WOW! We did it!

The Magazine of the Ladies Association of British Barbershop Singers
www.labbs.org.uk
Spring 2012
“WOW! We did it!”
W
e are Fortuity;
close friends,
sisters-in-law, civil
partners and now
MUMMIES to the little
5th wheeler that’s
been living in our
Bass,Siân’s tummy for
the past 9 months.
We welcomed Arthur
Rae Netherton-Hind
into the world on
the 3rd of January
at 4.17pm, I would
like to say he came
out singing Bass
but unfortunately
that wasn’t the case.
You’ll be happy to
know, however, he
does love Barbershop
and is looking forward to meeting you
all for lots of cuddles
and wet kisses. NBYC
watch this space!
Fortuity formed in
January of this year
after Sarah, Siân and
I (Gem) were messing around one day
singing a few chorus
songs together. We
enjoyed it so much that I made the
switch from Bass to Lead and we went
on the hunt for a Tenor (knowing full
well who we dreamed of asking). A few
emails and a phone call later Veryan was
in!
After our first rehearsal we knew that
we wanted to compete and knew we
would enter the Sweet Adelines competition, as from a competing point of view
this is all we had ever known. However
after mine and Veryan’s fabulous experi-
ences as part of the Ivy League Chorus
and speaking to many of our LABBS
friends we decided we would go for it
and join The Ladies Association of British Barbershop Singing organisation as
well. The boy are we glad we did!
We had such an incredible time in Harrogate with you all; although we were
newbies and didn’t know many people,
the support and friendship we received
was heart-warming. We were completely
blown away by the standard of all the
Quartets and Choruses we got to lis-
ten to, particularly
HUGE congratulations to Temptation and Northern
Vibe, the White
Rosettes, Cheshire
Chord Company and
Crystal Chords. Your
performances were
awe-inspiring! We
also wanted to thank
our dear friends and
outgoing champs
Miss-Demeanour who
helped us through
the weekend and
thoughtfully provided
us with much needed
sarnies and snacks at
2am in the morning,
YUM!
I can’t believe
it’s already been 3
months since we
heard those fateful
words “For the highest marks in Music,
the highest marks
in Presentation,
the highest marks
in Singing and your
quartet champions
for 2011, Fortuity”
but I honestly don’t think we’ve come
back down to Earth yet! To be your 2011
Quartet Champions is an absolute honour and we are so proud to be representing this fantastic organisation. We can’t
wait to see what our championship year
will bring us and look forward to seeing
you all again soon. After all Arthur has
been promised lots of cuddles.
Veryan, Sarah, Gemma, Siân (and
Arthur)
1
Notes from the Chairman
O
n behalf of LABBS Executive team I
would like to wish everyone a happy
and prosperous new year. 2012 is going
to be exciting for many people in Britain, what with the Olympics, The Queen’s
Diamond Jubilee and more importantly
for LABBS our first convention in Telford.
Already your Convention Team under the
direction of Anne Potter, Convention Team
manager, has been meeting and drawing up
plans to face the challenge of hosting convention in a new venue to ensure it goes as
smoothly as possible.
Marion Morley, PRO, has been keeping
every one up to date with ideas and projects
that we can link into. Please don’t forget
to let her have your ideas and successes,
as Marion loves to share your news. As
an association we do an amazing amount
of charity work so let’s celebrate all your
achievements.
Lee Westlake Membership Secretary has
been very busy providing each new member
with the new membership packs. She is also
working towards developing the new club
packs.
With the continued efforts of all clubs
to recruit and retain members, under the
watchful eye of our Treasurer, Viv Garner, we
are able to offer each Chorus some financial
support for running Learn to Sing courses or
recruitment events.
With Charity status coming closer each day
with the continued efforts of Delyth Knight
and our solicitor, we are pleased to have
our Vice Chairman, Alison Harbord, driving
on this successful joint venture with Sweet
Adelines. Paula Taylor-Williams and her team
worked hard to ensure its success.
Don’t forget to check out the minutes of
our meetings. I am personally amazed that
June Wright, secretary, produces the minutes
so efficiently which is no mean feat with us
all talking at the same time.
Jacqui Edwards continues to work tirelessly with Barbershop in Harmony and a
great education and information sharing day
is planned. Please visit the Website for the
details.
It was with great sadness as an association
and personally we received the news that
Neil Watkins had died. Neil’s contribution
to LABBS was much appreciated both as a
judge, musician and performer. Our love and
condolences go to his wife Kay and all his
family and friends.
Best wishes go to all the new club comour Vision and Objectives process, which
mittee members, as without you volunteerwe hope, will incorporate the best of LABBS ing to do the jobs, our association would
with development of the future.
certainly struggle. Don’t forget to contact
There are many new exciting developments your Regional Representatives if you need
in the contests this year. The E&J is current- information.
ly sorting the logistics of introducing mixed
Once again many thanks to all of you
Quartet competitions. Four educational days who put so much effort into maintaining
are planned for all members. Please visit
and developing our wonderful association.
LABBS website for up to date information on Let’s have a successful and harmonious
this. Well done on the fabulous organisation year.
and content on the Directors’ Education Day. Teresa Phillips
I was very proud to attend as your Chairman LABBS Chairman
Solving the Puzzle
ONE DAY WORKSHOP
✪ Get to grips with chorus management fundamentals ✪
Join us for fun and interactive sessions on
✪ PR and Marketing ✪ Recruitment and Retention ✪
✪ Fund Raising: including ‘How to Make a CD’ ✪
Saturday 7th July 2012 from 10.00 hrs until 16.30 hrs
BVSC (Birmingham Voluntary Services Centre), 138 Digbeth, Birmingham, B5 6DR
Contact Jacqui Edwards on 01737 355306 or email: jeedwards@btinternet.com
2
Hospice Support
D
uring the year Cheshire Chord Company has had the privilege of taking
part in a number of charitable fundraising
events and our last sing out for 2011 was
no exception. St Rocco’s Hospice is the
charity we were supporting and the place
Warrington town centre. Christmas shoppers
visiting Golden Square and the Cockhedge
Centre were entertained with traditional
Christmas carols and a few of our contemporary favourites.
Even though times are hard, the shoppers of Warrington demonstrated their
support and generosity towards St Rocco’s
as our collecting buckets became heavier
and heavier as the afternoon progressed.
We seemed to draw quite a crowd and on
several occasions members of the public came and thanked the chorus for the
beautiful singing which had moved them
to tears. The public’s comments were so
encouraging, like all choruses involved in
our hobby we love to sing and share our
music, and when the emotion of songs
touches people’s hearts it’s very rewarding. By the end of the afternoon we’d
been able to raise £235 which the charity
have said will help enormously towards
their running costs which are currently
around £7,200 per day.
Alison Linfield
PRO: Cheshire Chord Company
Happy Birthday Pennine Chimes
O
ur party was held on the 3rd December
at St Winifred’s Church Hall in Bradford
and a good time was had by one and all.
Our wonderful cake was made and iced by
our very talented Musical Director Kim.
The ladies on the photograph, cutting
the cake from left to right are:- Marilyn McDonnell who has been singing
with Pennine Chimes since their inception.
Kim Webb our Musical Director, and Teresa
Phillips, LABBS Chairman.
Elaine Thornton Pennine Chimes
3
Our Year as Champs
W
ell, they do say there’s no rest for
the wicked! The White Rosettes
first couple of months representing LABBS
as 2011 champions included two fantastic events. In November, we staged our
second ever masterclass at Leeds College
of Music. A big thank you to all those who
came from near and far, and even very far
(one group came all the way from Devon!).
The evening was great fun for us and we
hope enabled those who attended to take
some golden nuggets back to their own
choruses, whether it was warm-up exercises, approaches to songs, or choreo ideas!
Next up, in December, we were fortunate to be invited to sing on Spirit of
Harmony’s Christmas show in Harrogate,
along with The Great British Barbershop
Boys and the National Youth Barbershop
Chorus. The show was completely sold out
and raised over £3,500 for St Michael’s
Hospice - a great way to go into the festive period.
To finish off the year, we had a bit of
a shindig in the local pub, exchanged
Secret Santa gifts each to the value of
just £2 (well, we are in Yorkshire, what do
you expect?) and went off home to cook
turkey and eat mince pies whilst drilling
our two new (and quite tricky) songs.
So, on to 2012, and we’ve got a busy
year ahead. At the end of February,
we’re taking part in Choirs Rock - a
choir competition in Leeds raising money for worthy causes with none other
than Ricky Wilson from the Kaiser Chiefs
as a celebrity judge. Then, another
charity singout in March raising money
for children in Zimbabwe, then BABS in
May (see you there!), and the Llangollen International Music Eisteddfod in
July (anyone else going?). In August,
we’re very proud and excited that our
MD Sally McLean has been asked to
speak at the Association of British
Choral Directors annual conference, and
Tartan Harmony
H
appy New Year from your friends
Tartan Harmony, north of the border
in wet and windy Scotland! Yes, we’re still
here despite reports from Helensburgh
being featured on the BBC News during
our recent storms. We’ve had a very busy
few months recently and a few exciting
changes too.
First, the big news is that we have
a new MD. We’re all excited that Kate
McGeoch, who has been singing with us
since we first started out in my dining room 2-1/2 years ago, is taking
the reins. Kate has a degree in music
and has both directing and performing
experience in several different musical
groups. She has been our Assistant MD
for the last six months, so she’s been
well warmed up for the task. Since those
first rehearsals in my dining room -
4
which seem such a long time ago - she
has completely caught the barbershop
bug, so much so that she joined the Ivy
League and she also sings in The Vocalites quartet. As an added bonus, she
arranges music for us occasionally, when
the mood takes her. In case you hadn’t
guessed already – she’s a Bari…’nuff
said. Meanwhile, I will be stepping down
to Assistant MD, which will allow me
more time to enjoy my beautiful little 16
month old girl, Alice (a future Barbershopper, I’m sure…!)
Being a small club, we have the luxury
of being able to take part in lots of
singouts. In fact, we’ve even had to turn
a few down recently as we just can’t fit
everything in! In November we sang at
the opening of the new office for the
Argyll Voluntary Association where we
even more excited that she’s taking us
all with her!
So we’ve got a busy time ahead, and
that’s not to mention all of the Wednesday nights, the Sundays, the section
rehearsals, the coaching, and of course
the fund-raising, we’ve got lined up. By
the time we hand over the baton to next
year’s champs, we’ll be sick of the sight of
each other! See you in Telford!
Beth Daley White Rosettes PRO
were praised by our MSP, Jackie Baillie,
and at a benefit concert organised for the
British Red Cross. Then in December we
sang to a sell-out audience in the beautiful Glasgow City Chambers for a Yorkhill
Children’s Foundation benefit concert, as
well as singing at the fantastic Hill House
designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh
(where we were photographed by the
Scottish National Trust…we’re hoping we
might appear in the magazine!) and at
Ardardan Estate, our local farm shop/garden centre/café.
As always, we would love to have any of
you visit us if you are up in the Glasgow/
Loch Lomond area for your holidays this
year. Please don’t be shy, we are a fun
bunch and we do have a few Sassenach
members who can translate for you…
Juliet Erskine Tartan Harmony
Harton Harmonisers
T
he Harton Harmonisers
would like to wish every
LABBS member health and
happiness for 2012. The
end of 2011 was a very
busy and fulfilling time for
us, starting with a sing
out at the Salvation Army
Citadel in South Shields.
Our audience consisted
of retired ministers, most
of whom were musicians
themselves, and who
complimented us on our
harmonies and presentation – they donated £100
for our current charity
(Grace House Hospice for
Children).
In early December we started our
Christmas sing outs. Jean, our M.D., was
thankfully back with us (having been
poorly in hospital) and our schedule was
quite demanding, sometimes singing on
three consecutive days. It was worth all
the hard work because we raised over
presented Dorothy Heslop
and Bernice Guthrie with
25 year badges. Ours is an
old and enduring (endearing!) chorus with some
members holding 30 year
(and a few with 35 year)
awards. We had our Christmas lunch at The Customs
House; a beautiful old
building (now a theatre
and restaurant) which is
overlooking the river Tyne
– it had just started to
snow, which made it more
picturesque and the meal
was very good.
Our first sing out this
£1000 for our charities. Many thanks to
year is in February and is a 90th birthour members who attended these sing
day party at a local pub. The lady has
outs, sometimes only 8 or 10 strong, but
still producing good barbershop harmonies requested old war songs – most of us will
remember them well!!!
– WELL DONE girls!
Long may we continue to meet every
We welcome Janet into our Tenor section (she passed her six songs in as many week in friendship and harmony.
Beryl Cooke
weeks!!).
Harton Harmonisers P.R.O.
In December our Vice Chairman, Dawn,
Chips, Claridges, Rugby, Singing!!!
T
he Amersham A Cappella
girls have had such a
fantastic 2011. As our Gold
winning year came to an
end our already filled diaries
became even busier. With the
help of The National Film and
Television School we recorded
Swing Low in true Amersham
A Cappella style, which we
then used to record a viral
with Amersham and Chiltern
Rugby Club. We wanted to
support our rugby boys whilst
they were competing out in
New Zealand in the Rugby
world cup and with Swing
Low in our repertoire we made
an amusing music video. You
can view it at: http://youtu.
be/-oh1P-n4QYA
After spending a hilarious
Saturday filming our rugby
pitch invasion we were
then asked to be on Sky 1’s
Gadget Geeks, where we were
using a portable fish and
chip restaurant and pop up
dining room. Honestly we are
still singing!
We sang at a beautiful
carol service for The Mayor
of Amersham at St Mary’s
Church in Old Amersham and
then we sang at Claridges for
an evening, where we were
treated to champagne and
prawns.
So with 2011 coming to a
very eventful end we now
look towards 2012. Very
excitingly we are putting on
our own show at The Watersmeet Theatre in Rickmansworth on Saturday 21st April.
This is set to be a wonderful
evening with gorgeous harmony and a lot of AAC style.
www.amershamacappella.com
Suzie Moutrie
PRO Amersham A Cappella
5
Update from the Miss-D camp!
W
e all know time flies when you’re
having fun but we can hardly believe
that so much has happened since Kim
joined us back in August. Harrogate seems
like a lifetime ago since we said ‘au revoir’
to Sarah Foster, who by the way is doing
really well in France and should just about
be on her way to Bremen, Germany by now.
We didn’t really get a proper opportunity
to introduce you all to Miss-D phase 2,
although lots of you have been asking
about Kim and how we’re getting on, and
the answer is ‘just fine thanks!’ We have
been incredibly lucky and are having just
as much fun as ever, still drinking the
same amount of tea and eating chocolate.
We throw the odd song in every now and
again (well, you have to show willing
don’t you?)
At the time of writing, we’re in the process of learning lots of new songs – two of
which will form our competition package
when we go out to Benalmadena at the
end of March to compete in the SABS International quartet contest. It’s a hard life
all this travelling to foreign countries with
your best mates.
We missed the last edition of Voice Box
so we’d just like to take this opportunity
to say what an amazing time we had in
Harrogate in October when we retired as
2010 champs. It was so special; we can’t
even begin to tell you. Amongst all of
the many ‘golden moments’ we would
probably say our highlight was receiving
our crown pins from EU4IA and getting
to sing with some of our barbershop
heroines in the QC chorus on the Sat-
urday night. It was such an incredibly
emotional experience for us to sing with
women we have looked up to since we
were kids, two of which now happen to
be our chorus directors! Priceless.
As many of you know we have our feet
firmly in both the LABBS and Sweet
Adelines Region 31 camps, as Sarah and
Kim both sing in SAI choruses (Heartbeat and Milltown Sound respectively)
which means we are also getting ready
for the Region 31 contest in Birmingham in May. We feel incredibly lucky and
privileged to be part of two fantastic as-
sociations who really have supported us
over the last 4 years (really?!), with both
Sarah and Kim.
We’re still available for any events that
you may have going on over the next
few months, and it’ll only cost you a cup
of tea and a Hobnob, well maybe two
Hobnobs. Please get in touch with us and
chat - missdquartet@gmail.com for info
on ‘mates rates’. We’re so excited about
the future and can’t wait to sing for you
sometime soon. Have a great Summer,
Kim, Suze, Amelia and Sarah.
Miss-Demeanour.
Amersham A Cappella Youth Chorus
A
mersham A Cappella has started a
youth chorus, headed
up by the very talented
Alison Moore (Lead from
NoteOrious). We now
have a budding chorus
of 18 girls and boys
ranging in ages from 8
to 15.
We are exceptionally
lucky to have such a
hands-on Chorus which
is very excited to see
our younger generation
take an early interest in singing and the
6
benefits they will gain
from starting to learn
this wonderful hobby
so young. A very big
thank you to Kerry
Stenning with the
help of Fiona Stuttaford who have put
all of the logistics
together to make this
very exciting project
happen.
Hopefully this will
be the beginnings of a
new “Ivy League”.
Suzie Moutrie PRO
Amersham A Cappella
Onwards and upwards
F
or The Arun Sounds, 2011, our 30thbirthday year, proved to be busy and
successful with numerous fund-raising sing
outs at various venues. We battled with
the wind on Bognor Sea Front, braved the
cold in Chichester town centre and were
emotionally moved at St Wilfred’s Hospice,
to name but a few. Thanks to June, our
Singchronicity
S
INGCHRONICITY Ladies Barbershop
Chorus had a busy Christmas season
including a fund-raising concert at
Westgate Church, Peterborough, culminating in leading the carol singing at
Sacrewell Farm, near Stamford, where
families go to see small and baby
animals.
Formed 5 years ago, we have grown
from an initial chorus of 13 ladies to
fund-raising officer, Mary, our Secretary,
and the rest of the Committee, we also
danced our socks off at our Barn Dance,
held Valentine, Easter and Christmas raffles, had a huge turnout for our Valuation
Day, attended fêtes, held jumble sales and
produced our own calendar. This all enabled us to send a cheque for the healthy
sum of £1,060 to Help the Heroes, our
chosen charity for 2011, Reward indeed
for our hard work.
It was also our aim to recruit some new
members during 2011 and, due to the
power of advertising and our six-week
singing course, we increased our membership and all our new ladies are enthusiastically enjoying their wonderful new
hobby.
We start 2012 with renewed ‘vim and
vigour’ and, with the promise of glitzy new
costumes from our hardworking wardrobe
lady, Joan, we shall be concentrating on
bringing ourselves up to speed for the
convention. A belated ‘Happy New Year’ to
all choruses.
Marilyn Collins PRO The Arun Sounds
nearly 30 members now. We meet on
Tuesday evenings at a hall in Orton
Wistow, Peterborough. We have a lot of
fun and enjoy entertaining clubs and
groups in the Peterborough area.
Last year we met up with Welwyn
Harmony and had a most enjoyable
evening singing together and to each
other. They have somewhat more
members than we do, and it was very
interesting to see the different approach and to meet such a nice crowd
of ladies. This year we hope to play a
small part in the Olympic Torch celebrations as it tours the country in July,
prior to the Olympic Games.
In conjunction with Hereward Harmony, a local Men’s Barbershop Chorus,
we are taking part in a workshop for
local school children and young students and the subsequent ‘Sing4Spring’
concert.
So as well as our concerts for local
clubs and organisations, we are looking
forward to a busy year.
Denise Meiklejohn
Secretary
7
CAL in Cyprus
G
reetings from your furthest-flung CAL
member in Cyprus
Having lived here for over 10 years now,
I reckon the time has come to write something for the ‘Voice Box’
One of the biggest doubts about coming
here was the leaving of my lovely chorus,
Chiltern Harmony, (now Amersham A Cappella) but I became a Club at Large member and I have been fortunate to keep in
touch with the chorus through my daughter, Alison, who is also lead in NoteOrious.
Yes, of course I was there when they won
the gold! The chorus always welcomes me
when I get there and it has been a delight
to see all the new young members whose
enthusiasm and commitment (to say nothing of the experience and encouragement
of the older members!) has enabled them
to improve and achieve another chorus
gold.
I was lucky when I arrived here to find
there was an established chorus, Island
Blend, that I could join, albeit as a lead
and not bass because it is a mixed chorus
and the bass is just out of range. I do occasionally cheat a bit and join the all-male
bass section however. A bonus was that
my husband also joined and so we now
have a hobby we can do together. Since
we joined we have also formed single-sex
choruses so I do sing bass at times!
We are very cut off from the barbershop world out here and so if any of you
coaches are considering a holiday in this
lovely island do get in touch. We can’t afford air fares but could certainly host you
and pay some sort of fee.
Anyone holidaying in Cyprus, please give
me a call on 25581501 so that we can get
together and you are very welcome at our
Thursday rehearsal. Otherwise, see you all
at Convention.
Chris Moore
(ex Chiltern Harmony and Tapestry)
Blackpool Soundwaves
B
lackpool Soundwaves Ladies Chorus
helped the local Lytham St Annes Lions Club with their Christmas fund raising
in December by singing carols outside the
"Prestigious" J R TAYLORS department
store in St Annes Square, while the Lions collected donations from the Christmas shoppers passing by. The Manageress
of J Rs was so impressed that she invited
the chorus to sing in the coffee shop and
entertain the people there. The Lions were
delighted with the support of the chorus,
which helped them raise over £400 on
the day for local causes and charities. The
8
President, in his letter of thanks to the
chorus, stated that they would be happy
to work with the chorus on future social
and fund raising projects. As a member
myself of the Lions International Organisation, I feel the opportunity is there
for us to approach the five local (Zone)
Lions Clubs in the choir’s area. This would
be a good
PR exercise
for Blackpool
Soundwaves
and LABBS.
(by spreading
the word),
so to speak.
Also, before
Christmas,
the chorus
performed two
concerts for a
local branch of
the Freemasons in Poulton le Fylde,
where we were
also given a
link by them to other branches in the local area. To finish the year off the chorus
put on a well received concert for friends
and family in the local Church where the
chorus rehearses each week.
So our hopes for 2012? We plan to
spread the word about "Soundwaves" by
approaching organisations and businesses
in the Blackpool and Fylde Area, like The
Blackpool Tower Company and The Pleasure Beach Entertainment Groups, Shopping Centres, Local Councils etc. etc. This
year as well, The Open Golf Championship
comes to Lytham St Annes, so there may
be opportunities for "Corporate Entertainment." This is our 30th Year and we want
to "GO PLACES" Sing and Grow! Watch
this Space!
Paul Beckett .
PRO (Blackpool Soundwaves) Winter Celebration
S
till glowing from our fantastic 7th
position at Convention in Harrogate,
we let our hair down in celebration at our
Saturday late night party back at the hotel.
The wealth of individual talent became
apparent by all who witnessed the various
performances, from solo, quartet, poetry,
story telling and comedy act; we had a
blast!!
How proud we all were when this wealth
of talent was put to good use as we
entered headlong into the production of
maybe our best ever ‘Winter Celebration’.
From our well orchestrated stage management team through to the brilliant
direction of our Jo Dean. Not forgetting to
mention the lighting and sound duet, Jo’s
sons Liam and Kieran, who did an excellent job of working the stage equipment
for the first time. Thankful that ticket
sales were also high, selling over 200
seats to almost fill our well chosen venue.
The highlight at this years ‘Winter Celebra-
FOR SALE
31 x print tops from NEXT
Perfect walking out or informal singout wear
for your chorus!
The tops are in an excellent
range of sizes:
1 x size 8, 6 x size 10,
5 x size 12, 5 x size 14,
7 x size 16, 4 x size 18,
3 x size 20
The fabric is a soft, stretchy
and comfortable viscose/elastane; the top has a flattering
gathered detail to the centre
bust and with a ¾ sleeve and a
small geometric print which
looks great en masse, in
colours white, black, beige and
pink.
We are selling them for £60 the lot (that’s under £2
per top!) plus cost of postage if required.
If you are interested please email me at
diane.henry@tesco.net
or call on 01453 519119 (leave a message and I’ll get back to you)
Diane Henry, Wardrobe Team Leader,
Fascinating Rhythm
tion’ was our junior ‘Fascinating Rhythm’
chorus, brought together by our assistant
director and choreographer Wendy, with
the help of Kitty and Sharon. The juniors
included daughters, granddaughters and
children of friends. They were so well
received by all who watched, singing 3
Christmas songs, one of which was sung
together with the whole chorus. Christmas
had finally revealed itself in this moment,
listening to these young performers - tears
were hard to hold back.
We continued to blast our way through
a great programme, including many songs
from our repertoire to Christmas jingles
and carols in the form of the full chorus,
quartets and octets with a splash of great
poetry from our well chosen speakers.
Everything ticked over nicely with the help
of commentator, Pete Wilson from Radio
Gloucester and the wonderful tones of the
Thornbury Jazz Band during our costume
changes.
The evening was concluded by our comedy quartet, giving their version of the 12
days of Christmas. This was hilarious to
say the least, keeping everyone’s full attention as the last act of an unforgettable
night. This night will be remembered as
one of our best all round shows.
The New Year will hear more from
Fascinating Rhythm as we hold a Singing
Workshop in January 2012, to help bring
in new voices for our rapidly growing
chorus - watch this space!!
Don’t forget you can order a copy of
our ‘Warm-Up and Craft’ CD at of cost of
£10.00 including p&p from pm-carthy@
kingswood.gloucs.sch.uk
You can also preview tracks on our website: www.fascinating-rhythm.co.uk
Julie Bryant
Fascinating Rhythm
9
LABBS Convention: 26-28 October 2012
The International Centre, Telford
Telford International Centre is situated in the West Midlands and is accessible from the M6 and the M54. It would appear from the
Centre’s website that it has everything we require:
“The venue provides versatile, contemporary facilities that cater for every need, from small boardroom meetings through to
large-scale conferences and exhibitions. To ensure your on-site experience is as stress free as possible, The International
Centre offers a range of comprehensive services during your event…”
For further details and photographs, visit:
http://www.southwatereventgroup.com/the-international-centre
There are many interesting places to visit in the area including Much Wenlock; Ironbridge; Church Stretton; Shrewsbury and Ludlow so plan your journey well!
For assistance with accommodation, visit:
http://www.reservation-highway.co.uk/conference_info.php
Metropolis
Our Special Guests have an International reputation
with numerous performances on TV, radio and stage in
the USA and also in Canada, England, Ireland, Japan,
Netherlands, New Zealand and Russia.
They are known for their entertaining style and antics
and will certainly add to the enjoyment of our weekend.
Prelims 2012
No Chorus Prelims
Quartet Prelims: 23 June – see LABBS website for entry forms, venue details, etc.
Convention Registration
Registration forms and further information will be available on the LABBS website after 26th March 2012
10
Convention Charities 2012
T
he LABBS Charity for Convention 2012
will be Help for Heroes (H4H) although,
as has become our tradition, Friday Evening
will be “In the Pink” - so start planning
your outfits now! It is a sad fact that probably all of us know someone who has/has
had Breast Cancer and this is our chance to
rmony)
Maxine Udale (Colne Ha
do something positive for them.
Most of us have heard of Help for Heroes
and may have a vague understanding of
what it means for the injured troops and
their families but it is so much better to
hear details from people who are actually
involved.
s
so pleased that LABB S ha
Can anything be more moving than the
email received from Maxine Udale (Colne
Harmony) about her son? She had been
asked to write a short article but instead
agreed to her email being used – read
it and you will understand why that was
requested.
Life behind the scenes: A
Mother’s Perspective:
Yvonne Powell (Second Cit
y Sound)
d I am
My son, Gareth, is a Wing
Thank you for your email an
Commander in the
es.
ero
H
for
elp
H
t
por
sup
to
Royal Air Force Regiment
agreed
,
one
Le
rra
Sie
a,
.
rbi
H
Se
e has ser ved for 27
d,
in Northern Irelan
years and, in that time, he
l
ya
My son, Kim, has ser ved
Ro
the
of
er
ha
mb
s seen conflic t in
e tours in Iraq. As a me
Northern Ireland, Kosovo,
ry
two tours in Bosnia and thre
eve
in
er
M
ng
ace
da
donia, Belize, Iraq
ial
ent
pot
es
, Kim fac
and, lately, in two tours of
,
07
20
n
Engineers (EOD) Regiment
t. I
ba
com
du
of
ty
es
in Afghanistan.
atr
he is pos ted to the
All too often, it has been his
for
working day, not jus t when
sty
aje
M
er
un
H
enviable task to
Gallantry Medal from
inform and meet the wives,
playKim received the Queen’s
ool
sch
h
pa
wic
ren
Ips
ts and families
an
in
ck
ba
back-toof personnel who have been
disarming two WW2 bombs
killed or injured in
action.
ground. have my son as a
to
e
lik
is
it
at
wh
rds
wo
o
I am often asked how I cop
Being asked to put int
only way
e with my son being in
g effect on me. I realise the
sin
pri
sur
a
d
ha
s
suc
ha
h dangerous situations - we
r
die
com
ser ving sol
to
s
d i
ure
inj
ll the answer is….
y of him being killed or
stoically. It’s the only way
Just
I can cope with the possibilit
. ...’
if
at
to
‘wh
hid
the
e the panic, sickout
ab
d not think
ness and fear that is felt wh
g
tin
wri
partmentalise my feelings an
am
I
d
an
en
at
an
swe
other incident
d
come out in a col
involving troops is reported
de
ma
reading your email made me
ail
em
ur
Yo
on
g.
the radio or televiand my hands are shakin
sion. The anxious moments
le to do
this with tears in my eyes
ab
be
l
wil
wa
I
iti
if
e
ng for the phone
sur
not
I’m
demons.
call that you hope and pra
me open the box and face my
y
wil
l
never come. I
nk ab out it.
cannot begin to know how
what you ask but I will thi
fam
the
ilie
of
s cope with that
, one
trauma. What I do know is
t every time Kim goes away
s
tha
I would jus t like to add tha
say
t
it
d
helps to know
an
s
gh
lau
e
that ‘you’ care.
on’t be a her o”. H
is
he
d
las t things I say to him is “D
an
ll
we
s, the Army has trained him
that he won’t take any risk
the other men
r, I know that Kim and all
eve
ow
H
es. lov
he
job
a
ng
doi
of their
Forces are her oes every day
d
me
Ar
our
in
g
vin
ser
n
and wome
ness for the
a small part in raising aware
lives and hope I have played
attended
Powell
mpaign.
tan, I have
ander G. J.
is
great Help for Heroes Ca
n
m
a
m
h
o
fg
C
A
g
e been
d
Win
ose who hav
rs of Iraq an
u
th
to
r
fo
y
m
es
n
ic
v
ee
Betw
but each
iation Ser
same format
fifty Repatr
e
th
ed
ow
The solll
upwards of
fo
nonetheless.
Ser vice has
on
y
si
er
v
ca
The Wife an
E
oc
.
l
d
a
le
u
id
kil
ense pride,
d Mother : Lu
tinctly indiv with sadness and imm
cy Powell
is
d
a
n
As the wife of
ee
b
ery one
has
a Ser ving Sen
riably tinged
ance. For ev y
a
v
efi
d
in
h
is
it
ior Officer an
d
two young chil
w
oo
emn m
, always,
d the mother
physicall
dren, the new
humour and
of
nded, b o th
y
s of a six month
ou
ll
w
is a hard pill
a
s
on
ou
si
er
ca
m
ver. How
oc
u
s operational
to swallow. Th
changed fore
, there are n
e
tour
d
b
le
ere is, of cours
l
il
il
k
had fr om the
w
e
os
es
v
li
t they
of th
e, comfort to be
fact that this
os t of whose
y the suppor
b
m
,
y
ed
ll
is what they
in
ta
m
they are train
er
en
and m
aspire to and
ed to do. Nev
in part det
what
ertheless, to h
at extent is
h
a war zone wit
w
to
d
n
a
a
ve a loved one
future.
ha
however
in
and in the
ow
day-to-day ba very real threat of death or
n
e
ntributions,
iv
co
ce
e
re
os
h
w
sis is like livi
in
ou
jury on a
to all of y
ng on an emot
This burden is
any thanks
ional roller co
M
coupled with
aster
the fact that
e her oes.
in effect a sin
you are sudden .
all , helps th
gle parent wit
sm
ly
h very fragmen
depending on
ted support as,
your geograph
ic
al posting, you
family and fr
may be far fr om
iends.
Having the H
elp for Her oe
s Charity as
tr oops pr ovides
a support for ou
families with
r
the comfort an
in the event of
d reassurance
a tragedy, som
th
a
t,
eone is there to
you.
help. Thank
11
jointly by the Military and NHS. Some injuries and diseases
The following, written by Janice Dock, WO1 (ASM), REME,
are treatable, like heat stroke or heart attacks - which one of my
explains so much that it was thought that you would want to
soldiers suffered; some, like gunshot wounds, need surgery to be
read it all and not have it edited:
treated. This takes on even more significance when it’s one of your
Hello, my name is Jan and, with my Mum, Jean, and sister,
example, a young man, early twenties, recently
Anne, I sang with the Llandudno Ladies during the 1980s under own soldiers – for
married, shot through the neck but the Medics, Doctors and
the direction of Margaret de Wolf; my Dad, Roy, sang with the
Nurses, can and do get them back on their feet.
Llandudno Men. Mum was for many years a member of the
However, for some, the trauma is so severe that it is life-changContest Administration Team and held the position of Category
S
LABB
ing for them and their families. The Military do not forget these
Director for a year. When Margaret told me that the
Charity for 2012 was Help for Heroes, I happily agreed to write Service Personnel and they do continue to support them emotion
changes
ally and financially but the budget is finite and life
a piece for Voice Box. I have not had to call on the assistance
many
in
part
g
is takin
come
I’ve
closest
the
are not cheap to adapt to. The injured Service Person and their
of Help for Heroes;
Charity
the
is
why
o
them. S
for
family not only have to adjust to a totally new way of life but
charity events to help raise money
soldier.
to the emotions, mental and physical pain; that in itself is more
so important to me? Simple, I am a serving
than enough to cope with but throw in financial worries and I
In 1992, I joined the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanicannot imagine the anxiety that would cause.
cal Engineers (REME) as a Vehicle Electrician, re-trading
That’s where charity organisations make such a huge difference
to Vehicle
- organisations like the British Legion and Help for Heroes
Mechanic
- but they can only make a difference because the people of
(Armoured)
Britain support them. As Soldiers, Sailors
in 1997.
and Airmen, we join in
Although
the knowledge
females are
we may
that
not permitand,
conflict
see
ted to serve
ately,
unfortun
in the Teeth
the current world
Arms (Infansituation means
try), we can
y few
that ver
and do serve
el
Personn
Serving
alongside
operasee
not
will
them, living
tions in one form or
and working in frontline locations; all REME Soldiers
I have lost
another.
are trained as soldiers first, tradesmen always. I have seen
the years
over
friends
a couple of close
operations in Bosnia/Croatia, Northern Ireland, Kosovo, Iraq
or mentally scarred. I
and know people who are physically
and Afghanistan but I have had some less stressful assignments
am one of the lucky ones; each time I have got into a ‘situation’,
to Germany and Canada. I am now based at the Operations
d
missione
non-com
highest
I have come out with nothing worse than bad memories. For some,
Support Unit in Cyprus holding the
t
Sergean
er
the memories will never go away; as a Military Community, we
rank achievable of Warrant Officer Class 1 (Artific
help as much as possible but we cannot do it on our own. I used
Major) [WO1 (ASM)].
to think that there was nothing as heart-warming as receivMy position means I rarely get the chance to go ‘forward’ but
ing a letter or ‘morale box’ from friends and family but I was
my last operational tour, in summer 2010, saw me at the Main
wrong. There is something that equals that feeling - and that is
Operating Base - Camp Bastion - in Helmand Province. Life
people like you, people we have not met (and probably will never
there was very austere with basic amenities but, compared to the
meet); total strangers (many with no connection to the MiliForward Operating Bases, it was five-star luxury with desigto support their troops. Every penny Help
nated ISO toilets/showers, tentage accommodation, gym and food tary) who are prepared
for Heroes raises assists injured Service Personnel and their famimess. Blast walls in and around the camp remind you daily that
lies, the young widow with children and it helps to return dignity
an attack is just waiting to happen and, in the heart of all of
for people who are prepared - for whatever
this, is the hospital . The hospital at Bastion is one major casualty and ease the anxiety
their personal motivation - to give their lives in an attempt to
ward dealing with everything from heat and cold injuries (even
make a safer and fairer world.
in the height of an Afghan summer at 50+ degrees, a soldier
Your support for Help for Heroes will be appreciated by thougot hypothermia from standing in a drainage ditch too long), to
totally
are
el
Personn
l
sands of Serving Personnel; they may not be able to thank you
gunshot and blast injuries. The Medica
hear
d
We’
ed.
personally but please accept my thanks on their behalf. Tomorrow
professional, utterly calm and amazingly dedicat
and
in
the person needing help could be me or one of my guys and, knowthe MERT and PEDRO (medical helicopters) coming
knew they would be faced with some of the most horrendous casu- ing that there are people, total strangers, who care, makes a very
alties imaginable. In the six and a half months I was there, scores big difference. So thank you all; I wish you a safe, peaceful and
happy life.
of service personnel lost their lives but many more were injured,
quadone
was
There
s.
amputee
some as bad as double and triple
ruple amputee, I do not know if he survived.
For further information, why not visit:
best
the
eams,
T
l
Medica
the
to
The Military provides, thanks
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk
medical care in Theatre; this care is continued back in the UK
12
13
Diva for a Day!
I
n December, the Belles of Three Spires
were thrilled to be invited to sing in
Solihull’s Christmas Market to raise funds
for Marie Curie’s Big Build Appeal. The
Big Build Appeal is raising £7m for a
brand new state of the art hospice in
Solihull, with en-suite rooms for each
patient and indoor and outdoor environments designed to be relaxing settings
for patients and families alike. We also
treated the patients on one of the wards
to some Belles musical magic. It really
brought home to us all why we chose to
be part of the fundraising, and spurred
us on to work once again with the Marie
Curie team.
Local appetite for the chorus had been
whetted, and we were asked to think of
For Sale
38 ROYAL BLUE STAGE OUTFITS
Various sizes from 10-22
Also available: some extra tops, skirts and material.
Total price: £1100 (or £30 each outfit)*
For more information contact:
Iola Davies 01332 550663 or
Denise Healey 01530 244543 (Gem Connection)
*Postage and Packing not included
14
other exciting ways to raise funds for the
big build of a new Hospice. Our brilliant
Committee worked alongside Sarah Wakeman, Marie Curie Capital Fundraiser, and
came up the idea of DIVA FOR A DAY. The
plan was hatched to get new singers to
come along, with no obligation, and have
a go at being part of a Top 5 chorus for
the day. We invited ladies from far and
wide to banish the winter blues and join
us for a day of singing, laughter and of
course delicious lunch all included! All
well-known mood boosters
What a success! It was such a fantastic day, we learned a whole new song in
one day, Belles and new Divas alike. As
you can imagine, it was hard work! The
song was fast and furious, and great fun
to sing. With a few moves to liven up
our presentation we truly “bopped till
we dropped”, and the day ended with a
glittering performance for our visitors to
show off their new skills.
It is so wonderful to be part of our
community by extending our membership and also helping a local charity. We
are pleased to be sending a donation to
Marie Curie for £130.00 and as a bonus
we have converted a few more ladies to
the joys of Barbershop singing. The new
girls will soon see there isn’t really such
a thing as a free lunch!
Lucy Belle
VIP Guests at Welwyn Harmony
W
elwyn Harmony Chorus decided to
put on a Variety Show to raise money
for our local Hospice, The Isabel Hospice in
Hertfordshire. We contacted The Hawthorne Theatre in Welwyn Garden City,
confirmed the show date of 12 May and
contacted The Isabel Hospice in Hertfordshire to let them know that we would be
raising money for them by holding the
show. We were delighted to learn that
Kim Wilde and her partner, Hal Fowler,
are Patrons of the Hospice, and they
wanted to know more about us. Kim and
Hal confirmed that they would turn up at
our rehearsal venue on 3 January, shortly
after our warm-up session. You can im-
agine how excited we all were when Kim
and Hal walked in as we were standing in
a circle singing before getting on our risers. Our hall has large mirrors on the far
wall, so we saw them as they arrived, and
some elbowing was used to nudge each
other, with huge grins on our faces.
Kim and Hal were welcomed, and they
sat to watch us as we got on the risers.
We had expected them to perhaps stay
for a while, and leave after hearing a
few songs, but we were elated when they
stayed to hear us sing most of our repertoire! Kim cried with emotion when we
sang some of the songs (no, not because
we were so awful, I hope!). They commented that they loved the way we sang
and moved and we all looked so happy.
Hal is an accomplished singer, and he
sang to us in our own a cappella style,
after tapping a note on the piano. We all
listened in awe at Hal’s amazing voice as
he sang to us, and then told us that they
hoped they could bring something to our
show, if their schedules permitted. Kim
asked if we sang “Winter Wonderland”
and we sang our version of it to her.
Kim spoke about the show she had been
performing in during December, with such
famous groups as Status Quo and Roy
Wood/Wizard. Kim said she sang “Winter
Wonderland” in the show and she liked our
version of it, too.
At the end of the evening, Kim and Hal
posed with us for photos, and chatted
with several people before they left. They
are such a lovely couple and we feel so
honoured that they came to see us with
the possibility of actually appearing in our
show! The photos show Kim and Hal with
the Chorus, and Hal singing to us.
June Wright
Welwyn Harmony Chorus PRO
OCEAN HARMONY
The Southampton Barbershop Harmony Chorus
wishes to recruit a
MUSICAL DIRECTOR
Established in 2003, Ocean Harmony is a popular male chorus, singing a wide repertoire of barbershop
and popular songs at concerts, charitable and corporate events throughout the county.
A recent recruitment campaign has led to a significant increase in membership. We wish to build on
this success by appointing an inspirational Director/Conductor to enhance further our repertoire and
performance. The applicant may not be a director currently but should be an
experienced and enthusiastic harmony singer.
To request further details or to apply with CV please contact:
David Hawkins david@hawkins72.wanadoo.co.uk
15
After Hours
T
ime to hang up those sparkly dresses.
It’s with a smile on our face and a
song in our heart that we write to tell you
that after ten years, After Hours are hanging up our sparkly dresses for a final time.
What a journey it has been. Over the
last ten years we are so proud to have
achieved so much. In LABBS we achieved
a bronze, two silvers and the coveted
Gold in 2006, and in 2011 were the first
winners of the new QCs trophy. (It doesn’t
matter to us that we were the only competitors!)
us feel at home instantly when you let
us loose as the coaching quartet for your
ing us, that our friendship comes over in
our performances and when you are in our
company.
chorus. We have made so many wonderful
friends that way and will always remember
the achievements, the crazy games, the
late nights and most notably the wonderful hospitality that barbershoppers are
just darn good at!! Both LABBS and BABS
have supported us, giving us fabulous opportunities to perform at Conventions and
other events.
We have had 10 fabulous years being
We competed in the International
competition at the Irish Convention on
three occasions and are proud to own a
set of top three IABS medals. Our travels
have taken us to Germany, Spain, Ireland
and of course the USA in 2007 where we
were proud to represent LABBS on the
World Harmony Jamboree. There are many
performances we’ll never forget, whether
for one person or 2000 people, from singing in stairwells to gracing the stage at
together as a quartet and to be in close
proximity of each other (4 barbershoppers
and 28 outfits in 1 room, in Denver for 7
days, springs to mind and other than the
snoring and squabbling over mirror space
we made it!) we really do love each other
and many of you have been lovely in tell-
the London Palladium, they have given
us many happy memories and are all as
treasured as each other.
We had a blast making you laugh (you
can imagine how much we laughed in
rehearsal!), making you cry (we did lots of
crying but only because we were laughing
so much!) and encouraging many of you to
kick one of the quartet out to sing in her
place! Many LABBS Choruses have made
16
We have new challenges and commitments individually as we take new pathways in the barbershop world, and feel
that after ten years of good times and
tremendous success, we should end on a
high as QCs Champions of 2011.
A big big thank you must go to everyone
who has helped and supported us along
the way. There are too many people to
mention individually, you know who you
are but especially our families, chorus
friends, coaches and Ryanair (had to get
that one in for Alison who has lived in
France for the last 5 and half years! ).
You have all made the After Hours journey unforgettable.
Jo, Alison, Jane & Julie
After Hours
Round Ireland with NoteOrious
H
aving been resting on our laurels for
a couple of years, NoteOrious decided
it was about time we cracked the whip
again. We thought a little healthy competition was probably just what we needed to
make us work a bit harder instead of eating
cake at rehearsals. So, to Ireland it was for
the IABS convention
and the International
Quartet Competition.
Well, what a fantastic decision that
turned out to be! We
discovered The Chordettes, a chorus we’ve
coached (and had a
huge amount of fun
with) over the last
couple of years were
also planning on competing at IABS. So we
knew we’d definitely
have some laughs and
some friends to cheer
us on AND, in our
coaching capacity,
we were able to be
inducted as members
and sing with them in
the competition, too.
We got practising moves.
The weekend itself was everything we’d
hoped and more. We spent Friday enjoying
the beautiful sunshine (honestly!) in Galway being proper tourists and, of course,
found a pub to sample the Guinness before
enjoying the Entertainment Competition
won by the marvellous Cambridge Chord
Company.
Saturday seemed like it went on for
at least 3 days. An early breakfast and
rehearsal with The Chordettes, a quick
change, bus to the convention centre, a
fabulous sing and straight back to the hotel for a quartet rehearsal. Another quick
change before dashing back to the convention centre for our own performance.
There were 9 men’s quartets (including
change and we were back to sing in
the evening show. We watched the first
half and particularly enjoyed seeing our
alter-egos, Irish ladies’ quartet, NoteOrious 4, who won the National Quartet
Silver Medal. The names had caused quite
some confusion over the weekend so it
was great to meet
the girls and have a
laugh (and sing) with
them at the afterglow.
What an afterglow
it was! We did a
bit of performing
to an enthusiastic,
Guinness-fuelled
audience before ending up in a corner
with 3 quarters of
Sweden’s Absolut, the
guest quartet for the
weekend, trying to
figure out a few tags.
With Jerry Cadge from
The Cambridge Chord
Company doing a
wonderful job standing in for their bass,
we pretty much spent
ones from UK, Holland, Finland and the
the rest of the night (well, until 4am,
USA) and just 2 ladies’ quartets in the
anyway) singing together.
competition. It was strange to compete
So, our feet may have been pounding
against men but, having made Liz Garnett from standing around ‘til the wee small
cry and achieved our highest ever score
hours and we may have really struggled
in competition, we were thrilled to win
to get out of bed to wave The Chordettes
the International Quartet Silver Medal. We off bright and early on Sunday morning
were also very excited when the Internabut it was definitely well worth it. An Abtional Bronze Medal Chorus was announced solutly fantastic evening and a wonderful
as The Chordettes. Fantastic!
weekend all round.
So, another quick rehearsal and quick
NoteOrious
17
Mach 4
M
ach 4, winners of the BABS Youth
Quartet trophy in 2010 and again in
2011 and the highest scorers in the BABS
2011 Quartet Preliminaries, are busily preparing for their visit to Portland in June to
compete in the Collegiate Championships
in the International Competition.
All four members of the quartet sing
with the National Barbershop Youth Chorus while three of them sing in the Vale
of York’s Spirit of Harmony Chorus.
Both bass dental student, Joe White,
and lead, Tim Briggs, have growing experience as chorus directors, each being
www.sweetadelines.org.uk 18
responsible for chorus songs with Spirit
of Harmony while Joe is MD of the NBYC.
Tim is also rapidly developing skills as
choreographer with both choruses.
Meanwhile brothers Alex and Antoine
Kaiserman are each highly accomplished
in the music world. Antoine has recently completed a music degree while
Alex, holding a physics and philosophy
degree, sings and arranges for music
groups in Oxford where he is studying for a doctorate. The brothers have
recently set up a web-based arranging business - Strikeforce Kaiserman.
com - and are available to work with
individual singers, quartets, choruses or
small groups.
All under 26 - they will have to leave
NBYC when they reach that milestone
- they clearly have much success ahead
of them. They are more than willing
to undertake sing-outs but, says Joe,
with few weekends available for rehearsal, not before their prime concern
- Portland.
Ken Hulme(BABS Harmony College &
Spirit of Harmony Chorus) on behalf of
Mach 4
The Right Direction
W
hat a sight, so many friends and
people I recognised and all here with
one purpose in mind. Let’s learn more about
directing!!
Lori with everyone else watching. It was
inspirational to watch the way she got
the different parts to change the way they
were singing and also the way she worked
with Glenn Chaney, the director. Once
again we were all trying to watch, listen
and write at the same time!
The whole day was well organised and
could have done with another day as there
was so much to take in and we all wanted
more. The hardest thing was trying to
There is always a need for Director training at one level or another and it was
LABBS who took the initiative and decided
to create a combined SAI and LABBS Directors’ day. When I signed up for the event I
was not really sure what to expect. I had
read all the bits on the internet but there
is always that little bit of doubt that this
is the right thing for you.
ran smoothly, so congratulations to all
involved. It was lovely to be part of a 150
strong chorus when we all sang “Battle
Hymn of the Republic”. What a fantastic
sound and it was amazing to have Lori
directing and see how she works with a
chorus.
We all found the day really informawrite down all the ideas and suggestions
tive and it was lovely to chat to so many
quick enough. I should have taken my mp3 people at the breaks and catch up with
recorder. Dyrck took the Good to Great
everything going on. Networking at these
stream and had a brilliant time listening
events is so important as quite often it’s a
and learning. He is still bringing stuff to
case of “Not what you know but who you
the chorus from the sessions.
know”.
There was a session where Lace City
Deborah Lamble
Chorus had turned up to be coached by
Wessex Harmony
I needn’t have worried, it was great and
I learnt so much from the whole day. Lori
Lyford was an absolute inspiration to all
and she was a positive dynamo all day.
I attended the course with my new chorus director, Dyrck, who also happens to be
my husband and Kirsty, our bass section
leader. Dyrck would like all members of the
music team to be able to direct the chorus
as this will allow him to stand back and
listen to the sound, and this also offers
variety for the chorus.
We all took different streams on the day.
Kirsty was in the starting from scratch
stream and certainly learnt plenty of useful
things. It gave her the confidence to accept her new position as Assistant Chorus
Director! I took the Improving Director
stream and it was great to hear from
other people who had learnt the basics
and now wanted to go that bit further. I
19
A5 flyer_Layout 1 07/12/2011 10:55 Page 1
Full Colour
Printing
Amersham A Cappella presents
Having a Show?
100 A4 Posters
PLUS
500 4 page A5 programmes
PLUS
500 A7 Tickets
This here spot is more than hot!
£150
Printed on 135gsm gloss art paper.
Includes VAT and delivery
Saturday 21st April 2012
8pm
Learn to Sing
Course?
A5 Flyers
printed both sides
Watersmeet
Rickmansworth
10,000 — £170
50,000 — £635
Printed on 135gsm gloss art paper.
Includes delivery (no VAT on flyers)
ALSO
Large Posters • Pull Up Banners
Stationery • Business Cards • Stickers
Newsletters • Magazines • & More
To book tickets contact Watersmeet, High Street,
Rickmansworth, Herts WD3 1EH
Tel: 01923 711063 or book online at www.watersmeet.co.uk
Caktus Print Management
01202 487287
dyrck@caktus.co.uk
Deadline for
Next Issue
Friday
April 27th 2012
Please supply photographs in
the highest resolution possible,
in colour, as separate Jpeg
files not in a Word document.
Expect the file to be bigger than
300Kb, probably more than 1Mb.
If it’s not then it’s probably low
resolution and won’t print well.
www.amershamacappella.com
Diary Dates
Mar 9-11th
LABBS/BABS Re-certification Category School
Mar 11th
A Cappella/Choral Harmony Workshop Didcot, Oxon
Mar 24th LABBS Exec, AGM, Council meeting LSE
Apr 14th TBC
NE/Cent Regional Education Days
April 15th
NW Regional Education Day, Warrington
April 28th
SE Regional Education Day, Little Chalfont, Bucks
April 29th
SW Regional Education Day, Bristol
May 11-13th
SAI Regional Convention, Birmingham
May 25-27th
BABS Convention, Southport
June 9-10th
LABBS Foundation Course, Walsall
June 16th
LABBS Exec Meeting, LSE
For more dates and information see our website www.labbs.org.uk