 8 DCP certificates pants. Made by ‘Opening Master Director. presented which included 2 Candidates: They can consist of Directors, 2 Assistant Directors and Night’ and bought from any members of Sweet Adelines 4 Candidates. Well done to those America. (including CAL) and who may be who worked hard to complete in 100% Polyester. Sizes time for presentation at Convention. music team members, Chorus Team Members or Regional Faculty.

I would also like to thank their 12, 14, 16, 18, 20 & 28.

Mentors for the hard work they put They can complete all the above Worn twice. £10 per pair skills but with regard to Skill 1 in. including postage.

Directing and Skill 4 – Teaching I often get questions asked this evaluation is carried out by a about the difference between Contact Jan White at Director Certification and Candidate suitably qualified person or a DVD jcw11@hermes.cam. made and submitted to the DCP Certification so I would like to Coordinator or a suitably qualified explain how it works. The Program ac.uk for photos and person for evaluation. For skills is made up of 10 modules, which more information.

5, 8 and 10 they are only required are a combination of Musical/

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WHAT IS THE DIRECTOR CERTIFICATION PROGRAM (DCP) ALL ABOUT? WHY DON’T YOU GET STUCK IN?

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Costumes for Sale

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NEWS AND VIEWS FROM REGION 31, SUMMER 2011

THE NEW GIRLS IN TOWN – PART 4

little surprised to find me rooting there and sorted ourselves out, it around for Eyelure 107 lashes and was time to enter the warm-up blood red nail varnish! room. Everyone was encouraging I decided to have my first tussle but I couldn’t quite believe I was with the eyelashes a week filling up with tears. before competition and was …for Parts 1 , 2 and 3 of the pretty chuffed with myself until adventure of 4 brand new some one pointed out I had barbershoppers, contact Catriona them on the wrong way round!

Lamb at lamb.c2@sky.com… s Birmingham drew near The week of the competition I didn’t sleep well, was the level of concentration intensified. We were lucky irritable at work and had a stress dream where enough to be invited to witness Forth Valley on a coaching weekend everything went wrong with their Canadian coach, Sandy costume, songs, organisation.

On the morning of departure Marron and had further sessions from David Sangster and Alyson I was quite tense. The coach M embers of H illfoot Harm journey was good and we Chaney. ony By this time more information arrived for the later part of the quartet competition. about Sweet Adelines’ competition Being first on meant rules and concepts such as Traffic Well if the venue wasn’t the auditorium would be fairly impressive enough, the spectacle Patterns, were filtering through. It empty but whilst lined up to go of the costumes and standard sometimes seemed like a “three on stage, we were all absolutely of performances were a real eye line party whip” on regulation thrilled to hear members from makeup and the correct application opener. We had our team talk at Forth Valley chanting for us.

9pm before being dispatched to thereof, false eyelashes and The six minutes seemed surreal. I perform nail varnish duty and try jewellery. My husband was not a could hear the fabulous acoustics to get an early and understood what people night. had been telling us about the Not having acoustics being fantastic and the Murder in the Chorus been to privilege of being able to perform Terry Margaret Hunter Wilson competition in such a wonderful place and the before, I was adrenaline rush was unbelievable. amazed how One MC described the venue as Brenda Graham is musical and quickly the “The Mother Ship” from “Close efficient. She runs her chorus like morning went.

Encounters....” and in the midst clockwork. She means to take Shower, hair, of all these costumes, fascinating them to the top. So why does she breakfast, hairdos and some quite frankly collapse at rehearsal? Why do makeup, impressive females; I have now the police think this might be an costume, liked the experience to Alien un-natural death? Surely none of Abduction. This was like another the ladies would wish to harm their physical warmup, vocal warmplanet! director?

We were absolutely thrilled The police have their work cut out, up and then, just as we set off the to achieve “The Most Improved firstly trying to understand what 600 yards or so Chorus” Quaich and after several makes the sisterhood tick, and secondly, having just too to the hall, the gins, a great dinner, the Show many suspects. heavens opened. of Champions and a wonderful Written by an ex chorus member of Sweet Adelines this is a White trousers Afterglow I can honestly say I light hearted murder tale which has been appreciated by a thought I’d found my spiritual home. number of readers. There is a short foreword by Gwen Topp, were rolled up, regulation I want to thank all the members director of Aberdeen chorus, sister of the author. ponchos donned of Hillfoot Harmony who have and we tip toed encouraged, advised, cajoled, Do try it! It is a slim novel costing £4 (plus postage). Please through the reassured, nurtured and patiently get in touch with me at margaret.wilson1@virgin.co.uk or puddles.

By the licked us in to shape. Thank you 01569 766 121 time we got all for the camaraderie and the

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NEWS AND VIEWS FROM REGION 31, SUMMER 2011 opportunity to try and find and release the inner Diva!

After nine months of intense labour we find ourselves at the end of the beginning of our Sweet Adeline’s journey, no longer “The New Girls”.

Having only got together as the quartet named Shindig 18 months previous, we are very much still

Written on behalf of Jennifer, Ashleigh, Fiona and Catriona of Hillfoot Harmony Chorus

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finding our feet and are at an very early stage of our hopefully long and fun quartet career. Rachael (Bass), Sophie (Lead) and I (Andrea – Bari) are members of the Aberdeen Chorus and have sung barbershop for approximately 6 years and Sarah (Tenor) is CAL and has sung barbershop for 20 years.

We had a great time competing in the quartet competition this

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t was a winter’s morning in Aberdeen, during rehearsal in Sarah’s kitchen, when we discussed what our goals were for our second Region 31 competition in Birmingham this year. Well, we were definitely aiming for more points, a higher position and the icing on the cake would be to achieve ‘Most Improved Quartet’.

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HAVE A ‘SHINDIG’…

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year and were very pleased with a higher placing and more points as the competition was of a very high standard. On being told later that day that we had indeed achieved the ‘Most Improved Quartet’ award, we were absolutely delighted.

The realisation that we would be performing again at the ‘Show of Champions’ was just so exciting.

What an honour!

Being given the chance to sing on that wonderful stage again, along with the competition winners, with the knowledge of how amazing that venue truly is and without the nerves of competition – what an opportunity! We made a pact with each other to just enjoy every second, soak it all up and attempt (again) to sing like we know we can (in Sarah’s kitchen anyway!).

All I can say is ‘we had a ball’ and we are all very proud of the trophies we received.

Sarah, Rachael, Sophie and Andrea, Shindig Quartet

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The new tenor should be:

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2010 LABBS Champions Miss-­‐Demeanour quartet are looking for a new tenor as Sarah retires to move abroad as part of her university degree.

♫ Committed and ambitious but fun! ♫ Able to dedicate time to travelling across the UK and abroad for competitions and regular gigs.

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Musical credentials:

♫ Should have any form of singing experience ♫ Experience of quartet singing not essential

We’re auditioning tenors who are:

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Miss-Demeanour are looking for a new tenor to continue their journey as a young, successful quartet…

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Your face in this space..?

All applications welcome!

Contact us to register interest and receive an application form.

Email: missdquartet@gmail.com Or call us for any questions: Sarah F. (Tenor) 07512 282620 Suzanne (Lead) 07969 973372 Amelia (Baritone) 07896 535437 Sarah C. (Bass) 07584 027401 Deadline to return applications: 17th July.

• committed to travelling to the North West for rehearsals • keen to learn and grow as a quartet singer • ambitious to compete at national level Previous quartet experience not essential

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NEWS AND VIEWS FROM REGION 31, SUMMER 2011

FORTH VALLEY CHORUS WINS GOLD AT BIRMINGHAM

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to stunning the audience with our improved sound and sassy moves.

We are recording a new CD in June, which will bear the same name as the show ‘Back in Town’ and be hot off the press in September. You can order your copy through our website www.forthvalleychorus.org.

Of course, 2010 was very special for us, as it heralded the longawaited International experience.

I think we came back a changed chorus after competing in Seattle.

February 2010 was also the first time we met Sandy Marron of Lions Gate Chorus. We were so impressed, we asked her to coach

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irstly, all of us in Forth Valley Chorus want to thank you for the amazing reception we were given when we walked on stage in Birmingham Symphony Hall to start our contest set. It really set us up for success and the best score we have ever achieved! It was truly a moment in time where the much used American exclamation ‘awesome!’ fitted the bill just dandy! If we get even half of that warm welcome when we step on the stage in Denver, then who knows what great things we may achieve for Region 31.

It seems like a very long time ago that Forth Valley won the gold medal at Gateshead in 2009.

It’s only two years Forth Valley Chorus during their winning set but we have been on a long journey since that red us again this year, so at the end of letter day. Shortly after that we March we spent another weekend were invited to sing at the BABS with Sandy. You have to be alert Convention in Harrogate and a with Sandy as she has a habit of couple of months later we were making so many changes that your heading in a northerly direction to head is spinning! It was a challenge Fife, for an educational weekend for us to remember them all in time with The Buzz Quartet. In July we for the contest in May, but of course sang in Princes Street Gardens David was on the ball and made as part of the Edinburgh Jazz & sure they became second nature in Blues Festival and then came the no time!

Barbershop Awareness Week in When it comes to coaching September. In May 2010 we hit the though, we cannot ever forget our headlines with our TV appearance wonderful friend Gail Jencik. We on ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ but it was all love Gail and look forward to our sell-out show in the January her visits and she has been a great that helped swell the coffers for our support to us at the competitions trip to Seattle. This year we have in Gateshead, Seattle and more a bigger and better central venue recently, Birmingham. We owe a for our Edinburgh show on 1st lot of our success to Gail and her October and we are looking forward last minute, straight-talking manner

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which raises our game to achieve these few extra valuable points.

However, it is the man in our midst, David Sangster who has taken us to these heights and his ambition is to make Forth Valley a chorus to be reckoned with on the International stage.

Talking about men, we have just moved to a new rehearsal venue at the Edinburgh Redford Barracks.

What a treat to be surrounded by men in uniform! I’ve never experienced such rapt attention from the Chorus as the first night when the Quartermaster told us about the fire drill and security procedures and how to procure toilet rolls. Well, I think there may be a lot of women asking for toilet rolls from the Quartermaster. I just hope they don’t start charging us extra!

So, Denver here we come and we are back on the fundraising bandwagon. We have some very talented women in the Chorus, including our very own Italian mama who raised a huge amount of money, cooking dinner parties in other people’s homes. Nadia will be back on the dinner party round again for our Denver fundraising. I’m not sure how far she’s willing to travel, but you can always enquire. The quartets and small groups will be out doing their bit and coffee mornings and other fund raising events will be filling up the calendar between now and November 2012.

We plan to hit the ground running in Denver and do the Region proud.

Of course, we will be relying on your support from afar and even though you’re not there in body clapping and cheering, we hope to feel that you are there in spirit.

Mags Ronald, PRO Forth Valley Chorus

CONVENTION RESULTS 2011

Convention 2011 Quartet Champions

R e g i o n 3 1 Q u a r t e t

Finesse Quartet, CAL, Score 613 If You Love Me Really Love Me (Bergman) Yes Sir That’s My Baby (Wright)

o f N a t i o n s ,

Chorus Champions

S w e e t A d e l i n e s I n t e r n a t i o n a l

Forth Valley Chorus, Director — David Sangster, Score 630 From the first hello to the last goodbye (Arns) Lulu’s back in town (Arns) 11

QUARTET RESULTS CONVENTION 2011 Storm Quartet

Heartbeat and Surrey Harmony Score 568

Red, Red Robin (Volk) How deep is the ocean (Hopkins)

He Was There (Bergman) Don’t break the heart that loves you (Volk)

The Late Show Quartet

I n t e r n a t i o n a l

Echo Quartet

Lace City Score 573

Fortuity Quartet

Viva Acappella Score 565

Lace City, Champagne Cornwall and CAL Score 559

Love Me (Dale) All the Way (Gentry)

All the Way (Gentry) Goody Goodbye (Bescos)

Farenheit Quartet

Mac4 Quartet

Ain’t He Sweet (Rochefort) Oh How I Miss You Tonight (Craig, Wyatt, Briner)

A d e l i n e s

Red Hot (Nancy Bergman) All the Way (Tom Gentry)

Lace City and CAL Score 509

S w e e t

Forth Valley Score 533

I Love Jazz Medley (Wright) Because of You (Gray)

N a t i o n s ,

DaleDiva Score 542

Forth Valley Score 495

Vocal Dimension Score 489

Come Fly with Me (Keller) My Foolish Heart (Bescos)

Time after Time (Berg) Goody Goody (Bescos)

Eternity Quartet

Q u a r t e t

o f

SASS UK Quartet

R e g i o n

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Hunky Dory

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Carousel Quartet

Mayflowers Plymouth Score 496

Ain’t He Sweet (Rochefort) Once Upon a Time (Dale)

Encore! Quartet

Inspiration Quartet

Surrey Harmony Score 479

Champagne Cornwall Score 471

(I’m Afraid) The Masquerade Is Over (Waesche) Red Hot (Bergman)

Will it be me this time (Diamond) Opening Night on Broadway (Bergman)

QUARTET RESULTS CONVENTION 2011 Shindig Quartet

Blonde Ambition

Aberdeen and CAL Score 459

Milltown Sound Score 453

How deep is the ocean (Hopkins) You turned the tables on me (Bergman)

Fit as a fiddle (Cardoso) What’ll I do (Waesche)

Simply 4 Quartet

Timeless UK Quartet

Rhapsody Score 421

Ain’t He Sweet (Rochefort) Once Upon a Time (June Dale)

I’ll never say “never again” again (Gentry) I never meant to fall in love (Liles) R e g i o n

Flirty Something Quartet

Surrey Harmony, Spinnaker and CAL Score 415

Sugarbeat Quartet

CAL Score 411

Jazz me blues (Minihane) If I give my heart to you (Clancy)

Sentimental Gentlemen from Georgia (Waesche) Stars Fell on Alabama (Wright)

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Lace City and DaleDiva Score 414

Chimaera Quartet

Chase The Rain Away (Lynell Diamond) The Dark Town Strutters Ball (Berry)

N a t i o n s ,

I’m Sitting on Top of the World (Craig) The White Cliffs of Dover (Craig)

o f

Aberdeen Score 390

MaJeStiK Quartet

Solent Sounds Score 379

Bandstand in Central Park (Bergman) How Many Hearts Have You Broken (“Eyes Medley”) (Hine)

At Last (Bergman) Red Hot (Bergman)

A d e l i n e s

Mayflowers Plymouth Score 383

S w e e t

Blend Quartet

Q u a r t e t

Footlights Quartet

Cambridge Harmony, Phoenix and CAL Score 403

I n t e r n a t i o n a l

Plymouth Sound Quartet

Mayflowers Plymouth Score 368

Most Improved Quartet: Shindig (+22 points) Where does the time go (Bergman) Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree (Parody) (Rochefort) 13

CHORUS RESULTS CONVENTION 2011 Phoenix

Gwen Topp Score 599

Nightingale sang in Berkeley Square (Bescos) Lulu’s Back in Town (Arns)

At Last (Bergman) Ballin’ the Jack (Wright)

Heartbeat UK Chorus

I n t e r n a t i o n a l

Aberdeen Chorus

Lynda Wood Score 602

DaleDiva Chorus

Nancy Kelsall Score 591

Ally Law Score 574

If I had my way (Harrington) My Honey’s Lovin’ Arms (Wright)

There’s something about a soldier (Avener) At Last (Bergman)

Flying High Singers Chorus

Spinnaker Chorus

Broadway Star Medley (Wydra and Bescos) There’s a Broken Heart for Every Light on Broadway (Pilcher)

A d e l i n e s

If I had my way (Harrington) Don’t break the heart that loves you (Volk)

Sarah Gill Score 540

S w e e t

Mike Taylor Score 563

There’ll be some changes made (Bergman) At Last (Bergman)

N a t i o n s ,

Stuart Sides Score 570

Valerie Taylor Score 522

Tracey Bailey Score 516

L.O.V.E. (Bergman) Over the Rainbow (Bergman)

If I give my heart to you (Clancy) Running Wild (Bergman)

Mayflowers Plymouth Chorus

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Vocal Dimension Chorus

R e g i o n

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Liberty Belles UK Chorus

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Viva Acappella Chorus

Gaynor Dugay Score 529

Nobody ‘Til Somebody Loves You (Hine) Impossible Medley (Wayne and Mallett)

Champagne Cornwall Chorus

Hillfoot Harmony Chorus

Kate Shipway Score 508

Catherine Macdonald Score 505

If I give my heart to you (Clancy) Get me to the church on time (Bergman

Kiss Me One More Time (Anderson) Goody Goody (Bergman)

CHORUS RESULTS CONVENTION 2011 Cheshire A Cappella Chorus

Solent Sounds Chorus

Wally Saunders and Angela Lewis Score 493

Lorraine Howden Score 485

You’re nobody till somebody loves you (Volk) You don’t know me (Clancey

Strangers (Bergman and Oakley) Take Me to the Land of Jazz (Minihane)

Rhapsody UK Chorus

Apple County UK Chorus

Helen Glavina 469

Anya Peat 460

If you Love Me (Bergman) I didn’t want to fall (Liles)

You Made Me love You (Rochefort) Ain’t He Sweet (Rochefort) R e g i o n

City of Roses Chorus

Sheffield Harmony Chorus

Barry Clinton Score 450

Red Hot (Bergman) My Mother’s Eyes (Craig)

If I give my heart to you (Clancey) Them there Eyes (Stevens)

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Mary Robertson Score 455

Q u a r t e t

Somerset Hills Chorus

Lincoln Sounds Chorus

Pat Barnett Score 441

I miss mother most of all (Liles) Deed I do medley (Bescos)

How Many Hearts Have You Broken (Arns) I Never Meant to Fall in Love (Liles)

S w e e t

London City Singers Chorus

Carolyn Cotton Score 401

I Didn’t Want to Fall (Liles) Over the Rainbow (Bescos)

My Baby just cares for me (Bergman) It had to be you (Schmidt)

I Never Knew/You were Meant for Me Time after Time (Arns)

A (small) Chorus Scores

Place Name

Score Place Name

Score

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Heartbeat UK

591

1

Viva Acappella

529

2

Flying High Singers 570

2

Vocal Dimension

522

3

Spinnaker

3

Rhapsody UK

469

563

I n t e r n a t i o n a l

AA (midsize) Chorus Scores

Lace City

A d e l i n e s

Debbie Hopkinson Score 417

Glenn Chaney Evaluation Only

N a t i o n s ,

Coastline Harmony Chorus

o f

Cynthia Tucker Score 445

Most Improved Chorus: Hillfoot Harmony (+64 points) 15

NEWS AND VIEWS FROM REGION 31, SUMMER 2011

Houston… it’s going to be a blast!

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R e g i o n

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Q u a r t e t

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inesse have still not come back down to earth after an amazing weekend in Birmingham last month!

Nicky surprised us all with a birthday treat (no we don’t all share the same birthday- that would just be too weird but you get my point) of having a pedicure and polish in a beautiful salon in Royston on Thursday night before we travelled to Birmingham. Lindsey, the Salon Manager, (who sings with Phoenix by the way) made us all feel like VIP’s and did an amazing design on our nails - such a treat and the perfect start to our weekend! When we arrived in Birmingham we checked in to our fantastic apartment and could not believe how perfect it was, or how close it was to the Symphony Hall. We threw away the salad we had brought for dinner (having had a Burger King on the way up!) got into our jim-jams and tried to suppress our excitement about the coming day – at least enough to get some sleep!

Friday dawned bright and sunny.

Having got up and ready we put a roast chicken in the oven (as you do….?) and headed off to quartet stage time. It was lovely to catch up with so many great friends and to feel that Convention buzz! When we got back to the apartment the chicken was not quite done (we had grilled it….oops……strange oven to be fair!) so we left it in a while longer, on cook this time, and ventured to eat it once we were reasonably confident all threats of salmonella had passed. It tasted delicious, particularly as we knew it would be the last time we ate properly that day!

After a rest and a sing, the lovely Lindsey called in and performed nothing short of a miracle with our makeup! We have now decided

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that wherever we go Lindsey must be there too but sadly for us it seems she has a new husband and a business to run…doh! Dressed up to the nines we walked up to Symphony Hall – can you imagine the looks we got from passers-by on the streets – and had a blast on stage. We have never had a late draw in competition and to have such a warm, wonderful reception from a full auditorium simply

everyone in the mood for a great night. DaleDiva were incredible – let’s just say we were very glad we didn’t have to follow them! We thoroughly enjoyed our show spot and had a great time singing and chatting in the afterglow. Even the thought of driving home on Saturday night could not dampen the evening.

We finally fell into bed at home at 3:30am and braced ourselves for the 6:30 wakeup call from our delighted children (that was pm for

Finesse Quartet

took our breath away, thank you.

Needless to say we were overjoyed with the result and can’t wait to represent Region 31 in Houston in October!

Chorus day was a real treat for us, not least because of the outstanding singing and performing but also because we were all together. Nicky is always judging at LABBS and singing with Phoenix at Region 31 but had recently made the difficult decision to step down from chorus so was able to cheer loudly from the stalls with the rest of us. Boy, did we have plenty to cheer about! All the choruses were superb but we especially enjoyed Forth Valley who were outstanding. Nicky felt very proud but also emotional watching Phoenix do such an amazing job on stage - the first time she had watched them perform since stepping down. The show simply topped off a fantastic day – Sue did a fabulous job as MC and really got

Nicky but then her boys are teenagers and don’t realise there are two 6:30’s in one day - bring it on we say!)

So now the preparations for Houston begin in earnest. We are looking forward to continuing Skype coaching sessions with the Four Bettys and Renee Porzel, which are working really well and hugely beneficial.

All fundraising tips gratefully received! If we can sing on your show, work with your chorus or even do your ironing, we’d love to hear from you (OK maybe not the ironing).

Please telephone Nicky on 01767 312484. We plan to try our hands at a bit of busking and will definitely be putting on a show or two over the coming months- we’d love to see you there!

In Harmony, Helen, Beth, Nicky & Tan, Finesse Quartet www.finessequartet.co.uk

NEWS AND VIEWS FROM REGION 31, SUMMER 2011

ABERDEEN  A  CAPPELLA The  Aberdeen  Chorus  of  Sweet  Adelines  International proudly  presents

Adventure on the High Cs

Â

Join  these  women  with  pirattitude  as  they  set  forth  in  search  of  R e g i o n

adventure.   Will  the  pirate  quines Â

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seek? Â

Q u a r t e t o f N a t i o n s , S w e e t A d e l i n e s

Saturday  27  August  2011 2:30pm

St  Andrew’s  and  St  George’s  West  Church 13  George  Street, Edinburgh  EH2  2PA

I n t e r n a t i o n a l

Tickets  £9.00   (£7.00  )  available  from.....

The  Aberdeen  Chorus:   tickets@aberdeenchorus.co.uk

www.edfringe.co.uk St  Andrew’s  and  St  George’s  West  Church  Tel:  0131  2253847

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NEWS AND VIEWS FROM REGION 31, SUMMER 2011

NEW DIVAS DAZZLE AT CONVENTION – AND YOU COULD BE A DIVA TOO!

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our show package at BABS Annual Convention in Llandudno on May 29th. It was great to meet friends in the male barbershop world – and the Divas had a great day out at the seaside!

We’ve now turned our attention to forthcoming events, particularly our next ‘Diva for a Day!’ which will be held at Derby Assembly Rooms on September 10 from 10am to 4pm.

We’re inviting women and girls (aged eight and over) of all abilities

Liz Tomes, PRO DaleDiva

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Q u a r t e t

o f

N a t i o n s ,

S w e e t

A d e l i n e s

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e were thrilled to take overall fifth place medal at Convention this year – not only because it was our best result yet but also because 13 of our 62-strong chorus were new Divas making their competition debut.

It was an experience our new recruits certainly won’t forget and we all had a fantastic time.

Congratulations to all the choruses and quartets who competed.

We’d also like to say thank you for the appreciation shown DaleDiva Newbies for the fantastic comments we received following our performance to ‘release their inner diva’ at our in the evening show – the standing popular one-day workshop. ovation was something we will For those of you that know Ally, never forget. Region 31 you really you’ll know she loves a challenge so are something special! this year she’s aiming even higher We were also invited to perform with a venue that can hold nearly

1,000! The songs we’ll be doing are pop star Adele’s hit version of the Bob Dylan song ‘To Make You Feel My Love’ and – yes you’ve guessed it – Beyonce’s ‘Single Ladies’ (you’ll even learn some of the moves!)

It will be a great day full of fun, laughter and harmony in a fantastic venue, which will end with a show spot by the chorus. Cost is £20 or a £15 concession for over 60s, under 16s and students. We’ll also have a discount available for group bookings – so why not bring your whole chorus along?

It might even be a chance to help recruit new members for your chorus if you organise a day trip and advertise locally. DaleDiva can help get them get ‘hooked’ and then on the way home you can strike while the iron’s hot and get them to your next rehearsal! ‘Diva for a Day!’ will be a terrific opportunity for women of all ages with varying singing experience to learn, let go and have a good time.

To book e-mail ally@dalediva. co.uk or visit www.dalediva.co.uk Also keep up with our latest news via ‘dalediva’ on Facebook.

R e g i o n

Thanks for all the great GOOD LUCK messages quartets and choruses sent in before Convention 2011 – just fabulous!

If you didn’t get to see them click here [hyperlink] http://www.sweetadelines.org.uk/goodluck.htm 18

NEWS AND VIEWS FROM REGION 31, SUMMER 2011

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PHOENIX NIGHTS FOR FARENHEIT

great thing however was that the 3 acts we shared our dressing room did and they made our night so we were happy bunnies. Whilst

R e g i o n

Farenheit Quartet

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COSTUMES FOR SALE

there, we did for the first time play the pregnancy card with our Pippa who is due in October. If it gets us other 3 to the bar when we are supposed to be back stage then why not?

Lime and lemonades all round, we are SO rock ‘n’ roll!!!!

Q u a r t e t

Love Ally, Amie, Leisha and Pippa, Farenheit Quartet

LAST QUARTET STANDING

S w e e t

I

N a t i o n s ,

t’s 3pm on Friday 6th May 2011 - We are ready for our first competitor … the legs start to feel like jelly … from Chapter At Large and Plymouth Mayflower Chorus … our faces go white … Plymouth Sound Quartet … one foot in front of the other and SMILE. The thought crosses my mind - are we mad, we’ve only been together 9 months?

In Newcastle 2010, Lindsay, our Lead, whispered to me, after seeing the sensational Finesse, ‘I am never going to do that’. And yet, 12

A d e l i n e s I n t e r n a t i o n a l

regional finals – well we were wrong, we did get through!

The audition was quite surreal but very memorable.

The nightclub we performed in reminded EXCELLENT CONDITION, GREAT RANGE us of’ Phoenix OF SIZES, WASHED, PRESSED AND nights’ (that’s INDIVIDUALLY BAGGED the TV show not Over 50 available the Chorus), a DaleDiva are selling the following costumes to bouncer tried make room in their wardrobes! to chuck us out Black/cerise long dress with separate black because he sparkly bolero with cerise trim. Only worn 4 times!! thought we were £35 each or make us an offer! groupies, and we shared a dressing room with a boy band, a rock band and a heavy metal band – not a sequin in sight!

If we had got through to the Also... finals we would Turquoise/black lace top (looks great with black have been trousers) £15 each (if interested, we can send you a photo) performing at the O2 so we can For details of sizes available and more photos of always say we both costumes please email: ally@dalediva.co.uk were only one step away. The

3 1

t was great to see so many friends at convention and we would like to thank all involved who made it such a great weekend. We know that a lot of time and effort went in to making the weekend as successful as it was. We are delighted with our 6th place result and thank so many of you for your lovely comments. Congratulations especially to Forth Valley and our friends Finesse on very well deserved gold medals. A big thank you to DaleDiva for being as supportive as ever and we would like to take the opportunity to congratulate the new quartet on the block ‘Flirty Something’ for a great performance.

It was a very tiring weekend for the quartet as on the Sunday afternoon we boarded a train

to Manchester for another gig!

You may recall we had entered a competition ‘Live and Unsigned’ and had no hopes of getting through the

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NEWS AND VIEWS FROM REGION 31, SUMMER 2011

R e g i o n

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months later, we had recruited a Bass (Patti) and an eleven year old Tenor (Lucy) and were about to be the first competitor on stage at the Birmingham Symphony Hall. What a journey we have had. We have rehearsed twice a week, competed in the Saltash Music Festival (and came 2nd!), we have scoured the internet for costumes and debated between nude and barely black tights. We have had extra coaching from Glenn Chaney, Lorraine Rochfort and Graham Wilcox. And so, we finally decided to register our quartet after auditioning for The Mayflowers directors and chorus, and registered Lucy (our eleven year old tenor) with every organisation/ school/county council in the land.

On Thursday 5th May, we started the journey from the Westcountry to Birmingham.

We attended the Quartet familiarisation session at the Hall and I think it was then that the penny dropped as to what a mammoth task we had set ourselves. The Symphony Hall looked vast and from the stage we tried desperately to decide on focal points but secretly we feared that ‘Rabbits in Headlights’ might actually be the expression we would achieve. We shared that hour with competitors who had done it all before and their good wishes and pearls of wisdom were much appreciated … although we did feel sorry for the lady who confirmed that we were her draw in the sweepstake!

So, come competition day, dipthongs and vowel sounds swam around our heads as we layered on the foundation. And at 3pm, all we could do was sing our hearts out and make our followers proud. We had so much make up on that Lucy was mistaken for an adult and my glasses wanted to slip off my nose.

We could hear giggles from the audience with our uptune (which was a parody of ‘don’t sit under the apple tree’ entitled ‘don’t go 20

surfin the internet’) and we have to thank you for those as it helped with the nerves - our lyrics even got a mention on the SAI Twitter site. It all passed in a blur and I can vaguely remember making sure I hit my mark as I walked on first and winking at Lindsay half way through the uptune. We had made it after lots and lots of hard work and, yes although we did come last, we have brilliant critique sheets to work on and we plan to be back in 2012, if for no other reason than that we’ve taken the price tags off our costumes.

So why am I writing this - to thank people and encourage people. Thank you to everyone who helped us on this journey especially the Mayflowers who were so supportive. And I wanted to re-assure those who may be considering performing as a Quartet. It’s an amazing experience.

Quarteting makes you listen to yourself and balance your voice with the other parts. It is hugely beneficial for your chorus - the Mayflowers have a quarter of their chorus as Registered Quarteters!

Don’t be put off by the position you may come. A friend of mine said - you wouldn’t feel sad and disappointed if you came last in the marathon would you? See you in Birmingham next year.

Carmen, Lindsay, Patti and Lucy, Plymouth Sound Quartet

BRINGING YOUR CHORUS INTO THE 21st CENTURY…WHAT ELSE CAN YOU DO?

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recently spotted, via Facebook and Twitter funnily enough, that a member of Region 34 was putting together a workshop on what technology & social media

tools have made an impact on your chorus management and culture?

She put the question out to fellow Sweet Adelines on LinkedIn, I wanted to share a few snippets of the ‘findings’ with you!

If you have any questions about any of the below comments, ideas and suggestions, do contact me!

Emma Duguid, Region 31 Marketing Coordinator, Vocal Dimension Chorus duguidemma@gmail.com

“One thing that we do to keep everyone abreast of what’s going on is publish a weekly “HOT SHEET” that goes to all the members and guests. It is sent out via email each Friday” “We have a public and private area of our website. In terms of attracting new members via the web, we get a number of requests to visit a rehearsal though our website’s contact form on the public area.

We’ve also sold tickets to shows on the public site by putting in a link to Paypal. The private area is more for files that the members need.

We have a public Facebook page maintained by multiple members and share updates and photos with our “fans” on a fairly regular basis. Our Facebook page feeds automatically to our Twitter account which makes things easy to maintain.

For members, we also have a weekly e-newsletter that goes out to all members the night by email before rehearsal to keep everyone up to date with the chorus news. For file sharing, we use Dropbox to share files with members (though we have a lot on our site in the members only area too). For communication with chorus members, we also use YahooGroups to send emails to everyone - there are several email lists for things like section, committees, etc. For videos for learning choreo, we currently use Vimeo (which can be embedded on the site and/or made private) or just share files thru Dropbox, though I’ve heard of choruses have success with YouTube too”

NEWS AND VIEWS FROM REGION 31, SUMMER 2011

ROS NIGHTINGALE (Cambridge Harmony Chorus) 19th April 1943 – 4th May 2011

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R e g i o n 3 1 Q u a r t e t o f N a t i o n s , S w e e t A d e l i n e s I n t e r n a t i o n a l

“We have an external website, and an internal website powered

by Google Sites. For choreography videos we use unlisted YouTube, which can be embedded within our internal website. I have found this the easiest because everyone seems to be able to get their “YouTube” fixed. I use VideoPad to edit the videos to length - Windows Movie Maker could be used as well, but I like VideoPad” “We recently switched to a Wordpress site and uses domain Gmail for chorus email account.

This gives us the ability to share Google calendars internally and also maintain a public calendar. There’s a great Google plugin for Wordpress that updates our web calendar in real time as well. Using Wordpress makes it possible to delegate site maintenance to people with limited web skills -- including the private Members section. Our members can leave comments in the Member section for each other, which is kind of nice. We also have an email list that gets a post the night before each week’s rehearsal” “Our members-only site is extensive (about 700 pages at this point). Announcements and reminders are posted on the front page - this has replaced the need for a newsletter. There’s a page for every chorus team (ways and means, the Board, the music team, costumes, make-up,

os joined County Connection at its inception under the direction of Fran Pocock and was involved in the recent change of name to Cambridge Harmony Chorus.

She was an extremely etc.), updated as needed (I’m just enthusiastic, about to hand over these updates loyal and to ‘web administrators’, one on hardworking each team, once they are trained). member There’s a page for every upcoming taking joint performance, where info on Ros Nightingale responsibility venue, program, costume, makeup, for the Lead Section. She competed directions, etc., is posted. There’s in several Conventions and a ‘profile’ page for every member participated in countless local “sing(including photos), so that we can outs”. Always with a wicked sense get to know new members quickly, of humour, she held the chorus and they us! All chorus documents together and always made a point are stored here - membership list, phone chain, board meeting minutes, of welcoming new members. There were several instances when Ros bylaws, fundraising posters, forms, got a fit of the giggles on the risers etc. It’s become an ‘information which was extremely infectious equalizer’ - everyone knows all! It’s been very well received by members and she often referred to one of our Convention costumes as the - we encourage all to make it their “Mother of the Bride” outfit! She home page so that reminders pop was well known for her dislike of right up on their screen when they open their web browser every day” stage make-up and often remarked “In a technical survey I conducted that we looked like shop window last year (using Survey Monkey - so mannequins! easy!), I learned that more than half Despite a prolonged period of of our members now use a digital ill-health, Ros attended chorus recorder. I’ve encouraged people whenever she could, often sitting to buy the same brand, so that we down throughout rehearsals but can help each other on the risers. demonstrating her determination This has proved to be challenging in to continue singing for as long as the past because folks would buy possible. a recorder, not know how to use She leaves a son and daughter and it, nor would anyone else around four grandchildren. By the time this them, so they would give up and go article goes to print, her grandson – back to their tape recorders. I give Jim – will hopefully have been born. workshops to teach members how Ros conducted herself with to use their recorders, manage their immense dignity throughout her files, and email recordings to their illness and her presence will be tapecheckers” greatly missed.

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NEWS AND VIEWS FROM REGION 31, SUMMER 2011

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I n t e r n a t i o n a l

In the Spotlight!

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Tracey Bailey – Directors’ Coordinator Champagne Cornwall Chorus 01726 63937 allthebaileys@aol.com

Glenn Chaney Lace City Chorus 07960 112732 glennsings@yahoo.co.uk

Nuala Hobden – Finance Coordinator Spinnaker Chorus 02392 231569 nualahelen@aol.com

Elaine Hamilton Forth Valley Chorus 0131 334 2372 elainemrssh@aol.com

Elaine Hamilton – Education Coordinator Forth Valley Chorus 0131 334 2372 elainemrssh@aol.com

Dorothy Main Aberdeen Chorus 01224 782124 themains@talktalk.net

Petrina Bache – Events Coordinator Phoenix Chorus 07772 932432 trinabache@btinternet.com

Mike Taylor Spinnaker Chorus 01489 600134 mike@singwell.me.uk

Jeanette Yuile – Membership Coordinator CAL 01330 811544 j.yuile@btinternet.com

Valerie Taylor Vocal Dimension Chorus 020 8660 8037 valerie.taylor@privacysolutions.co.uk

Jean Graham – Communications Coordinator Mayflowers Plymouth 01752 783724 jean.graham2006@btinternet.com

Gwen Topp Aberdeen Chorus 01224 575366 gmtopp@yahoo.co.uk

Emma Duguid – Marketing Coordinator Vocal Dimension Chorus 07815 114476 duguidemma@gmail.com

N a t i o n s ,

Alyson Chaney – Regional Faculty Coordinator Lace City Chorus 01636 814377 alysonchaney@yahoo.co.uk

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Chris Bentley – Team Coordinator Forth Valley Chorus 0131 539 1247 chrisbentley963@hotmail.com

Q u a r t e t

Anne Cargill Aberdeen Chorus 01224 704627 acargill@lochside.fsbusiness.co.uk

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RMT

R e g i o n

REGIONAL FACULTY

S w e e t

Michelle Walker Lace City Chorus 0115 965 4524 shelbywalks@yahoo.co.uk

A d e l i n e s

COPY DEADLINE

I n t e r n a t i o n a l

The Autumn Harmony Rag will be issued towards the end of September.

Please send all articles to harmonyrag@sweetadelines.org.uk by

31 August 2011 st

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Forth Valley Chorus 2011 Region 31 Champion Chorus