Retreat 2012

Last weekend, a goodly number of chorus members made their way up to the Conference Centre at Stanwell Tops for a weekend of learning, fellowship and fun.

Our resident coach from NZ, Virginia Humphrey-Taylor joined us to help 'hone' our Barbershop skills. Here she is organising riser placement for the upcoming concert in October. 
Riser placement is very important to maximise our sound and ensure the correct balance of blended voice parts.

This visit, she was joined by Hiromi who sings in the Christchurch Chorus.
Hiromi is a great 'mover and shaker' literally as she takes as through some 'Zumba' routines as part of our warmups.

As usual, Saturday night is time to party. The theme this year was 'Colours' so member got into the swing in their 'Rainbow' garb.
 

Here is a clip of part of our entertainment.
The Spotty Sisters perform 'My Boy Lollipop'

We had lots of singing, skits and fun.

Also, we had an introduction to our newest up and coming quartet.
'Steel Magnolias'
Tenor Alison, Lead Louise, Bari Lorraine and Bass sung by Michele
GO GIRLS!

A visit from Viveka...

In July we had a coaching session with Viveka from Stockholm.
Jan says ... Stockholm City Voices has quite a different approach to the way their chorus works and it has proved to be very successful, so it was very interesting to hear about what they do.
The “dancing” part of the session on Saturday was a lot of fun! I realise it also put some of you a little out of your comfort zone, however, I was so proud of the way everyone participated at an amazing level, considering the physical limitations some of you have, and I loved watching your faces as you celebrated with each other. Well done!
Karen writes....... 
This has been a weekend to treasure as a renewal of everything I love about BBS singing.

Why is Viveka so inspiring?
 She awakens in us the spirit of possibility and sets us free from the Committee of A’s who dull our enthusiasm and sap our ability to dream big dreams for ourselves and our chorus. We played – at dancing and Sylvester and feeling our way into the music and played with a serious but marvellous intention! Simply, sing the best you can ever sing, feel the strength of everyone around you also striving towards that very best as well and deliver performances that enchant and move the audience. Buying into the value of what the whole can achieve when the individuals all play their part delivers such joy in the performance that whatever effort it took on our parts to achieve it, is repaid thousandfold.

We don’t need to lose that sense of wonder and curiosity she challenged us to experience. When we hear that pitch and breathe into the space of the very first note, we can soar every time and bring everyone around us along in a great whoosh! of shared love in the singing. There are no tricks, it is in all of us, just by putting our hearts as well as our minds into the music.
I never want to forget how good it felt to discover each other in the business of making joyful music. There are times when I think that should happen just by mastering the techniques, but Viveka has reminded me that there needs to be that underlying purpose, or I can lose my motivation very easily and not give my contribution to the group effort the respect it deserves.
I can’t wait to explore our songs again in a new spirit. I won’t mind blowing raspberries at myself in the mirror or trying new ways to walk with purpose. I can do that now I understand more about what that might bring to the whole chorus and the possibility of us being the amazing ensemble that we dream of being.