Harmony Rag 2012 Summer Edition

Echo – 2012 Region 31 Champion Quartet

Region 31 Quartet of Nations, Sweet Adelines International

Summer 2012 | Issue 6

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY AND WELCOME

Regional Education Dates Regional Satellite Education, 15 September 2012: Ignite Scotland 15 September 2012: Ignite Central 15 September 2012: Ignite South East 15 September 2012: Ignite South West 22 September 2012: Ignite North West Register now at: http://www.sweetadelines.org.uk/ignite.htm Education weekend with Coastline Show Chorus July 26 – 28, 2013 (Edinburgh Corn Exchange)

Region 31 Quartet of Nations,

Sweet Adelines International

Winter 2011 | Issue 4

Region 31 Quartet of Nations,

Sweet Adelines Internatio

nal

Spring 2012 | Issue 5

Echo – 2012 Region 31 Champ ion Quartet

Regional Convention Dates May 10 – 12 2013, The Sage, Gateshead May 9 – 11 2014, The Sage, Gateshead

Region 31 Quartet of Nati

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

European Convention Dates March 14 – 17, 2013, Eindhoven, Amsterdam

@SAIRegion31

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LABBS and BABS Dates http://www.labbs.org.uk/calendar/ http://www.singbarbershop.com/diary.htm LABBS Convention October 26 – 28, 2012, Telford BABS Convention May 3 – 6, 2013, Bournemouth BABS Harmony College August 24 – 26, 2012, Nottingham

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ons, Sweet Adelines Interna tional

Summer 2012 | Issue 6

International Convention October 30 – November 3, 2012, Denver, CO November 5 – 9, 2013, Honolulu, HI

WELCOME Hello everyone!

I hope you are all well and recovered from Convention!

Just a short note from me this time, with two things to mention!

Firstly, thank you SO much for the great comments you gave on the feedback form regarding the Harmony Rag - lots of positives and lots of great ideas for the future, so thank you for that. I will digest them all and hopefully we can implement most of them to ensure that the Harmony Rag continues to be something to look forward to on a quarterly basis.

And secondly....the RMT have some very exciting news for you! The Four Bettys, the 2008 Sweet Adelines International Champion Quartet, will be joining us at the Sage next year! They will be appearing on the Show of Champions on Saturday evening and will also be running the education classes on the Sunday morning - so don’t miss out! Check out their website for more information and to hear them, visit http:// www.fourbettys.com. There will be lots more details nearer the time but please do make every effort to stay for the Education classes, they are all wonderful educators and such fun!

That’s all from me - I hope you enjoy this Convention issue, there are lots of fun photos and memories...

In harmony, Emma Duguid Region 31 Marketing Coordinator Vocal Dimension Chorus

NEWS AND VIEWS FROM REGION 31, SUMMER 2012

Rhapsody Uk Chorus – Not Just Sisters In Harmony

M

Q u a r t e t o f N a t i o n s ,

have to be a director or assistant director to apply, it is also great for section leaders and general chorus members too.

You will need access to an upto-date copy of the DCP Manual.

This consists of 11 elements but you only work through 1 to 10 to complete the Program. If your chorus has already purchased a copy – great! However, ask whoever is in charge of your library to make sure that any updates have been ordered since the original purchase. I will try to make sure to let choruses know if and when any updates happen that affect the Program. There were a couple of updates last year that caught some participants out. Also, it is useful to have access to the Judging Category Book (JCB) and again

S w e e t A d e l i n e s

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3 1

Director Certification Program – What’s It All About?

paperwork to me for marking.

We’ve already had 5 new applications from members who beat the increase in the registration fee. How great is that?! There are also a number of members who have registered over the past year or so and I would urge you to start thinking about working through the Program. Can we match or even increase next year’s number? I believe our Region is ahead of most in applications. You don’t

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

ready if you’d like us to help again.

For the second time in less than six weeks, they laid on yet another fabulous spread and this time for even more people. My Mum was a big fan of the chorus and followed us regularly to concerts and y husband passed away competitions and she would have not unexpectedly, but been so amazed at the way they still suddenly, just before just grabbed the reins and helped Christmas and within a week of this us through such a difficult time. happening we discovered my Mum I have no sisters of my own but I was also terminally ill with little can truly say that even if I did, they could not have helped or supported time left. I was trying to deal with the aftermath of losing my husband, me more, nor could I love them arranging a funeral, supporting more than I do my sisters in our daughters and visiting Mum Rhapsody UK - an amazing bunch of in hospital at the same time. ladies without whom I don’t know Arrangements for the funeral were where I would be now. under way when one of the girls I hope that you can let the rest of from chorus asked if I had made the Region know that for some of plans for the family and friends us chorus membership is more than get-together after the funeral. I was just going to rehearsals once a week suddenly confronted by another and singing together, it’s about friendship, kindness towards others thing to do and no idea where to start. “Don’t give it another thought” and being together through thick was the instant reply, “we’ll put our and thin.

Yours truly and always in harmony, heads together and let you know Submitted by Fiona Owen, asap”. By the next afternoon a Rhapsody UK Chorus committee had been put together, made up of those chorus members who were retired, worked part-time or were simply able and willing to make time to arrange something.

“Just give us the number of whoever runs the local community centre and we’ll liaise directly with her” was the request and again this happened. On the day of the would like to congratulate funeral, over 120 people came back everyone for their performances for refreshments and were greeted in both the Quartet and Chorus warmly by chorus members with tea, coffee, cold drinks and the most Contests. It was really great to see enormous buffet spread I could ever a small chorus win and just shows what you can achieve if you work have imagined. I was overwhelmed hard at perfecting the barbershop by their support, hard work and craft. Well done Viva Acappella! kindness. People even said to me, who were the caterers, we could do Also congratulations to Ally Law and Nancy Kelsall in becoming Master with their details?

Directors.

Sadly, just after Christmas, my I was so proud to stand on the Mum also passed away and I was stage in Birmingham and present left helping Dad to arrange another 11 DCP certificates. Everyone had funeral. Guess what? Yes, the worked so hard to complete in wonderful ladies of Rhapsody UK called me and said we’re armed and time for Convention and get all the

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NEWS AND VIEWS FROM REGION 31, SUMMER 2012

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ensure that you have an up-to-date copy or have noted any changes to scoring etc. The Pitch Pipe and Harmony Rag are also good sources of information too. The Arrangers’ Guide can also be useful if you have access to a copy as it not only covers arranging barbershop harmony but also helps with the Music Category, chording etc. It can be expensive to purchase these yourself but they are all a very good investment for the chorus to have in their library. This may all sound very daunting but there are test papers in DCP Manual so you can practice as you work through.

Working through the Program: 1.

To start you need to ask a friend from your chorus to act as your Mentor. She will be responsible for receiving the test papers, organising a quiet place for you to complete written papers and liaising with the Chorus Team and Director for any Chorus evaluation papers and then returning papers to me for marking.

2.

Decide in which order you would like to complete the modules and study the subject you want to complete and, when ready, ask for the test paper to be sent to your Mentor. I would suggest that chorus evaluations be spaced out throughout the time you are working through and not left until the very end, especially near to contest time when the chorus is probably having last minute coaching.

3.

As I receive papers, I mark them and let you know your score and, hopefully, give some helpful feedback. In the event of not attaining the required marks in a subject, the paper can be re-taken at a later date when ready.

4.

On completion, a report is sent to SAI, and you also receive a copy. If all criteria are met (which includes a list of education classes or coaching you have had during past 12 months) then Certificates are sent to me for presentation, 4

that we would be in Spain to support the lads we thought, “Why not have some fun and join in?”

Ambitiously, we formed our quartet, The Edge, with the sole purpose of competing at SABS. There were moments when we thought we were absolutely crazy to take on the might of Europe with limited opportunity for rehearsals. But – no regrets – far from it, we have enjoyed really getting to know each other, singing together, challenging ourselves, overcoming the fear factor and loving the performance.

We had an amazing weekend.

The venue and our hosts were Submitted by Fran Pocock, Region 31 just superb, huge thanks to Gail DCP Coordinator Grainger and everyone involved in making the Convention so enjoyable. Congratulations to all the winners and also to all the competitors, both national and international. We were able to blend the serious competitive element with the utter joy of mingling with other barbershoppers. ery early on Thursday Wow, didn’t we have some great 22nd March we set out for afterglows! So, all in all, we ticked Birmingham airport to fly to all our boxes and achieved all that Malaga for En Armonia, the SABS we set out to do initially. The Convention (Spanish Association “problem” is that now we have of Barbershop Singers). Full of trepidation, excitement, resolve really got the quartet bug and a host of emotions, we and we want to carry on. stood in our Unfortunately, two of us cannot continue due to other singing commitments.

But if there is anyone out there, who feels that they would like to join us (we’re based on the Oxon/Northants/Warwicks border) queue, – please do contact Georgie at singing “Come Fly With Me” (what else?!) and then boarded our plane. edgettes@gmail.com! We’re looking for a lead or a bass…or both!

Who are “we”? Well, we are all attached to 5Ways Chorus (BABS) Submitted by Joani, Lizzie, Shanna and in one way or another and knowing Georgie which, as you all know, are presented at our Regional contest weekend. There is no time limit and if you start in May/June you have almost a year in which to complete before next Convention.

An application form can be downloaded from the SAI website using this link www. sweetadelineintl.org/ImgUL/files/ DCPApplication.pdf Please contact me if you have any queries at all – there is a link to my email on the Regional website (under Tracey Bailey’s entry) or telephone 01440 709339 in the evening (except Tuesdays).

An “edgy” weekend at SABS!

V

NEWS AND VIEWS FROM CONVENTION REGION 31, RESULTS SUMMER 2012 2012

Convention 2012 R e g i o n 3 1

Quartet Champions

Q u a r t e t

Echo, Heartbeat UK, Surrey Harmony & Spinnaker, Score 606

If I give my heart to you (Jim Clancey) (B) Don’t break the heart that loves you (Greg Volk) (U)

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

Viva Acappella, Director — Gaynor Dugay, Score 639

You don’t know me (Clancey) (B) I can’t give you anything but love/Steppin’ out with my baby (Bergman) (U) 5

Miss-Demeanour

Fortuity

Heartbeat UK, Milltown Sound & CAL 602

Champagne Cornwall & CAL

I’ve got a feeling I’m falling (Bergman) (U) Time after time (David Wright) (U)

Goody goodbye (George Avener) (U) My foolish heart (Joni Bescos) (B)

596

Storm

The Late Show

Lace City

Viva Acappella

568

538

Red, Red Robin (Volk) (U) My foolish heart (Joni Bescos) (B)

You turned the tables on me (Bergman) (U) What’ll I do (Ed Waesche) (B)

Farenheit

Mac 4

DaleDiva

Forth Valley & CAL

528

525

That’s life (David Harrington) (U) You don’t know me (Clancey) (B)

There’ll be some changes made/So long dearie (Bergman) (U) When you wish upon a star (Joni Bescos) (B)

Carousel

Tone-Acity

Mayflowers Plymouth

Milltown Sound

492

478

Once Upon a Time (June Dale) (B) Love Me (Aaron Dale) (U)

Angry/Bill Bailey (Bergman) (U) If we can’t be the same old sweethearts (Jay Gillombardo) (B)

JaZZmine

Shindig

Spinnaker & CAL

Aberdeen & CAL

477

475

I will love you til the end of time (Al Baker) (B) I didn’t want to fall (Liles) (U)

You turned the tables on me (Bergman) (U) What’ll I do (Ed Waesche) (B)

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NEWS ANDRESULTS QUARTET VIEWS FROM CONVENTION REGION 31, 2012 SUMMER 2012

6

Chatterbox

Forte UK

Solent Sounds

DaleDiva

453

449

When I Leave the World Behind (Joni Bescos) (B) I’m Sitting on Top of the World (Craig) (U)

Oh How I Miss You Tonight (Craig, Wyatt, Briner) (B) After you’ve gone (N Bergman and L Wright)

NEWS ANDQUARTET VIEWS FROM RESULTS REGION CONVENTION 31, SUMMER 2012 2012 Footlights

Simply 4 Rhapsody UK

Cambridge Harmony & Phoenix 443

442

I’ve Been Waiting for your Phone Call (Bergman) (B) I can’t recall his name (Liles) (B)

I told them all about you/ You dear medley (The FOUR HARMONIZERS) (U) When I Leave the World Behind (Joni Bescos) (B)

Em & S

ms. behavin’ uk

CAL

City of Roses & CAL

433

427

After you’re gone (Don Gray) (U) A Dream is a wish your heart makes (Rochefort) (U)

Fit as a fiddle (Arline B. Cardoso) (U) Stars Fell on Alabama (David Wright) (B)

Chimaera Aberdeen

403

396

Last night on the back porch (Bergman) (U) At last (Bergman) (B)

Chase The Rain Away (Lynell Diamond) (B) Information not provided

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Wicked!

Heartbeat UK & CAL

3 1 Q u a r t e t

Singularity Aberdeen

Congratulations!

o f

Love Me (Aaron Dale) (U) Oh How I Miss You Tonight (Arns) (B)

N a t i o n s ,

Most Improved Quartet Footlights +40 pts

362

Most Improved Chorus Viva Acappella +110 pts

S w e e t

2013 Convention May 10—12th

A d e l i n e s

The Sage Gateshead

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

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A d e l i n e s

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

NEWS ANDRESULTS CHORUS VIEWS FROM CONVENTION REGION 31, 2012 SUMMER 2012 Surrey Harmony

Phoenix

Jenny Lawson

Lynda M. Wood

623

615

I never meant to fall in love (Joe Liles) (B) Original Dixieland One-step (Greg Volk) (U)

A nightingale sang in Berkeley Square (Joni Bescos) (B) Swanee (Ed Waesche) (U)

DaleDiva

Heartbeat UK

Ally Law

Nancy A. Kelsall

608

607

Time after time (David Wright) (B) There’s something about a soldier, George Avener (U)”

Time after time (Ed Waesche) (B) So long dearie (R Craig) (U)

Aberdeen

Spinnaker

Gwen M. Topp

Jenny Savory

595

587

Angry/Bill Bailey (Bergman) (U) At last (Bergman) (B)

Broadway Star Medley (Mary Ann Wydra/Joni Bescos) (U) At last (Bergman) (B)

Milltown Sound

Valerie Taylor

Jennifer Carson-Fox

583

562

World here I am (Bergman) (U) My Romance (Joey Minshall)

How Many Hearts Have You Broken?/Them There Eyes (medley) (Brent Graham) (U) If you love me really love me (Nancy Bergman) (B)

Mayflowers Plymouth

Champagne Cornwall

Sarah Gill

Tracey J. Bailey

553

517

At last (Bergman) (B) The moment I saw your eyes (Liles) (U)

My foolish heart (Joni Bescos) (B) Red Hot (Nancy Bergman) (U)

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Hillfoot Harmony

Rhapsody UK

Catherine Macdonald

Helen Glavina

502

489

Kiss Me One More Time (Norma Anderson) (B) Goody Goody (Bergman) (U)

I’ve got a feeling I’m falling (Bergman) (U) If you love me really love me (Nancy Bergman) (B)

NEWS AND CHORUS VIEWS FROM RESULTS REGION CONVENTION 31, SUMMER 2012 2012 Sheffield Harmony

Somerset Hills

Barry Clinton

Cynthia M. Tucker

475

468

When I just wear my smile (Tom Gentry) (U) If I give my heart to you (Jim Clancey) (B)

L.O.V.E. (Bergman) (U) If you love me really love me (Nancy Bergman) (B)

Lincoln Sounds

City of Roses

Kara Moore

Mary Robertson

460

459

If you love me really love me (Nancy Bergman) (B) Ain’t He Sweet (Lorraine Rochefort) (U)

Once Upon a Time (June Dale) (B) Goody Goody (Bergman) (U)

458

449

I’ve Been Waiting for your Phone Call (Bergman) (B) Take Me to the Land of Jazz (Minihane) (U)

Time after Time (Arns) (B) Get me to the church on time (Bergman) (U)

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Liberty Belles UK Kate E. Shipway

R e g i o n

Solent Sounds Lorraine Howden

Cheshire A Cappella

How many hearts have you broken?/Them there eyes (B Graham) (U) What’ll I do (Ed Waesche) (B)

435

420

Someone to watch over me (Carolyn Schmidt) (B) The joint is jumpin’ (Nancy Bergman) (U)

If I ruled the world (Don Gray) (B) Love Me (Aaron Dale) (U)

Forth Valley

Anya Peat

David Sangster

398

Evaluation only

Over the Rainbow (Bescos) (B) I’m Sitting On Top of the World (Rochefort) (U)

Lulu’s back in town (Arns) (U) Kiss Me One More Time (Norma Anderson) (B)

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

Apple County U.K.

A d e l i n e s

Coastline Harmony Debbie Hopkinson

S w e e t

London City Singers Tim Peters

N a t i o n s ,

Where does the time go (Bergman) (B) The best of times (Tedda Lippincott) (U)

o f

448

Wal Saunders Angela Lewis 436

Kit de Bolster

Q u a r t e t

New Land Singers

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“A CAPPELLA SINGING STRAIGHT FROM THE GODS” Edinburgh Evening News “ONE OF THE MOST PHENOMENAL THINGS YOU WILL EVER SEE OR HEAR” Birmingham Express and Star “GUARANTEED TO PUT A SMILE ON YOUR FACE” The Herald

“AWESOME A CAPPELLA” The Daily Telegraph

02 - 15 August Edinburgh Fringe Festival Skegness, Embassy Theatre 23 August 15 September Hastings, White Rock Theatre Shrewsbury, Walker Theatre 09 October Town Hall, Airdrie www.themagnets.com 10 October @themagnets /themagnets 04 November London, Shepherd’s Bush Empire

See Britain’s most exciting harmony group on tour. Discounted tickets for Choruses. Pre-show workshops and master classes available on request, email info@themagnets.com

NEWS AND VIEWS FROM REGION 31, SUMMER 2012

Update - Young Singers Foundation - Silent Auctions

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s you all know, our Region was able to send items to the Silent Auctions held during the last two International Conventions. They were delighted

Submitted by Fran Pocock, Region 31 YSF Liaison

Medals Galore!

W

hat a day! We’d like to know if we’ve made history by winning gold

Champion Chorus Plaque for overall winners - Viva Acappella!

Oh - and the Jeanne Miller Commemorative Bowl for showmanship/choreography - Viva Acappella!

The Beryl Joyce Mort Trophy for music - Viva Acappella!

Can anyone beat that?

Our thanks to our two fabulous Directors, Jenny and Gaynor and to our wonderful choruses.

Submitted by Lindsey Hilsum, Surrey Harmony and Viva Acappella Chorus

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

Straight From Our Hearts

W

hat a fabulous weekend of harmony everyone had at Region 31 Convention

S w e e t

2012.

We now have: • Three Region 31 quartets attending International 2012; • Viva Acappella with a fantastic triple win (Most Improved; Small Chorus; overall Champions) taking them to Honolulu in 2013; • 5 choruses with over 600 points and 5 with over 550 points.

Thrillingly, the scores are also now higher each year. How exciting was that!

In the Region there is no doubt that we are all seriously competitive

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

and silver medals with two choruses at Regionals? Fi, Lindsey, Irene and Mary first performed with Surrey Harmony in position 12 at the Region 31 Convention in May. We then had 15 minutes to change costume, make up, nail polish and shoes and meet up with Viva Acappella in the warm-up room.

Friends from Surrey Harmony were on hand to assist us in SALT’s dressing room organised by our Sheila. We felt like VIPs! We made it in time, breathless, but still on a high from our first appearance on stage. Before long it was time to do it all again. The rest was a dream: Vi Steel Award for Most Improved Chorus - Viva Acappella!

Division A First Place Chorus - Viva Acappella!

Regional Second Place Chorus Surrey Harmony!

N a t i o n s ,

to receive our contributions and the items were very popular and all sold at above what we would have paid for them.

I was planning to organise something for Denver along the lines of Jubilee memorabilia but as you can probably appreciate, I put the DCP on top of my list so have not been able to devote time to organising a donation for this year.

As I am not able to go to Denver this year regrettably we’ll have to give this a miss.

For 2013, I hope to be able to organise some other ways of fundraising such as making some small items to give out for personal donations of say 50p upwards. I’m also thinking about possibly running our very own Silent Auction. If it is decided to do this, I would need pledges for items. For example offers for a free coaching sessions, hospitality, show tickets or various desirable items that members would be prepared to bid for themselves. If any of our Regional coaches would be prepared to give of their time (however, travel and lodging expenses would have to be paid for), I’d be pleased to hear from you . If anyone has read the list of items that are offered at International Conventions it will give you an idea of what is on offer.

So watch this space. If anyone is willing to give pledges of time or items, please get in touch with me.

Thank you for your support.

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NEWS AND VIEWS FROM REGION 31, SUMMER 2012

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about our “hobby”, which is exactly as it should be. Indeed, anyone not involved in “our world” might imagine a competition involving costumes, hair and make-up could potentially be a little “spirited”! Of course, as Sweet Adelines, we know that these things are also discussed at some length, just as the musical performance is analysed in the finest detail (and not just by the Baris). There’s nothing like performing to your peers is there?

But in Region 31 it’s always in such a good way.

In Forth Valley our tradition is that any new members are affectionately termed “newbies” until after their first Convention.

But afterwards, given that they are still quite new, there is a dilemma about how to express being “nearly new”… erm! Every year, our first timers are simply “blown away” by the Convention experience: the performances, the total immersion in Barbershop, the schedule, the stamina, the eyelashes… but more than anything it’s the harmony of such wonderfully friendly people and the supportive atmosphere before, during and after the event which strikes them and lingers in memories forever.

But for the whole of FVC, Convention isn’t only about performance and placing, it’s the warmness of the event; the sharing of experiences, the support in so many ways from and for individuals and other choruses; the new and renewed friendships from around the Region and world, and so much more.

So as we prepare for Denver, we’d like to take this opportunity to thank each and everyone for your enthusiastic support for us as emissaries for Region 31 – your applause was electrifying, your good wishes so encouraging, your donations for our second “International Fund” in difficult financial times is deeply appreciated, and your friendships 12

are beyond price.

Thank you Region 31!

Submitted by Sue Davidson, PRO of Forth Valley Chorus

Heartbeat UK enjoy success in sunny Spain

I

n late March 2012, 32 ladies from Heartbeat UK Chorus travelled to Benalmadena on the Costa del Sol to take part in the inaugural

International section of En Armonia, the Spanish Association of Barbershop Singers annual contest. Arriving on Thursday 22nd March, a day in advance of the competition, we joined forces with our good friends, Cheshire Chord Company (LABBS 2011 Silver medallists), to entertain Spanish and visiting international choruses and quartets with a unique rendition of Beauty School Drop-out, decked out in a variety of pink shower caps, hair curlers, rollers and shower curtains, as part of a cabaret-style evening of entertainment. We spent the remainder of the evening mixing with choruses and quartets from around the globe, reacquainting with old friends and making new ones along the way. Of course,

there was a little partaking of local beverages involved too!

On Friday afternoon, it was the turn of the quartets to compete, with Heartbeat being represented in no fewer than four separate quartets within the competition.

It marked competitive debuts for Mayhem and The Mix, pitting them against experienced quartetists Miss-Demeanour and last year’s Sweet Adelines’ bronze medal quartet, Echo, as well as quartets from The Netherlands, Ireland and the USA. In a thrilling contest, we were incredibly proud that all four of our quartets placed in the top five out of eleven,

with Mayhem coming in a very respectable fifth.

The Mix performed excellently to place third, with Miss-Demeanour achieving an excellent second place and Echo producing a stunning performance to grab themselves gold medals.

The success of our quartets buoyed the spirits of the chorus in readiness for the chorus competition the following day. After cutting quite an image, walking through the streets of Benalmadena to the hotel in which the contest was taking place in our sparkly red dresses (and a variety of footwear ranging from flip-flops to Doc Martin boots!), Heartbeat took to the stage to performance our

NEWS AND VIEWS FROM REGION 31, SUMMER 2012 have qualified as a wildcard entry to Denver. Another of our quartets, Wicked, competed on the Regional stage for the very first time and the chorus was very proud of their performance and achievement.

Submitted by Liz Mulligan, Heartbeat UK Chorus

Region 31 v RoSA – The Stats!

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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

egion 31 (Quartet of Nations) has had an amazing Convention this year in comparison with the rest of Sweet Adelines (RoSA)! The combined virtual medal haul of our choruses and quartets is most definitely up on 2011 and I have geeked out big time on Excel custom sorting even working out world rankings on score alone – happy days!

So, here are a few facts and highlights: Competition sizes With 20 quartets competing this year, we were in the middle rankings for size of competition.

The smallest was Region 2 (Border Lakes) this year with 8 and the largest Region 34 (Southern Cross) with an astonishing 36 quartets who competed! For choruses we had the second largest again with 24 competitors and 1 evaluation, equal with Region 19 (Atlantic Bay-Mountain), and only Region 16 (Lake Ontario) had a larger

contest with 25 competitors and 3 competing for evaluation. Overall 16 quartets and 48 choruses competed for evaluation across all regions with Regions 1 (North Atlantic), 8 (Rocky Mountain) and 11 (Sequoia Pacifica) having 4 choruses evaluating.

Quartets A total of 488 quartets competed this year, 22 more than 2011, and of these 88% of these scored over 400 points, 41% over 500 points and only 6% over 600 points. Those scoring over 400 or 500 points are up on last year but those scoring 600 are down by 2%.

Both our champions Echo and our 2nd place and wildcard quartet Ms. Demeanour, would have won the quartet competition in 14 other regions and even our 3rd place quartet, Fortuity, would have won in 12!

Echo with their 606 points beat 467 of the total competitors which is 96% of quartets!

If you look at straight world rankings based on score alone (sorted down the categories with Sound the first decider for a tiebreak) Echo are 21st, Ms. Demeanour 24th and Fortuity 29th – all 3 in the top 30 of the world – how cool is that?!

Our average score for quartets was 484 this year, up on last year’s 475 yet still lower than the 2010 average of 496 Choruses A total of 403 choruses competed regionally this year. Of those 237

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contest package. The atmosphere was electric as we finished our ballad, a beautiful arrangement of Time After Time, which generated a rousing reception from the audience. With the adrenaline pumping, we launched into our uptune, So Long Dearie, coming off stage having thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and having entertained the audience judging by the generous applause we received.

We were shocked and delighted when the results were announced and we were presented with gold medals, which we all wore proudly for the remainder of the weekend, grudgingly removing them only to pass through airport security!

Still buzzing from the fabulous experience in Spain, the chorus knuckled down to a few more weeks of hard work, fine tuning and polishing our package in readiness for taking part in the Sweet Adelines Region 31 Convention at Birmingham Symphony Hall in May. We were delighted to take part in what proved to be such a high scoring competition, achieving our joint highest ever score of 607 points, winning the Mid-Size chorus class for the fourth year running and coming fifth overall. The score meant our Musical Director, Nancy Kelsall, became a Master Director after she worked hard to complete the Director’s Certification Programme during the year.

Along with retaining the Mid-Size Champion title, Heartbeat are very excited to have been invited to take part in Harmony Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii in November 2013.

Our quartets also achieved phenomenal successes in Birmingham, with Echo pipping Miss-Demeanour to the gold medal by just four points. As Champions, Echo are delighted to have qualified to represent Region 31 at the Sweet Adelines International Convention in Denver, Colorado in October this year. Miss-Demeanour’s fantastic score of 602 means that they too

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were Division A (Small) and 127 were Division AA (Mid-Size). 84% of choruses scored 400+ points, 49% 500+, 13% 600+ and a tiny 0.5%, only two choruses, with 700 or more points!

Viva Acappella’s phenomenal improvement and small chorus triumph mean the chorus stats get really interesting this year! With their 639 points they would have won the whole contest in 13 other regions, won the Division A contest in every region and, on score alone, actually beat 385 of the total choruses who competed, that’s 96%. Put another way, they are 19th in the world! Looking at the top 50 on score there is only one other Div A chorus in the list, Pearls of the Sound from Region 32 (Nordic Light) ranked 44th, all the rest are either mid-size or large.

Look at the strength of the rest of the field too; Surrey Harmony would have won the contest in 10 other regions, Phoenix would have won in 8, in fact the top 12 of our choruses would have won at least a 3rd place overall medal in a multitude of other regions.

Our Division AA winners Heartbeat would have won the overall 1st place in 5 regions, have come 2nd in 16 more along with Div AA 1st place in 17 other regions.

They are 44th in the overall world ranking and 10th in the mid-size Div AA winner world rankings so have had an invite to compete in the Div AA Harmony Classic in Hawaii!!

Our Div A 1st place chorus, Viva Acappella, we’ve already spoken of, but our 2nd place Div A chorus, Vocal Dimension who came 8th in our region, would have won the small chorus competition everywhere but Region 32 (Nordic Light) and also taken seven 2nd, eight 3rd, eight 4th and two 5th place overall medals in all but 2 other regions (32 and 19). On Score alone they are 3rd in the small chorus world ranking.

How about most improved?

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Well we all rightly gasped when the announcement was made that Viva Acappella had won the most improved chorus award with a huge 110 point jump, but this has been a year for some amazing improvements; Region 34 (Southern Cross) had a chorus improve by 115 points but by far the largest improvement was Northern Gateway chorus of Region 12 (Pacific Shores) with an incredible 183 point improvement!

Our average score for choruses was 516 this year, higher than the 499 point average score across all competitions and up again from 2011’s 512 and the 2010 average of 506, all solid B- scores, however, one of the most telling things is that we are the only region in Sweet Adelines where all top 5 choruses scored over 600 points – amazing!

These numbers show one undeniable fact; the Quartet of Nations is a strong, thriving and

ground breaking region and I, for one, wouldn’t have it any other way.

Where else has a Convention as exciting as ours?!

If you wish to play with the numbers yourself, my excel spreadsheet, as last year, is available on the Quartet of Nations website.

Happy Statting!

Submitted by Geekus Maximus a.k.a. Emma Riley, Team Coordinator, Vocal Dimension Chorus (3rd best Small Chorus in the world!!)

International Update!

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short one liner to say Effective May 1, 2012, the application fee for the International Judging Program (IJP) and the Director’s Certification Program (DCP) will increase to $100.

FOR SALE Approx 80+ pairs of red sparkly trousers in assorted sizes The perfect way to expand/revamp your chorus wardrobe All sensible offers considered

Contact sandiek123@aol.com

NEWS AND VIEWS FROM REGION 31, SUMMER 2012

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Let’s Just Make ‘Em Laugh!!

he judges had never really seemed to warm to our efforts in previous years, so for Convention 2012, Footllights decided to do what we do best

just before 6pm so plenty of time for a relaxing day but even at lunch we were evolving the ‘performance’. ‘I think I’ll come on from the other side of the stage’ said Fiona only to be met with 3 disbelieving stares ‘You’ll do what?’. 5pm came and in full old lady regalia we marched down to the hotel lobby to meet our taxi

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decided I was interested in how our money was spent and how things worked in Sweet Adelines Region 31 and looked on the website to learn more.

I saw the advert announcing the need for 2 new members and decided I would apply to shadow an RMT member before applying.

Having run my own training & consultancy business for 11 years I felt I may be useful and I applied for and got the position of Communications Co- ordinator which I began in May directly after Contest.

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I was invited to attend the February meeting and was very impressed with the business like way the meeting was run and the sheer volume of work handled by this group of volunteers. I had never given it much thought but as we have all just recently returned from Birmingham Convention, we surely realise just how much hard work and planning goes into that one event, let alone the Website, Harmony Rag, Database updating, Membership, Education, Finance, Directors’ support. All the RMT are busy working parents, grandparents, singers, friends, family people... and of course all unpaid and done in what little time we have to give.

Whilst there are only 4 meetings a year there are daily emails and

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- ‘entertain’. We decided to put – 10 minute wait – no taxi, so we the audience first and the judges walked to the Symphony Hall in our second – a risky strategy we knew slippers – you’d think we’d have but once we’d decided on the received a few odd glances but no, songs it all just spiralled from there. not one – so I guess everyone in Our coach, Nicky Salt warmed Birmingham must go out dressed slowly to our plan, particularly the like us!!! bit about dressing up as old ladies.

Anyway the rest is history, a fun With rehearsals in full swing and performance, a fantastic audience the songs coming on quite well, we response, our best score ever scoured our local charity shops and the ‘Most Improved Quartet’ for appropriate costumes or set award – a great weekend for the 4 to work with the sewing machine. little old ladies who just set out to Full dress rehearsals seemed to make everyone smile. Our thanks be the order of the day and the go to our vocal coach, Nicky for more we rehearsed the more the sticking with us through thick and costumes took over – scary! Wigs, thin, Lynda Wood for her words glasses, hats, earrings, matching of wisdom, to all our friends in flowers and padding – oh let’s not Phoenix and Cambridge Harmony forget the padding – Barb is now for their unending support and at least 4 cushions short on her encouragement but particularly sofa! Welcome dress rehearsals for all those members of Region 31 in front of our choruses and some who took the time to tap us on the last minute suggestions from Lynda shoulder and say how much they Wood and we were ready to go. had enjoyed our performance!

Submitted by Barb, Hils, Sam and Fi, Well, quartet competition day Footlights Quartet soon dawned – we were on stage

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decisions to be made, with great coordination and consultation there are happily no “Dictators.”

What I love is the friendly and effective team work, the objectivity in making challenging decisions, the high levels of professionalism and getting to see the bigger picture. I am planning to communicate with the Chorus very soon to ask for input and what you would like from me, but in the mean time please email me with any suggestions or questions at dulciewilliams@ hotmail.com Please consider giving service to Sweet Adelines if you feel you have skills to share, we have some positions coming up during the coming year so watch the web site and Social media, Facebook and Twitter.

I look forward to serving you all well and meeting more of you at Chorus visits and some of the exciting Ignite workshops coming up in September..

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Dulcie Williams, Region 31 Communications Coordinator, Heartbeat UK Chorus

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s you can see from the Judges’ Summaries on the Regional website, things are looking good here in Region 31! I don’t know about you, but I feel very proud to be part of such a great Region and I can tell you it’s great to hear the Judges say how impressed they are with the standard in the Quartet of Nations!

As you may know, a few of us on the Regional and Convention Team meet with the Judges immediately after the Chorus Contest is over and it is here they provide the summaries I mentioned earlier.

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They also elaborate a little if they feel there is anything they want to add and I want to share that with you now, although I have to say they didn’t add much to their written summaries! These are the few comments they made:• They asked for the Region to be advised that the audience at both contests should NOT sing barbershop between contestants.

The reason for this is that they are still trying to write comments about the contestants who have just left the stage and to hear barbershop singing behind them is very hard for them to block out. I don’t think they mind the random chants and cheers, but it’s four part harmony they find really distracting. I know we can comply with that one as we all want everyone to have the best attention from the Judges! And, if you were the ones doing it, don’t feel bad you didn’t know that until now!

• They raised the question that not having a microphone for the quartet contest may have contributed to some quartets not standing ‘cupped round’ enough and more in a line. The RMT will discuss this before the next Convention and it may be we put a microphone stand on stage, not for sound purposes, just to avoid this issue again. We will obviously let you know before contest what the decision is, so you can be prepared.

In the meantime, if you sang in the quartet contest and you have an opinion about this, please just email me with your comments.

• Linda Masterson, the Music Judge, was keen to reiterate her point about using ‘old’ barbershop songs as teaching tools for developing really good barbershop skills. Then use these skills when singing the more modern arrangements of songs in the barbershop style. She also felt it would be good for the smaller choruses to partner some of the larger choruses. I would suggest, if you are a small chorus and you

have a larger chorus fairly close by, why not get in touch with them to see what you could share in terms of expertise? Our more successful Directors are, in my experience, only too happy to help others develop.

• The only other comment was from Sandy Marron. She had mentioned this already in her summary, but she wanted to reiterate her point about Directors trying to control the sound of their choruses and how this is actually counter-productive to the chorus sound. She said she noticed it in all choruses, from the bottom to the top. I’m sure if you have any questions about this, Sandy would be happy to answer them for you if you emailed her.

Great things going on in our Region and I look forward to this continuing as we all strive to be the very best we can be!

Elaine Hamilton, Region 31 Education Coordinator, CAL

Geographically Challenged? Our 2012 Quartet Champions Are!

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o coin Emma’s phrase “Cripes!”

What a whirlwind 18 months it has been for Echo. I don’t think any of us had any idea of what the future held when we first had a bit of a social sing together in December 2010 and to say we are proud, honoured and more than a little bit overwhelmed to be your 2012 Quartet Champions would be a total understatement.

There are many, many stories I could tell about our short but eventful journey together, and I thought I would share just a few of them with you so you get a brief insight into the Echo way of

NEWS AND VIEWS FROM REGION 31, SUMMER 2012 life. When we met up in December 2010 we thought we might like to sing together and quickly realised that the only song we all knew was How We Sang Today. So we sang that, then sang it again, and then again because we quite liked what we were hearing. A few hours and multiple lead and bari swaps later, between Emma and Beckie, Echo

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Quartet was born. We met for our first rehearsal in Portsmouth in January 2011 and the tone of the quartet was set as we spent more

time laughing, drinking, eating and had returned from their trip to telling stories than we did singing!

International in Houston with At the end of the weekend we all Surrey Harmony, and we started had our quartet nicknames (you’ll planning for the next few months. have to ask us if you want to know!), We obviously wanted to compete a name, 2 contest songs and already again in Sweet Adelines, but also a wealth of happy memories. By decided that since Heartbeat were the time May came around, we going to Spain to compete in the had squeezed in 3 more rehearsals SABS International Contest, that and you have no idea how shocked it would be a great opportunity for Echo to go along and sing too. So in March this year, we jetted off to the beautiful town of Benalmadena on the Costa del Sol to take part in the inaugural SABS International Quartet Contest.

What a fabulous weekend that was! There was much sunshine, singing on the beach, San Miguel and tremendous shock and surprise when we were awarded the gold medals. We certainly didn’t expect that, especially against such tremendously high standard competition from quartets like Miss-Demeanour and The Mix. I’m not sure any of us actually needed a plane to fly home since the feeling of elation could have easily carried us across the miles!

The Friday of Quartet Contest in Birmingham was a long day. When we found out we were drawn last we knew that we were going to have to pace ourselves, but also relished that fact that there would be no horribly early start to the day!

Sat in the auditorium on the Friday morning, and listening to all the fantastic quartets during their walk ons, we knew that this was going to be the toughest of competitions.

We consider ourselves very lucky as a quartet to have a couple of very special coaches who have helped us every step of the way along our journey, Sandra Lea-Riley and Nancy Kelsall. Sandra has been with us since our inception and her input and enthusiasm has been invaluable. She has given up we were to come away from several of her precious weekends Birmingham with a bronze medal. to assist us and we are eternally We next got together again in grateful. Nancy has been there to Autumn 2011, after Karen & Beckie help us at all of our competitions 17

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and her calmness and tuition has had a hugely positive influence.

They were both there to help us on the day and their rendition of the “Ma-na-ma-na” song from the Muppets as we were waiting to enter the traffic pattern was the perfect antidote to our last minute nerves. Standing side stage and listening to the roars of encouragement from the audience was a very special moment for all of us, and there were tears in our eyes as we entered the auditorium. The singing part is a all a bit of a blur.

Before we knew it, we were off stage again, hugging, being greeted by a whole host of excited faces and then being whisked immediately back around to the other side of the stage to line up for the results.

There was no time for us to pose for our official photos, not even time for our long awaited first alcohol of the day! As they announced the quartets in 5th to 2nd place and our name wasn’t called out, we have to admit to being a tiny bit disappointed. Whilst we spend a lot of time laughing and socialising, we do work hard too and we hoped we’d maintain our place in the top 5. Then we were announced as winners with a score of 606! Aaaaaagh!! We were so totally shocked and surprised!

We genuinely did not think it was possible to come out on top of such a high calibre contest and are all still waiting for it to sink in. When we realised that we would then be appearing on the Saturday Night Show of Champions, a mild panic set in as we only know about 5 songs! So on Saturday, as well as 3 of us competing with our choruses, we had to find time to rehearse 2 songs that we hadn’t sung together more than once before and never in public!! What a roller coaster of emotions and what a weekend!!

We are still floating somewhere high on cloud nine and don’t think any of us ever want to come down.

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to our families and friends who have supported us every step of the way, put up with their houses being invaded, taken over child (and animal) care and generally just made it possible for us to sing together. When we have our first post-Convention rehearsal we look forward to raising a toast (or several) to all the fantastic people who have helped make our dreams come true!

Since we are a geographically challenged quartet who live almost 250 miles apart, we have spent many hours travelling up and down the country at all times of day and night and in all sorts of weather conditions. Claire and Emma witnessed a phenomenal electric storm on one journey home, where the whole sky was torn apart in front of them by spectacular forked lightening, whilst Karen and Beckie got stuck in a snowdrift just south of Buxton and had to be towed to safety by a helpful passing farmer. The hundreds of miles and long car journeys are always made worthwhile by the time we spend together and the friendship we share. The medals and lovely feedback are genuinely an added bonus. We sing together because we love it, because we have great fun, and because we want to learn new things and help each other be the best singers we can be. We are so excited to be travelling to Denver as your champions, and it is an added bonus that we get to share our journey with the fabulous Finesse, Miss-Demeanour and Forth Valley. We guarantee that we will work hard, try to sing our best, and hopefully make you proud as we get the chance of a lifetime to sing on the International stage together.

Whatever happens, we promise you we will do everything we can to be good ambassadors for Region 31 and the wealth of talent this country has to offer.

Submitted by Claire Heighway, Bass of Echo Quartet and Heartbeat UK Chorus

Tweet about yourself!

I sent a request out via Facebook asking Choruses and Quartets to email harmonyrag@ sweetadelines.org.uk with the chorus/quartet name in the subject line and in the body of the email, 140 CHARACTERS ONLY (following the rules of Twitter!) to describe your group - could be your vision, your mission statement, or simply some words that describe your group! Can include a link to YouTube or a website if you like!

These are the ones I have received so far and will keep adding to the list in future editions! Go on... have a go! @MilltownSound - Small but Mighty! @LondonCitySingers - Bringing barbershop harmony to central London @LCSchorus http://londoncitysingers.co.uk @Heartbeat are friendly, fun, feisty & fanatically passionate about good music and making people smile! www. heartbeatchorus.com @VivaAcappella: to laugh, to sing, to dream the impossible... and to fundraise like there’s no tomorrow! @FlyHighSingers is a Dutch chorus of 52 women.

Remember:we celebrate our Silver anniversary in September: http://www.flyinghighsingers.nl/ @EchoQuartet are so proud & honoured to be your quartet champs! Like us on Facebook for all our latest news www.

Facebook.com/EchoQuartet

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Double The Excitement!

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arrived early for the 8.30am departure time – apart from poor Mary who stood on the opposite side of the road and watched a coach full of exuberant women heading off to the motorway.

Thankfully, contingency plans worked well and ten minutes later the coach arrived back from where it had just come from and departed once more, this time WITH Mary!

It was about half way to Birmingham that we noticed a coach of similarly excited men alongside our own coach. We all waved to each other and shared smiles until we noticed a more unusual face. It had two cheeks as usual but where were the eyes and nose and… oh! Mmmmm. Well that certainly raised a few laughs from inside both coaches.

A few miles further on and we approached a roundabout. As a lorry passed, a few of us noticed a noise. Nothing too distinct from the front of the coach but shouts

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s soon as our wonderfully popular singing course had come to an end last December 2011, we knew we had our work cut out to prepare our Convention package with a chorus which was now double the size of last year. With just four months to go – and with half the chorus now being completely new to barbershop and the culture of Sweet Adelines’ Convention (!) – this was a tall order.

However, there’s nothing like a shared goal to bring people together and to focus attention.

Everyone pulled out the stops.

Barry Clinton, Chorus Director, made sure our singing skills were on form with a programme of intensive rehearsals. Assistant Director, Pam Teasdale, gave additional coaching

in confidence and performance.

The choreography was quite a surprise for new members but with outside help from professional dancer, Claire Saddington, we finally got to grips with the moves and interpretation and became ultimately familiar with strange new phrases such as “pizza hands”!

President, Sue Finnigan, made arrangements for the chorus to meet in the IT suite of her school for us to have a workshop based on previous Convention performances, displayed on the big screen. Simultaneously, members took part in workshops on more choreography, performance costumes and the art of Convention make-up – all of which proved invaluable. We had to hire alternative space for two evenings just to allow the double size chorus to fit onto a single set of risers and to practise getting on and off them!

The morning of Friday 11th May arrived and just about everyone

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Chorus Director

Surrey Harmony Chorus and chorus founder Jenny Lawson has announced her retirement.

After 22 years, five gold and seven silver medals, and several successful international campaigns, current director

To register your interest and request an information pack, please email Sandra Sullivan at sandra@marangmail.com

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Multi-award winning barbershop chorus Surrey Harmony invites applications for the position of Chorus Director.

We are actively seeking applications from dynamic and experienced directors.

www.surreyharmony.com

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NEWS AND VIEWS FROM REGION 31, SUMMER 2012 went up from the back that a BMW in our medium size chorus category. had just driven into the back of the And we did improve our score coach! Thankfully, the damage significantly on last year. And all wasn’t too bad and fifteen minutes this with a chorus which was 50% later we were back on the road for new ladies who up until recently what had become a memorable had never sung barbershop before journey to Birmingham. and had never competed – and After checking into our rooms, certainly not in the splendour and it was first stop the Quartet grandeur of the likes of Birmingham Competition and the first sight of Symphony Hall.

Birmingham Symphony Hall for President, Sue Finnigan, wrote, most of our ‘new’ chorus members. “We had a great weekend in What with the quality of the singing Birmingham. What a fabulous and the impressive surroundings, it group of women and a fabulous now truly dawned on our ladies that MD. We did brilliantly, rose 5 places ‘this is what Convention is all about and significantly increased our then!!’.

Saturday dawned sunny and bright mirroring the excitement and anticipation of us all. The hours until our performance flew by with our warm ups and the dressing and make-up preparation. score! All this with over half the Make-up advice seemed to consist chorus only passing auditions in of “More, more!” – and then, there late December!! Wow. We’re all we were, waiting inside the final fired up now with the excitement room ready to be ushered onto of competition and a fab education stage. Smiles, reassuring words, this morning. On we go !!” “Not nerves, words of encouragement, kidding fired up!!!” responded Jude water… and then we were walking, Loxley, first timer. “There’s not an heads high, on to that huge stage. extinguisher big enough to cool What an experience! Six minutes this enthusiasm. C’mon Sheffield of awe. Did we remember to sing Harmony!!!!!!”. Jude went on to say, to the end of that phrase? Did “It was amazing. When we were we tune that chord as well as we queuing up to go into the Hall, it know we can? Did we all get all the was quite surreal. I couldn’t believe moves right? Did we do ourselves it was me. After our performance, I justice? What are the judges just felt warm and lovely! It was a thinking? As we exited backstage, it fabulous weekend.” was wonderful to hear praise and At 10 years old, we believe our comments of appreciation. We Amy was the youngest competing were glowing. As the nerves melted chorus member at Convention! “It into excited relaxation, we swapped was really fun,” said Amy, “and a stories and revelled in what we really good experience. I really liked knew we had achieved in just four afterwards, knowing we’d achieved months. something. I would really like to do Would we be rewarded with a it again next year!” medal? Well, as it happened, no we Other new members were equally weren’t. But we did come fourth enthusiastic. Dot: “I thought it was 20

a wonderful weekend. It was great to have friends together and it was great to be on stage. I absolutely loved the impromptu singing after the competition too.” In fact, we enjoyed it so much that some of us carried on in the hotel foyer until 2.30am – sorry guests! Jayne beamed as she said, “I loved the weekend. I didn’t know what to expect. I’ve learned a lot and everyone was really welcoming. I’m looking forward to next year – and I’ll wear more lipstick!” Elaine Cross, who after the education workshop now promises to teach us all belly dancing to help us engage our core muscles, enthused, “It was an absolutely brilliant experience.

I’m really excited now about preparing for next year. Now I’ve experienced Convention, I know now what I need to work on.”

Particularly thrilling was the comment from our fantastic MD, Barry Clinton who gave his all throughout the four months preparation to help us prepare and to sing with quality and skill. “I’ve had a sensational weekend. I’m immensely proud of this chorus and so impressed by the hard work that everyone’s put in. You’ve done everything I’ve asked of you and more. We’re now ready to enjoy ourselves and start making preparations for next year.”

Bring on Convention 2013!! – and thank you Sweet Adelines for creating such an amazing environment for so many wonderful women. Well done to all the organizers. And an especial well done to all the winners – you’re amazing.

Submitted by Ruth Linden, PRO of Sheffield Harmony

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Setting Our Sights High And Achieving Our Goal

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ast time DaleDiva reported in to Harmony Rag about what we were up to we’d just had a fantastic weekend retreat

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Meanwhile we were very proud of our two quartets – Farenheit and Forté. Farenheit – aka Ally, Leisha, Amie and Esther – you may know from previous years and came an impressive sixth but Forté are our new kids on the block.

Although they’re all long-standing Divas Harriet, Deb, Liz and Kate made their debut on the quartet stage this year and the chorus was very proud of their 13th place.

And of course last but not least we were all extremely proud of our musical director Ally Law who received her Master Director award. She is the driving force behind the Divas and we’re so pleased she has received this recognition of her achievements.

It was great to see all our old friends in Birmingham and make new ones too and congratulations to all the choruses and quartets who took part.

A couple of weeks before we travelled off to Birmingham we’d enjoyed success closer to home at Derby Arts Festival where we swept the board. We won our two categories – Ladies Concert 1: DaleDiva Class and Concert Class – President Jane Bell and with 92% also scooped hands out our fourth highest overall score for a place medals at choir. There couldn’t have Convention. been a better confidence 2: Musical director Ally Law celebrates boost in the lead up to receiving her Master Convention!

Director badge.

By the time you read this 3: We bring home the silverware from our ‘Diva Day’ will have taken Derby Arts Festival. place but from experience one thing we know for sure is that it will have been another day With a score of 608 we achieved of laughing, singing and learning our ambition and were equally – and who knows – maybe some thrilled with our fourth place medal potential new Diva recruits! against tough competition.

This year’s workshop featured And for seven of our chorus two songs, Miley Cyrus’s hit ‘The members this was their first Climb’ from ‘Hannah Montana: Convention! It was a big day for The Movie’ and the Stephen Stills’ them but they all rose to the 70s folk rock classic ‘Love The One occasion, performed brilliantly and You’re With’.

Submitted by Liz Tomes, helped us achieve our goal – well PRO of DaleDiva Chorus done girls!

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with international coach Gail Jencik from the US. We’d set ourselves a tough target this year to break the 600 point barrier at Convention – a challenging but realistic ambition to build on our fifth place 574 score last year.

We learned so much during the retreat in February and consolidated this in the run up to

Convention with further sessions from our regular coach Nicky Salt of Finesse quartet.

This was coupled with more focused rehearsals and full day sessions brilliantly planned and led by musical director Ally Law and assistant director Harriet Adamson.

We worked harder than we’d ever done towards the competition – and it paid off.

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Surrey Harmony Musical Director, Jenny Lawson To Retire

Jenny Lawson. Her love for the music inspires her chorus members, she creates an atmosphere of warmth and loyalty among her singers which is at the heart of their success.

Members travel from far and wide to sing on Jenny’s risers, so far that the chorus should probably be renamed SouthEast Harmony!

enny Lawson started Surrey Harmony in 1990 and the chorus chartered in 1992. In just 2 short years Surrey Harmony had bagged their first Gold medal, and under Jenny’s leadership they have remained consistently in the top 2 at regional competition since then. It’s a medal bar most Sweet Adelines would envy… Gold, Silver, Gold, Silver, Gold, Gold, Silver, Gold, Silver, Silver, Silver and Silver. They remain the only Region 31 chorus to gain a wildcard, in fact they have done it twice, which has resulted in their making 7 appearances at international competition, their highest placing at 15th, just 40 points from a top 10 place. They are still most proud of the accolade “the first UK chorus to not come last at international!”

In a Region containing so many dedicated singers, delivering more and more high scoring choruses each year, Surrey Harmony have consistently strived to remain on top of their game. This is thanks to the hard work, passion and leadership of

But the last 22 years have not just been about competition. Jenny has directed the chorus at many amazing performances and at many prestigious venues; The Barbican, Proms in the Park in Hyde Park and possibly most memorable of them all St James’s Palace, in a concert hosted by HRH The Princess Royal. This summer the chorus

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will be adding Loseley Park to the list of stunning venues and packed audiences when they perform in a picnic concert in aid of Shooting Star CHASE. Quick plug - Tickets are available from http://www. summernightsatloseleypark.co.uk/ Jenny Lawson has been a constant inspiration to the many women who have sung on her risers. Past members are spread across the globe, but their love for Jenny remains steadfast.

Lisa Mark, Song of Atlanta Chorus “I am very thankful that I got to spend my time in the UK singing for Jenny Lawson and Surrey Harmony…Jenny, you have brought Surrey so far in the barbershop world and all of the Surrey girls should be so proud of all you’ve accomplished. You will be a hard lady to replace. Who else will be as spunky and fiery as you? You have such a wonderful talent.”

Sheena Kaighin, Alaska Sound Celebration “There are so many of us who have reasons to be grateful to Jenny for our wonderful musical memories and experiences, not to mention the odd medal or several!”

Deborah Lamble, Wessex Harmony Chorus “When I first entered the hall in October 2000 she was welcoming and had this energy that I will remember always. Thanks for everything Jenny” Jenny Savory Spinnaker Musical

NEWS AND VIEWS FROM REGION 31, SUMMER 2012

Round Up From Our Events Coordintaor

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hat a great Convention!

It’s hard to believe that after all the hard work and excitement leading up to the competitions it’s been and gone again!

Many congratulations to Echo Quartet and Viva Acappella Chorus on becoming gold medallists – next stop for them Denver and Hawaii! The musical quality of the Region just seems to keep growing and we’ll be well-represented at both this year and next year’s International events.

From the feedback we’ve

Submitted by Julia Abbott PRO of Surrey Harmony Chorus

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received so far it’s clear that everyone really enjoyed the weekend, as well as good music it’s also a great opportunity to meet up with old friends, share a meal and maybe have a glass of wine or two!

SALT was obviously a great favourite both on the Show and at the Sunday morning education and they were overwhelmed with the response they received from you.

We’ve been taking note of your comments via the online survey and would just like to acknowledge that we did have difficulties with the Show on Saturday evening – there were definitely gremlins in the works this year but it’s clear that we also tried to include too much. There have been so many great achievements in the Region, Finesse being the first quartet from our Region to achieve top 10 at International, Milltown Sound coming 5th at Harmony Classic, plus all the other great successes that were achieved during the weekend, and we were guilty of trying to include too many! It’s been suggested in the feedback that Regional trophies should be presented after the competition, unfortunately SAI rules don’t allow us to do this, which means presenting them either at the Show or on Sunday morning. However, we’ll be discussing future Show content and planning and will make great efforts to ensure this isn’t a disappointment in future years.

The online survey is a great tool for us – it enables us to find out what works and what doesn’t, your likes and dislikes, and gives you an opportunity to share ideas about what you’d like to see at our Convention weekend. The RMT will be analysing all your feedback at the next RMT meeting at the end of July - it’s great to help us improve our Convention year on year so thank you for taking the time to fill it in.

Don’t forget that the next event

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Director “I am so grateful to have spent time with Jenny and the fantastic Surrey Harmony girls. How much she taught me, how funny, kind, humble, musical, mad, artisic, flamboyant, hilarious, understanding, crazy, diva-esque! Jenny is all these things and more and how wonderful an achievement it has been to consistently keep Surrey at the top for so long!”

Jenny has inspired such passion, such a love for the craft that remains with every singer she has ever directed and while her retirement comes as sad news to many in the Barbershop world, Surrey Harmony will continue “onwards and upwards”!

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to look forward to is the Ignite Workshops which are being held regionally in September - you’ll be able to receive a great day’s coaching, at a cost of just £15, from an International faculty member in a place near you - registration opened on 1st June, so don’t miss out! Details can be found at http:// www.sweetadelines.org.uk/ignite. htm It just remains to wish Forth Valley, Echo, Finesse and MissDemeanour the very best of luck at International in Denver this October – don’t forget to watch them via the webcast! More details on that to follow!

Trina Bache, Region 31 Events Coordinator, Phoenix Chorus

The Not So Impossible Dream!

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hen Viva Acappella competed in SA Region 31 competition in 2011 with our parodied rendition of ‘It’s Impossible’, we had no idea that the ‘Dream’ wouldn’t be quite as impossible as we’d first thought - our goal for 2012 was most certainly to improve on our achievement in 2011.

We would like to say that our journey to SAI Region 31 Convention 2012 was a meticulously well-planned operation and like a finely tuned engine, could not have run more smoothly, but we’d be lying! Our plan was definitely in place as far back as November 2011 with two competition songs learnt, choreography for the up tempo taking shape and coaching sessions plus extra rehearsals in the diary.

The only matter yet to be decided was what we would be wearing? (although the usual mass diet plan was on standby in the event that our only option was to pour ourselves into our blue dresses for a 24

third year running!). Yes – all the t’s crossed and i’s dotted with plenty of time to spare. But like most good plans, they can become boring if not peppered with major changes during the run up to ‘D-Day’!

In February the decision to ditch our ballad and replace it with ‘You Don’t Know Me’ didn’t faze anyone too much, but after a coaching weekend in March with Doug Harrington, our up tempo had changed to such an extent that our choreography plan had to be scrapped and we went back to the drawing board. At this point we were still rehearsing without the use of risers – or a safety net for that matter! Finally, four weeks before Convention, we managed to secure a new hall that would allow us to use our risers. What a bonus that was.

With Convention looming, nerves were jittering and still the worry of what we would be wearing. Thanks goodness for first timers! They bring enthusiasm, new ideas and sometimes the ability to sew! With no fewer than seven first timers in our chorus for Convention, one of them, Sarah, came to the rescue in the form of her mum, who with seemingly very little effort, knocked up 31 dazzling, fringe edged frocks.

Each week Sarah arrived with a few more completed dresses ’til the entire chorus was clothed – a bit like the fairy story of the Elves and the Shoemaker – we didn’t see much of Sarah’s mum, but the dresses just kept appearing!

We thought we were being a bit daring by opting for a short dress, but we like to live on the edge a little, so why not? I’ll tell you why not – because one of the girls might break her ankle and be up to her knee in plaster – that’s why not! Poor Claire – another first timer – demonstrated just how new she is to this hobby when, two weeks prior to the competition she arrived at chorus with her leg in plaster. A&E had given her a choice

of colours for her plaster and in her infinite wisdom she chose … pillar box red, proudly declaring, ‘I thought it would match the nail varnish’! Another trip to A&E and confirmation that ‘American Tan’ wasn’t an option – she settled for black and resisted the urge to cover it in diamantes!

Claire’s accident meant a change to the stack as Claire needed to be seated – so she was moved from the second row to centre front. The decision of who would move from the front row to second was carefully weighed up and agreed in the only fair way possible – handbags at dawn ’til the death!!!! Of course, this wasn’t really the case and Karen very graciously volunteered to swap. So with just two weeks for Karen and Claire to relearn choreography, all was looking good and Convention arrived – nothing more could go wrong. Oh how we chuckled to ourselves when we received the news that ‘Front Row Fi’ was in Birmingham A&E with a suspected… broken ankle! We daren’t break the news to our MD Gaynor, who was thick in the quartet competition system at the time, so sorted it ourselves. Fi’s ankle was not broken but badly sprained – thank goodness, she could cope with a riser! Come back Karen, all is forgiven and Fi – back to the second row for you and do the best you can! Fortunately, Fi’s an old pro and coped amazingly well!

Our actual performance is all a bit of a blur. You know what it’s like – you’re on, you sing, you’re off, you’re in the bar – job done!

Just the results to wait for – always nerve racking and the wait seems to take forever. Finally the time had come and we were over the moon to be announced as Most Improved Chorus and furthermore, winners of the Small Chorus Competition – job well and truly done! So there you have it, we relaxed in our seats to enjoy the remaining results.

NEWS AND VIEWS FROM REGION 31, SUMMER 2012

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

Kim, Suzanne, Amelia and Sarah, Miss-Demeanour Quartet

Some Of The Keys To Our Success

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012 is a great year to be British – the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the London Olympics and Region 31 having three quartets and a chorus heading over to the USA to represent our little island at International. The British media don’t seem to have got behind the latter one as heartily as the first two for some reason…

MissDemeanour are completely blown away by the fact that we’ll heading over to Denver in October as a wild card quartet. Not only because we sat through the contest and saw the bar being raised yet again for the standard of quartets coming up through the region but also because along with Echo, Finesse and Forth Valley, we know we’re going to have one heck of a PAR-TAY! Good job there are plenty of Union Jack flags all being knocked down to half price as we speak. We’ll take ‘em all!!

It does, of course mean a few things: • a summer of wicked hard work • a summer of frantic fundraising • a summer of re-sewing bras to dresses…

So just on point number two there…ahem… We will of course be saving like mad between now and October to get enough money to travel the 4520 miles from Manchester. We plan on holding fundraising events throughout the summer and would love it if you could join us wherever we are to have a sing, chuck a couple of quid in our bucket and just have

a good old-fashioned barbershop knees up! We’ll keep you posted of what is happening and when and it would be great to see some of you there. We have already had some donations from people and we’d like to say a huge THANK YOU to them for their generosity.

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank a few people who have supported us over the last few months – firstly our families. After all, we’re pretty sure the Bank of Mum and Dad may be a key sponsor for our trip.

Secondly, to our choruses for the diehard support they give to us year on year (I wonder if they’ll ever get fed up of signing good luck cards for us?). Thirdly, Lynda Keever - for most excellent ‘microwave’ coaching (ping!).

And lastly, to the awesome Sandra Lea-Riley and the incredible Mo Field for kicking us into shape, enabling us to crack 600 points. Big, massive love!

Looking forward to a summer of more hard work to be able to do you all proud in October. Best Webcast faces at the ready girls?!

Have a great summer – hope to see some of you soon!

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Submitted by Helen Mitchener, Viva Acappella Chorus

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Is Denver cold in October?

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We cannot begin to express the mixed emotions of shock and unbelievable exhilaration when we heard the words following ‘Your 2012 Chorus Champions ………. Viva Acappella Chorus! I hand over the description of what happened next to a couple of our husbands who were loyally supporting us from the bar! After the initial screams, hugs, kisses and tears, we staggered into the bar area to make our way onto the stage resembling, and I quote, ‘a scene from a disaster movie in slow motion’! Headed by bass section leader Colette, in complete shock with mascara streaked faces and jaws so far open they were dragging on the ground, she announced, ‘we’ve only gone and won the whole thing’. Loyal husbands looked at each other saying ‘Yeah – pull the other one!’.

Tee-total Colette then relieved an onlooker of his half drunk glass of wine and knocked it back in one – confirming without a shadow of a doubt that we were indeed SA Region 31 2012 Chorus Champions!

OMG!!!

We’ve finally managed to come back down to earth and the realisation of what we’re about to take on is setting in. We are absolutely delighted with our result and feel it’s an added bonus that this has happened to us in a year of such national celebration and achievement. We would like to thank the Region 31 committee for organising yet another fantastic Convention and to everyone for the many, many emails and messages of congratulations and support – plus offers of advice and help from those of you who know only too well what lies ahead! We will be working our socks off to be the very best representatives for Region 31 we can. Rest assured – Viva Acappella have lit their Olympic torch and will be running with it until November 2013 – destination… Honolulu!

ollowing a wonderful Convention I wrote to the Directors of the choruses who had increased their scores the most, to try and find out from them what 25

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they did to improve so much in one year. Sadly, there is not one easy trick! However, here are some of the common things they said helped them to take such big strides this year. > Recruit good singers by learning simple songs that are modern and well known. Young songs attract young singers! Let prospective members see that rehearsals are fun, but also let them see how hard you work, so there are no surprises if they join. > Concentrate on the basics of good singing and good tuning, matching vowels and resonance, as well as singing the right notes. > Have a long and short term plan, working back from big events, so you allow enough time to work through what you need to do. > Send out a detailed plan for the next rehearsal(s), which includes not only songs to be covered, but also vocal craft that will be covered, e.g. turning diphthongs, unit sound, etc.

Transfer the craft topic to a song you are working on to embed it. Don’t do note-bashing at rehearsals - expect the singers to come prepared if given enough notice about what to learn. > Work on freeing up the physical performance, so the singers don’t feel inhibited. > Almost always include quartet and octet sessions with people chosen at random on the evening.

Ensure everyone does it at some time or another. This strengthens the whole group and makes individuals feel more confident ultimately.

Spend time duetting parts, e.g. bass/ lead, lead/tenor and ask chorus members to comment on what they are hearing. > Conduct P.V.I.’s (Personal Vocal Instruction), both vocal and visual, so each member has individual feedback and points to work on.

Look out for an article on Visual P.V.I’s in the next Harmony Rag! > Bring variety to rehearsals, e.g. split into groups to discuss the emotional plan of a song, how the 26

chorus can improve, anything to make the rehearsal feel different.

Never make 2 rehearsals the same!

Watch for signs of boredom and switch to something else even if you don’t, as a Director, want to! (This comes from one Director’s Learning and Development background.) Ask others to take some sessions, to get more buy-in from people. > Video the chorus in the run up to Convention and post (privately) on YouTube. Send the link to chorus members so they can self analyse see what they need to work on between rehearsals to improve the unit. > Watch and listen to lots of other choruses to see what they are doing and get inspiration for what they need to do to get to the next level. > Take the feedback from Convention seriously and ask for feedback from the chorus at least once a year!

I do hope this is helpful in your planning for the months ahead. Do remember we have some great people in our Region, who are ready, willing and able to help you along the way. They can be found in the Coaching Directory on the Regional web site. Thanks to those Directors who provided input for this piece.

Elaine Hamilton, Region 31 Education Coordinator

Hi From Finesse!

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hat a fun and exciting time we have had over the past few weeks!

Region 31 Convention was such an amazing experience for us, despite the disappointment of laryngitis and not being able to compete. We thoroughly enjoyed our show spot and had 2 fantastic coaching sessions with Salt who were completely inspirational.

Just 2 weeks later we spent a scorching weekend in Southport at BABS and were proud to be

invited to sing on the Friday night show alongside the incredible Musical Island Boys! Fortuity sang on Saturday night’s Show as LABBS Champions and did a superb job.

They spent much of their time in Southport being asked for photo opportunities with Musical Island Boys. For some reason they didn’t ask us instead… we can’t think why!

As we wrote this we were very exited about the show with Vocal Spectrum and are thrilled that

Capital Connection chorus invited us to join them on their show. What a privilege!

Of course our sights are very much set on Denver! How wonderful that Echo and Miss-Demeanour will also be in the USA flying the quartet flag for Region 31! As the year races by our focus is on learning new songs, working as hard as we can with our fabulous coaches and of course fundraising! Unfortunately at the moment we haven’t been able to afford to book our flights but we are very much hoping that the launch of our new CD ‘Happy Together’ will soon remedy that. If you haven’t got yours yet you can order one via our website: www.finessequartet.co.uk.

At the moment we can nearly afford to get to Ireland ☺ so go on, get yourself a new CD to add to your collection and help get Finesse across the Atlantic! We are dying to get back on that finals stage!

Alternatively, please ask us about appearing on your next show or find out how Finesse can come along to your Chorus night to sing and coachwe’d love to see you!

Yours in Harmony, Nicky, Helen, Beth & Tan xx

RMT 31, SUMMER 2012 NEWS AND VIEWS FROM REGION Coaching Directory Sheila Doherty – Team Coordinator Surrey Harmony Chorus 020 8395 2765 shortscot@aol.com Tracey Bailey – Directors’ Coordinator Champagne Cornwall Chorus 01726 63937 allthebaileys@aol.com Nuala Hobden – Finance Coordinator Spinnaker Chorus 02392 231569 nualahelen@aol.com Elaine Hamilton – Education Coordinator CAL 0131 334 2372 elainemrssh@aol.com Petrina Bache – Events Coordinator Phoenix Chorus 07772 932432 trinabache@btinternet.com Fiona McGlashan – Interim Membership Coordinator Cambridge Harmony Chorus/Phoenix Chorus 07860 704443 impact@appleshack.com Jean Graham – Communications Coordinator Mayflowers Plymouth 01752 783724 jean.graham2006@btinternet.com Emma Duguid – Marketing Coordinator Vocal Dimension Chorus 07815 114476 duguidemma@gmail.com Dulcie Williams – Communications Coordinator Heartbeat UK Chorus 01758 730 858 dulciewilliams@hotmail.com

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Anne Cargill Aberdeen Chorus acargill@lochside.fsbusiness.co.uk Alyson Chaney – Regional Coaches’ Coordinator Lace City Chorus alysonchaney@yahoo.co.uk Glenn Chaney Lace City Chorus glennsings@yahoo.co.uk Elaine Hamilton CAL elainemrssh@aol.com Tanya Jenkins CAL tunefultan@virginmedia.com Nancy Kelsall Heartbeat UK Chorus nancykelsall@hotmail.com Sandra Lea-Riley Heartbeat UK Chorus sandraleariley@virginmedia.com Dorothy Main Aberdeen Chorus themains@talktalk.net Ellie Mills Lace City Chorus mills_ellie@hotmail.com Nicky Salt CAL nicky.salt@hotmail.co.uk David Sangster Forth Valley Chorus carsonsangster@aol.com Valerie Taylor Vocal Dimension Chorus valerie.taylor@privacysolutions.co.uk Gwen Topp Aberdeen Chorus gmtopp@yahoo.co.uk Michelle Walker Lace City Chorus shelbywalks@yahoo.co.uk Lynda Wood Phoenix Chorus lynda@pottonwoods.co.uk

COPY DEADLINE The Autumn Harmony Rag will be issued at the end of September.

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

31st August 2012 27

VIVA acappella

2012 Region 31 Champion Chorus