Our good friend
Lorraine Graham is Wollongong Harmony Chorus Quiet Achiever for 2012.
As you can see from the photo, she was notably surprised!
We all know that Lorraine does heaps of work to assist the chorus 'behind the scenes'.
Well done Lorraine.
My mother always used to say, “Watch out for the quiet ones”.
In Wollongong Harmony Chorus we have learned to heed that warning for, on those rare
occasions when Lorraine Graham speaks up, you can be sure what she offers
will be very well worth hearing. While the rest of us babble on she will be quietly
to one side, taking in all the possibilities and options and formulating a
well-reasoned plan of action or solution to a perplexing problem.
In her 6 years with the chorus she has served us in many capacities both
administrative and musical. She is currently the Baritone Section Leader,
selected by merit for her keen ear and musical knowledge, coupled with a thirst
for improving her knowledge of the BBS craft at every opportunity. A
self-described “introvert” Lorraine would never seek a leadership position but
her ability to listen compassionately to the needs of others and provide
practical support as they take on the challenge, naturally places her in a
leadership role.
Very soon after joining the chorus she became a member of the Board in a secretarial
position and later was instrumental in drafting the format of the Management
Team, making sure we had a viable set of rules and the appropriate positions
for our needs. Her reliability and dedication to detail make her an ideal pitch-piper
– always ready and knowledgeable about the pitch in any part of the song and attentive
to the MD’s needs.
In 2008 a very keen group of ladies joined WHC during a membership drive and,
aware of the daunting task ahead of them, Lorraine gathered them together as a
learning group that has grown into GOTA, a subset of the chorus who learn and
choreograph their own songs under her leadership. They have had a rapid
transition into competency and confidence with her support behind them. Due to
her quiet encouragement, a number of these women have since taken the brave
step of singing in a quartet, an experience most of them would never have
imagined for themselves.
Whenever there is any kind of writing task from a draft of the Standing Rules to a press
release, she is the first person that comes to mind. Her writing skills and
flair for reading her audience make her an instant choice for creating
communications that hit the mark. These requests can be at short notice yet are
always cheerfully and promptly dealt with.
Lorraine served on the Go-Set committee responsible for a most successful goal-setting
day that has given us a clear set of values to live by and a sense of identity
for each section that has had a unifying effect across the whole chorus.
Experience in the IT world means a familiarity with gadgetry and she has willingly given
up her evenings many times for lessons in “Using your recording device” for not-so-confident
new users. She is a patient teacher who deals with all the silly questions
seriously and helpfully, no matter how often they are asked. She has also been
responsible for the database of member information and contacts for many years,
creating simple systems that track the who and where of every member.
Lorraine has become quite pivotal to the running of the chorus without ever seeking to
be seen or making any claim to her importance in the scheme of things. At the
end of every rehearsal there is a queue of people around her, waiting for a
“quick word” as they seek her advice, or to share new developments in their
singing lives in which she has been instrumental.
Quiet and Achieving are very easy words to apply to Lorraine Graham.
The evidence is everywhere.
