Harmony Rag 2012 Autumn Edition

Region 31 Quartet of Nations, Sweet Adelines International

Autumn 2012 | Issue 7

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY AND WELCOME Regional Convention Dates May 10 – 12 2013, The Sage, Gateshead May 9 – 11 2014, TBC Education weekend with Coastline Show Chorus July 26 – 28, 2013 (Edinburgh Corn Exchange) International Convention October 30 – November 3, 2012, Denver, CO November 5 – 9, 2013, Honolulu, HI

@SAIRegion31

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Region 31 Quartet of Nations,

Sweet Adelines International

Spring 2012 | Issue 5

Echo – 2012 Region 31 Champion

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

Quartet

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

Region 31 Quartet of Nati

ons, Sweet Adelines Internati

onal

Summer 2012 | Issue 6

Region 31 Quartet of Nations

, Sweet Adelines Interna tional

Autumn 2012 | Issue 7

WELCOME Hello everyone!

Well, by the time you read this, over half of you will have attended one of our Ignite workshops! We hope you had a blast!

The RMT were overwhelmed by the response to our very first one day workshop - the number of registrations we received suggested that you liked the idea! For those of you who attended, don’t forget to fill in the feedback form - the RMT do need to know what you thought, so that we can make the next event even better! If you complete the short feedback questionnaire (see link below), you will be entered into a prize draw to win one half price Convention 2013 All Events Pass! http://www. sweetadelines.org.uk/ignite2012feedback.htm What a summer it’s been...well, not the weather...but the Olympics! So much fun for the UK to host one of the most fantastic events in the world! Wow, what a spectacle from start to finish! We have our very own fantastic event to look forward to in just a few weeks - our International Competition and Convention in Denver, Colorado! Forth Valley, Echo, Finesse and Miss Demeanour - you are going to do us proud and I know that many of the region will be watching on the webcast at home, cheering wildly! Don’t forget to watch the Harmony Classic online too - I’ll be webcasting along with Cammi MacKinlay - I can hardly wait!

Details about the webcast are featured in this issue!

That’s all from me - as always, I love to hear from you so email me at harmonyrag@sweetadelines.org.uk Emma Duguid Region 31 Marketing Coordinator Vocal Dimension Chorus

NEWS AND VIEWS FROM REGION 31, AUTUMN 2012

Perfect Harmony In All Respects!

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ortuity’s had a fabulous year as the LABBS 2011 Champion Quartet! Just a few highlights of 2012 have been placing 3rd at the Region 31 contest in May, singing on the Saturday night show at BABS, and of course hearing and meeting the Musical Island Boys!

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Fortuity – Our gold medal year and beyond

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Submitted by Lorraine Rowe, Spinnaker Chorus

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One last thought – if you’re reading this in another part of the country – why not do your own joint chorus night – believe me – you’ll love it!

These fall amongst many rewarding experiences, such as chorus shows, LABBS prelims, coaching, and some local gigs!

Any of you who attended LABBS Prelims in June may have noticed that we had a stand-in bass, Ellie Mills. Unfortunately, Sian had been unable to make it to Prelims, although we feel Ellie did us, and Sian, proud. It is, however, with heavy hearts that we announce that Sian has decided to step down from quartet permanently (due to long term ill health). Although Sian is sad not to be singing with us and we will miss her, we are all delighted that we have been able to find another great friend, Ellie, to continue the Fortuity journey. We have some wonderful memories of our journey with Sian, which we know Sian will also treasure, and we hope to make some new wonderful memories as we continue Fortuity’s journey with Ellie.

Many of you may already know Ellie, who is no stranger to quartet singing. In 1999 at age 14 she competed in her first quartet at the inaugural Sweet Adelines Rising Star contest and brought home the silver medal. When work took Ellie to live in St Louis, Missouri, she joined St Louis Harmony Chorus and began singing bass in the Young Women In Harmony quartet, Luminous. The quartet was mentored by David and Sandi Wright and became the 2007 Rising Star Quartet Champions. In 2007, Luminous placed 15th at the Sweet Adelines International Quartet Contest. Ellie is the Assistant Musical Director of Lace City Chorus and has been singing with them since 1999, she also recently qualified, along with Sarah, as a certified Director. We look forward to seeing everyone at convention in May and in the meantime would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support for Fortuity this year.

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cake eating, singing and more cake eating! Wow – didn’t we pull it off!

Members from Surrey Harmony, Solent Sounds and Coastline all joined the ladies from Spinnaker, totalling around 150, for quick section practices followed by performances of ‘One Fine Day’ and ‘Can You Feel The Love Tonight’.

Each chorus also sang songs from their repertoires together with Majestic quartet from Solent Sounds performing a wonderful rendition of the Eurythmics’s ‘Sweet Dreams’. The baritones from Surrey Harmony also contributed their excellent ‘Blues Brothers’ skit – which, needless to say, was quirky, fun and pure Bari! Wow what a fabulous evening was had by all!

Comments such as “we should do this next year”, “what fantastic fun” and “who made the cupcakes”

John Heinrich

ednesday 18th July saw one of the largest choruses I’ve ever seen sing in perfect harmony!!

It all started some months ago when Jenny Savory, Director of Spinnaker Chorus came up with the idea of inviting all southern choruses to join together for an evening of singing, chatting,

(thank you to Laura Guy from Spinnaker) were bandied around all evening - ensuring that this is not the last of these events!

Thanks go to Jenny Savory and Spinnaker’s Board for their organisational skills to pull this off. But most of all, thank you to all those that travelled from Bournemouth, London and other far flung areas just to come and sing with us – perfect harmony in all respects! Watch this space for the next date!

Love from Veryan, Gemma, Sarah and Ellie – Fortuity Quartet 3

NEWS AND VIEWS FROM REGION 31, AUTUMN 2012

Spotlight on Finance

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It is my job to ensure that all financial resources of the region are accounted for in an effective and efficient manner. I prepare Annual Budgets for the Region, these are based upon historic knowledge plus the best guesstimate with regards to Convention and Workshops/ Education.

The only Income that we receive from International to hold our Regional Convention is a Video Stipend which for 2012 was £303, all other costs are covered by the Region.

We are in the 2nd Year of our Three Year Education Plan. The first was where we gave each Chorus £250 toward Coaching Costs. For 2012 we are holding Satellite Workshops, Ignite, both of these events have been heavily subsidised by the region.

We are financially sound to support Region 31 for all upcoming events.

In my spare time I am Treasurer

The Income for the Region is derived from Regional Dues and Convention, any profit from these areas goes towards Workshops/ Education.

For Convention 2012 we made a profit of £12430:

for Spinnaker Chorus, I am in the Lead Section and fully understand the effort it takes to take a chorus to Convention. I have loved every minute of my time on the RMT and hope that I can continue representing you all for the

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y name is Nuala Hobden, I am the Finance Coordinator for Region 31, this is a position I have held since May 2009.

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foreseeable future.

Submitted by Nuala Hobden, Region 31 Finance Coordinator, Spinnaker Chorus

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Life After Convention

ife after Convention isn’t always easy for choruses in mid table and below. Lincoln Sounds Chorus left the 2011 Convention in a dejected frame of mind. No one was in the mood for the pyjama party and we retired to bed early. We wondered if we should give Birmingham 2012 a miss.

We had wanted to do so well for Pat Barnett our new director. We finished with one of our lowest scores. We had listened to ‘It’s Impossible’ from Viva Acappella and we had seen the future. We loved their vitality, their youth, and their cheekiness. Wow! We had indeed seen the future; only in 2012 we learned that it could be ‘Back to the Future’ with dresses, simple choreography, and a focus on classic Barbershop style.

Well done Viva Acappella, we love you!

From that you will gather that we were at Convention 2012!

What a marvellous time we had!

We had one aim for 2012, to do better. We held a recruitment workshop and took five new

NEWS AND VIEWS FROM REGION 31, SUMMER 2012 members with us to Birmingham.

Our image team worked hard to achieve a new costume within

We’ll be promoting our chorus at a scarecrow festival, fundraising with a fashion show, and holding a six week course to encourage new members. Most of all, we’ll be enjoying ourselves.

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budget. We enlisted the help of our friends Glen and Alyson Chaney from Lace City. We were buoyed up by our success in the barbershop section at our local music festival (it’s always nice to beat the men!)

And yet, though we may inwardly have hoped for Most Improved Chorus, we had to settle for an increase in points which was sufficient lift us up the table. Were we downhearted? – we were not!

We had done better! We had been wowed by Salt! We had a great Pyjama Party! Roll on Gateshead 2013. We can do better - it’s just a question of augmentation by small steps (thanks for the quote Alyson!)

In the meantime we continue to fly the flag for barbershop in Lincolnshire. Our diary for the autumn is full. We shall be singing at harvest festivals, WIs, and at the Embassy Theatre in Skegness.

hat do you do when your chorus wins a national competition and you find out you’ll be representing your country in Hawaii?

Celebrate? Cry? Panic about fundraising? How about ‘Sing when you’re Slimming?’

This was the predicament we found ourselves in when we, Viva Acappella, were announced the overall winners of the Sweet Adelines regional competition in May. We were absolutely stunned to find out we’d beaten the

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endorphins to make you feel good. At Viva Acappella we’ve made singing even healthier with our Fat Club. Viva Acappella - the singers who sing together and slim together!

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competition from the UK and The Netherlands.

After coming down to earth we had to think of all the practicalities to enable us to make the trip in November 2013. We’d have to spend the next 18 months fundraising like crazy. What could we do? What were we good at?

And so our slimming club was

Submitted by Daphne Thompson, PRO of Lincoln Sounds

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born, ‘Fat Club’!

Why give money to the usual slimming groups when we could do it ourselves? And so on 21 June, 12 members were weighed in before the start of our usual rehearsal and given tools to help them start their slim for Hawaii.

Each week we crown our Fat Club slimmer of the week (the person with the biggest weight loss) and they receive a sticker. Other awards include Slimmer of the Month and recognition for every half stone lost by a member.

After 7 weeks the popularity of our group has grown so much that we’ve increased to 20 members.

That’s half our chorus taking part!

To date we’ve lost 7st 5 1/2 lbs!

That’s more than our smallest member!

We’re having a lot of fun. We encourage each other, swap recipes and slimming books, bring in slimming food for others to taste AND lose weight. More importantly we’re raising lots of money towards our Hawaii fund.

Singing is such fun and it’s scientifically proven that it’s healthy for you as it releases

Submitted by Michelle Daniels, PRO of Viva Acappella Chorus 5

NEWS AND VIEWS FROM REGION 31, AUTUMN 2012

Singing on the Move!

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nce a year, Tropical Harmony Chorus comes to Europe for a ten day tour in the capable and experienced hands of Musical Director, Patsy Meiser. The Chorus is made up from members of Sweet Adeline barbershop members from all over America.

Last June, the welcome dinner for the TH French tour was held in Montmatre. Coming into the restaurant (slightly late) there were wonderful moments of recognition and greetings by Patsy and friends from previous tours of Italy, Spain and Portugal.

This time, the tour was to include Paris, then to the northern coast taking in the American Cemetery, westwards to include Mont St Michel, and back to Paris, taking in chateaux in the Loire valley. Nonsingers are happy to come on these tours; relatives, friends and partners never feel left out.

on the Normandy coast near the Omaha Beach.

One very important performance venue was the community centre in Blois. Apparently there are no Barbershop choruses in France, so we felt extremely responsible for flying the Sweet Adeline flag here. This was the first time our audience had heard this kind of four part harmony and we were quite nervous, but their response was overwhelming; they loved the sound and especially the setting of La Vie en Rose. We wondered, could this be the beginning of a new Sweet Adeline European Region?

The farewell dinner was held at a restaurant near the Eiffel Tower, where we said goodbye to old and new friends. I have really appreciated hearing about the different choruses in America and how they are run. Already some chorus members have gimlet eyes focussed on competing in Denver, and others are hoping to meet and

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Travelling with Tropical Harmony is a unique way of spending a holiday, you get the sight-seeing and you also have the singing. On this tour we performed at Notre Dame (see photo), Rouen (the cathedral and the Joan of Arc memorial), Caen and the glorious Chartres cathedral.

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greet two members of my chorus who are going over there in the Autumn.

I’m starting to save up for my next trip with Tropical Harmony – it is really worth it. To see where you might be tempted to go, look at the TH website: www.tropicalharmony.com Submitted by Jess Curtis, Plymouth Mayflowers Chorus

An Interview with…

Gaynor Dugay, Director of Viva Acappella

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an you tell us a little about your musical background?

How did it all start and how did you become a barbershop Director?

I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t singing - and competitive singing at a very early age at school Eisteddfods! A member of the school choir, church chorister, Madrigal group, County choir, University choir, Croydon Philharmonic Choir – singing was my joy and full time hobby.

My mother and aunt were heavily involved with local societies performing Operettas – the New Moon, The Merry Widow etc. so Christmases always involved singing songs from the shows around the piano. I was also a groupie to our local Rugby Club male voice choir who ended up after rehearsal in the local pub to sing again - a cappella. So a real mix of singing experiences.

I didn’t stumble across Barbershop until the ripe old age of 31 when I had just had my first son and hate to admit, was watching day-time TV. I saw a

NEWS AND VIEWS FROM REGION 31, AUTUMN 2012 After winning Velvet Harmony’s ‘resonance’ became a major feature very first medal in LABBS I was of our rehearsals for the year. We asked to direct a new chorus called had 30 very strong singers and Green Street Blues. More success experienced a period of stability and 3 more bronze medals as well which meant we could build skills as the trip to sing at the Men’s week on week. We also worked on International Jamboree show positive attitude and visualisation in Salt Lake City, it was all very – what it would feel like to win and exciting, but a new job meant I we didn’t over rehearse! wasn’t able to devote as much time The buzzword became – let’s be to the chorus as they deserved so I ‘brilliant’ (said in a Welsh accent of took a back seat for a while. course!) and that was the last word When an opportunity to form spoken before going on stage. So a new group in 2009 came along was it different to the year before?

I was ready to take up the baton I knew that we had worked to once again and Viva Acappella was improve in certain areas and I felt born. We started with about 12 that we did on stage what we had very talented singers and quickly done in rehearsal – that was in our grew. We joined Sweet Adelines control, but we couldn’t possibly and I guess the rest you all know. know what other choruses had How did you feel when you were done to prepare. We certainly felt directing the chorus on stage in confident and even two members Birmingham earlier in the year? unexpectedly on crutches on the Did it feel different to the year day and last minute changes to before? choreography didn’t faze us.

When we started in 2009 we When the results were had a 3 year plan and that was to announced, I was over the moon win the Small Chorus award. In at achieving our two goals – Small fact, we did that in year 2. This Chorus and Most Improved but year I knew that Viva Acappella nothing could prepare me for was ‘in good shape’ and our goal the complete surprise of winning was to win the small chorus award overall – speechless! It was a very again and also the Most Improved proud moment.

Chorus. We had worked on things What one tip can you give to mentioned in the evaluation from choruses who are striving for that the previous year - working on Gold Medal?

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women’s quartet called 42nd Street (LABBS Champions at the time) and thought they were amazing. I jumped up to call my local library about any barbershop groups in the area. I couldn’t believe my luck – there were two, with my nearest, Velvet Harmony just down the road in Bromley, Kent – I had never heard of them before! It just goes to show that there are still lots of people out there who don’t know about this wonderful hobby.

I went along the next week and was overwhelmed at the warm welcome I received. That was in 1987. I became tenor section leader after a couple of months and asked to direct in 1991 when Barbara Mesure, director and founder member of Velvet Harmony decided to step down. I had done lots of harmony singing and knew what I liked and knew I had a good ear for harmony, but I had never waved my arms! So I got practising in front of the mirror at home.

Alongside this I won a Gold medal in a LABBS quartet called Sounds Familiar and the Millennium Gold medal in the Joint Men’s and Women’s Quartet contest and was lucky enough to be invited to sing at the Jamboree Show at Men’s Internationals in Kansas City, Montreal and Salt Lake City.

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The Belles of Three Spires

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a Coventry-based LABBS chorus, are inviting applications for the position of

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Musical Director We are looking for an enthusiastic director, with the musical and interpersonal skills necessary to help us maintain and build upon the high standards which this Top 5 chorus have achieved in recent years. We rehearse every Wednesday, at Nettle Hill Training and Conference Centre, Brinklow Road, Ansty, Coventry Interested parties should send a letter or email of application, listing qualifications and experience, detailing what they could bring to the chorus, by December 21st 2012.

Contact info@thebelles.org.uk or call Patricia Auvil on 02476 543675 for more information.

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NEWS AND VIEWS FROM REGION 31, AUTUMN 2012 Anything you are apprehensive about? Do you have any concerns about the chorus’ ‘journey’ to Hawaii?

Having a trip like this certainly continues to keep the chorus focused and working together as a team, but I am concerned about the financial pressure it puts on individuals and the time pressures of all the fundraising activity on the chorus as a whole. We are having to work hard to maintain the balance between what we have to do to continue to improve our performance and what we need to do to support us financially to get there.

And finally...what, in your opinion, is the single most important thing that a chorus director must remember or do in order to be successful?

Think about how you motivate every member in the group – make your rehearsals as varied, exciting and challenging as you can, so that they become unmissable.

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Have a plan – with every member understanding what the chorus goals are and know what they need to do as an individual to be part of it.

What do you like most about being the Director of Viva Acappella?

What is there not to love about being part of the most vibrant, exciting, youthful group of women I have ever known? Every rehearsal is different and continues to teach me a lot about myself and the team.

Thinking ahead to Hawaii, what are the top 3 things you are looking forward to the most?

• Having an opportunity for all our members to see and hear first hand the very best barbershop in the world • To show the barbershop world that a small chorus can also make a big splash • To spend time in an amazing location with my best friends

FEEL AS IF YOU’RE IN THE MILE HIGH CITY… AT HOME!

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Watch the webcast live from Denver and cheer on our Region 31 competitiors!

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Wednesday 31st Oct at 17.20pm UK time – Echo Quartet Wednesday 31st Oct/Thursday 1st Nov at 00.05am UK time – Finesse Quartet Wednesday 31st Oct/Thursday 1st Nov at 01.05am UK time - Miss Demeanour Quartet Thursday 1st November at 06.29pm UK time – Forth Valley Chorus

Tune in by visiting

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www.sweetadelinesintl.org/webcast.cfm

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Tune into the Harmony Classic webcast on Tuesday 30th October at 11.50pm to see our very own Emma Duguid (Region 31 Marketing Coordinator/Vocal Dimension Chorus) star as the webcast commentator along with Cammi McKinlay for the whole competition!

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Personal Performance Sessions at Vocal Dimension

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ast summer, we ran a series of vocal and visual PVI’s at Vocal Dimension Chorus – I wanted to share with you a bit more about the visual part of the series. It was really great fun and hugely beneficial (and the members enjoyed it too!).

How did they work?

Each member had 20 minutes with Valerie, our Director, and then had 20 minutes with me. The reason we did it in that order was so that anything that came out of their vocal session could be transferred into their visual session – so if breathing was an issue, then I’d look at posture first and made sure that I explained the importance of that etc.

Each member took a sheet of paper away with them with up to 3 things that they needed to work on vocally and visually. We then created a spreadsheet of all the areas that needed to be worked on and, from January, we worked on these areas in rehearsals.

How did I prepare for these PVIs? Firstly, I approached Melanie Wroe (Showmanship judge), Renee Porzel (Showmanship judge and Choreographer of the Melodeers) and Erin Howden (Choreographer of North Metro) and asked how they would typically run a visual PVI. None of them had actually done this in their choruses but they told me the list of things they worked through in a chorus/quartet coaching session.

From that, I put together my own check sheet/notes for the PVIs – they just as acted a reminder so I was sure I covered everything. We usually coached 3 members a night and before that evening I watched

NEWS AND VIEWS FROM REGION 31, AUTUMN 2012

Attention!

If you would like to join a Quartet or need to complete your Quartet! Contact Quartet Liaison Paula Dennis and she will hopefully help you meet your match! Paula can be reached on paula.a.dennis@talk21.com

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uarterly RMT meeting was held on 27-29 July in Edinburgh • RMT members visited Corn Exchange as venue for education workshop in July 2013 • Minutes of previous meeting agreed • All reports discussed • Convention 2012 feedback – discussed comments/issues • Saturday Show – some issues in 2012, have revised format for 2013 • Discussed issues around big increase in membership and attendance at 2012 convention related to 2013 venue. Decided to still hold convention at The Sage but will need to monitor registration numbers carefully • To further investigate bigger venues – cost an issue • Discussed branding for 2013 Convention and education event • Membership still growing • Agreed to support YWIH

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Submitted by Emma Duguid, Region 31 Marketing Coordinator and Vocal Dimension Choreographer duguidemma@gmail.com

Update From Rmt Meeting July 2012

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on with individuals but also working on unifying the chorus. I have followed up these sessions with an email to each group including the areas we covered as well as YouTube links to the before and after videos from their session. I also shared some YouTube links to International Top 10 choruses as examples of best practice.

So, all in all I certainly would encourage anyone to run a vocal/ visual PVI programme – don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions you may have. And finally, here are a few quotes I’ve picked up over the last year or so, some of which I shared in the sessions: “The ability to act but also understanding the character of the song and telling it from the heart” “You ARE the vocal line, you are the messenger of the music.

Become the picture of the gift you want to give to your audience.

Become the vocal line - it needs to live within you”

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our contest performance from Birmingham 2011 three times, each time only concentrating on that member. I wrote quite a few notes on each member - noting things that members were really great at (and noting where that happened in the song) and also things that needed some work. I encouraged members to go back and look at the contest DVD again with their notes in front of them.

After the PVIs, we put together a master list of the visual and vocal things that needed attention. Here is the list of visual things that we then worked on with the chorus at the beginning of the year in the run up to Convention – these were the key themes.

- Maintaining good posture right to the ends of phrases (this is partnered with breath control, to some extent) - To consistently sing through the eyes – maintaining this throughout a whole song - More free movement from the core/from the floor – a lot of upper body movement happening but need to strengthen hydraulics - More confidence that they can let go – permission to give more - Consistency in movement throughout all rehearsals and all songs – making movement more natural All of this is centred around ‘maintaining’ and ‘being consistent’ (a lot of this is happening already… just not all the time) which will hopefully take us up to the next level in the showmanship category.

My next step was to make everything look more natural so not demanding super precise choreographed moves, but letting the emotion shine through and being the force behind the moves rather than something that’s ‘stuck on’ to the music. This is something we are working on and I am just finishing a series of personal performance sessions with small groups, building on what I worked

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more to encourage younger singers • Discussed content of Harmony Rag, ways to improve, workload • Finance Co-ordinator to write regular piece for Harmony Rag • Ignite Workshops – everything in place, good attendance figures to date, continue to promote to membership • Discussed RMT vacancies that will come up in May 2013 – Events/Workshop Coordinator, Marketing Co-ordinator, Membership Co-ordinator and Directors Co-ordinator – to advertise to membership and invite applications • Discussed proposal from Magnets – decided not to pursue • RMT members to carry out chorus visits • Next meetings 13-14th October 2012 and 16-17th February 2013

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Are You Ready For A Challenge?

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es, I know; our singing provides us with many diverse musical challenges so what else is there?

Well now, what about the challenge of running our very successful region? Behind the scenes are nine people who work on behalf of Region 31, to maintain our high standards. Four of our team are completing their terms of office and we are looking to find willing volunteers to replace them.

The vacancies that will arise from May 2013 are: Events Coordinator Marketing Coordinator Membership Coordinator Directors Coordinator The Directors Coordinator will be elected by the Chorus Directors.

Her role involves communication with the chorus directors, assessing their needs and communicating these to the Education Coordinator.

She will represent the interests of chorus directors on the Regional Management Team.

The Membership Coordinator will be elected by the members of Region 31. The responsibilities of this role and all RMT Coordinator roles can be seen under the Regional Standing Rules on the website for Region 31.

Events Coordinator and Marketing Coordinator will be appointed by the Region. Applications will be reviewed by an independent Nominating Committee who will decide on the successful applicant.

All roles on the RMT are important but Events is one of the largest which is why it was decided that dividing this role into Events and Workshops and having two people working in tandem could be a good idea. This

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Divas Enjoy A Sporting Summer Before Getting Back To The Studio

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Sheila Doherty, Region 31 Team Coordinator, Surrey Harmony Chorus

Divas mingled posing as wedding guests and when the moment arrived burst into song to a delighted congregation.

Our most recent public performance was a charity show in aid of one of our two chosen charities. We select two local good causes each year and FAMILY FUN: Divas, friends and family have fun emulating one of this summer’s great Olympic heroes – well, his pose anyway! carry out a series of material we’ve developed since 2010 events to boost their in a-cappella style. profile and funds.

And finally, over the last few We were delighted to be invited months we’ve been developing a to perform to support a local district new look for the Divas with a new council chairman’s charity appeal logo, brand and website. We’ve which by coincidence happens to also be one of ours – The Derbyshire, been singing now for almost five years and wanted a fresh look to Leicestershire and Rutland Air reflect the chorus we’ve become Ambulance – a most worthy local as we’ve gained new members and cause. It was a great evening and developed. we’re hoping it’s achieved its aim of The website will have an improved boosting vital funds. members’ area and clearer sections We’re now setting out sights on for supporters to find out what we’re rehearsing for our third CD which

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system has worked extremely well with Trina Bache covering Events and Fiona McGlashan covering Workshops.

Marketing Coordinator is another big role which comprises publicising events, communicating with media, designing plans to market workshops, conventions and much more besides, as Emma Duguid will tell you!

If you are interested in joining a team of focussed women who enjoy working hard together – and having fun doing it – then look on our website for a fuller description of what the roles entail and give serious consideration to joining us.

Applications for vacancies with details of how to apply will be on the website shortly.

Come on – take up the challenge!

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WEDDING SURPRISE: The Divas mingled as wedding guests before bursting into song – helped by musical director Ally Law’s little daughter Grace – to pull off a musical marriage surprise.

up to and where they can buy tickets, we’ll be recording in October. It’s two years since we produced our last see photos and videos and even one which was our prize for winning ‘Meet the Divas’.

It’s up and running although it’s Channel 5 talent show ‘Don’t Stop still work in progress – why not take Believing’ and was an album of a look and see what you think at songs with pop backing tracks. www.dalediva.com We’ll be going back to our barbershop roots with our new disc Submitted by Liz Tomes, with an album consisting of all the DaleDiva PRO

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ike many of you no doubt the Divas have been wowed by a wealth of amazing sporting success this summer – so much so that we hosted our own Diva ‘Olympics’ Family Fun Day! We make sure we do something like this every year where we welcome family and friends to recognise the support they give us to do this wonderful hobby of ours – and this year it had a special Olympic twist.

We’re a competitive lot and it’s amazing the other side you see to your section when you give them an egg and spoon or put them in a sack!

We also sang at a lovely summer wedding where we were the ‘surprise’ of the day which only the bride and groom knew about. The

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♫ The Ivy League is a National Youth Chorus for girls aged 8-30 ♫ We sing a variety of songs inc. pop, musicals, jazz and Barbershop. Some examples are ‘I wish I was a punk rocker’ ‘You can’t stop the beat’ and ‘Beauty and the beast’ ♫ We rehearse in a fun and safe environment ♫ You could perform at shows all over the UK and have your own retreats and competitions!

To make music is a life that I have to live.

Bob Marley

CONTACT: Steph Hepburn – 07849986332 stellahepburn@hotmail.co.uk www.ivyleaguechorus.com

Poster designed by: Sarah Foster – age 21 Hannah Lapworth – age 12 Carol Simpson – age 17

NEWS AND VIEWS FROM 31, AUTUMN 2012 Coaching Directory AND REGION RMT COACHES

RMT Sheila Doherty – Team Coordinator Surrey Harmony Chorus 020 8395 2765 shortscot@aol.com Directors’ Coordinator POSITION VACANT Directors - please contact Elaine Hamilton (elainemrssh@aol.com) if you have any questions/queries 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 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

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

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 Emma Duguid Vocal Dimension Chorus duguidemma@gmail.com 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

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COPY DEADLINE The Winter Harmony Rag will be issued at the end of December/early January.

Please send all articles to harmonyrag@sweetadelines.org.uk by 30th

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