Unveiling of our New Name Tags....

How do you like our new name tags?
Looking good!
Thank you Helen.

 

Australia Day 2013

The chorus was on stage to present three songs as part of the Citizenship Ceremony
 in the town hall in Wollongong on Australia Day.
We sang - My Country, Shelter and I am Australian.
Here we are warming up in the dressing room before the performance.
The Australia Day Ambassador for Wollongong this year was ex Hawks player Matt Campbell.


Words from Jan:

Singing on Australia Day is such a good way to start the year!

Especially the performance at the Citizenship Ceremony - it was wonderful to
have 40 chorus members on stage at the Town Hall and our songs were very well received.

Thanks to Helen Fahy who did such a good job introducing each song and to Sam

for her lovely solo part in I Am Australian.

We had so many people coming up to us at the end to tell us how much they enjoyed our performance and we may even have some visitors along to our rehearsal as a result.

The afternoon performance also went very well, in spite of the humid conditions,

 with 37 chorus members entertaining the “crowds” with a variety of songs.

Thanks again to Helen and Sam.

 

Rehearsals begin for 2013 with a Party!

Any excuse to dress up!
Only a couple of days to Australia Day so its an Aussie Theme.
Thanks to the management Team and others for the yummy supper
of pavlova, damper, veggie sandwiches and lamingtons.

Jan was surprised on her return from a trip to the USA to visit family to hear that a
group of chorus members have perfected our new song - Crazy Little Thing called Love.
Now the rest of us have to learn it!

Everyone is having fun and getting into the swing of rehearsals again as we do physical warm ups with Jill. 

I wonder what our prospective new member thought about our Membership
Co-Ordinator tonight?

Carols in Stubbs Rd - Albion Park.

For the last couple of years, chorus members have joined in the Christmas festivities
 at the mega Christmas light display in Stubbs Rd at Albion Park.
We meet at Colleen's home a couple of streets away and then walk over to sing carols
 in the front yards along the street.

It is always well received and we usually gather a number of 'extra's' along the
way as you can see from the photo's.

Smiling faces of Sue P, Debbie K, 2 Alison's and Lorraine.

It was Alison's Strickland's first singout with her chorus buddies tonight.

 

Christmas Party 2012

Great fun - I really DO love Mince Pies.
This was a very clever adaptation of 'those Eyes' - here are the words.

Ode to a Mince Pie
Those pies, beautiful pies

Don’t know why I love those pies, fruit mince pies!

How many diets are broken
By those fat-filled-fruity-mince pies
Those fat-filled-fruity-mince pies
Their smell can’t be disguised
Tell me now how many times have you said “just one more …”
Like you said it just then?
[Well] I do believe you mean it, yes
But that one comes back again [and again]
How many carbs have been stuffed in-
to those teeny ol’ patty pans?
Maybe I’ll take a chance …
I need some su-u-u-gar
I just can’t resist them
When they’re gone, I miss them
And now my diet is broken
By those fat-filled-fruity-mince pies
Yu-yu-yu-yu-yu-yu-yu-yu-yu

Yummy don’t you know that
I can’t resist you
Doesn’t matter how I, how I try-y-y-y
My diet just has to be bro-ho-hoken
By you fat … filled … –
[I fell in love with you
first time I looked at you!]
Fat-filled-fruity-mince pie
Love those pies!

Here's GOTA doing - 'Boardwalk' - too cool girls!

The two Helen's did a modern update to 'Mary's Boy Child'...

It was time to say farewell to two of our number.
Jessica will be sadly missed by the Basses as she looks forward to spending more time with Matt and Pete. She will be continuing CAL and singing with Bazinga.

And the Tenors say goodbye to Lyn Schofield.
Lyn and Warren are going to be travelling in the coming year so she will be unable
to maintain her membership with the chorus.

It's always sad to say goodbye but we do value their friendship and contribution to our chorus.
Good luck girls you are welcome back anytime. 

Bazinga perform for us - they are getting better and better!

Christmas Eve in Wollongong Mall

We had two marathon singouts in the Mall.
We sang from 9 until 12.
It was time to finish up when the sun got to Jan at the front of the music shell.
By then we 'sounded as though we had been singing for 3 hours!'

It was great to have Cobie come and sing with us.

Almost time to finish up - does it show on our faces?

It's Christmas Time again ...

Part of our churus year that we all enjoy is Christmas.
This year we did a number of singouts at the Westfield Shopping Centre at Warrawong.
We look good against the big Christmas tree but its a bit of an effort to be heard there.

Much better when get around the corner near Target where the ceiling is so much lower.

Here's a sample of the sound with Deck the Halls.

Congratulations Ginny.....

Our newest member ......
Ginny receives her paperwork from Sweet Adelines International!

Coaching with Kym Vaughn - 14th November 2012

                                                            A bit about Kim:

"Kim Hulbert Vaughn is one of the most well known women in the field of barbershop harmony.
As Musical Director of the San Diego Chorus since 1985, she has led the chorus to multiple successes, including the International championship in 2002.
The Coach of many male and female quartet champions, she is also Musical Director
of Pacific Coast Harmony, a men’s barbershop harmony chorus in La Jolla, California.
 A Sound category judge as well as International Faculty for Sweet Adelines, Kim is
often traveling not only to coach choruses and quartets, but also to teach or judge.
Kim’s talents lie not only in her directing and teaching skills, but also in her performance accomplishments. She has won the coveted International Quartet Champion title
three times, and is the first woman to ever do so.
She won her first title in 1976 with High Society, again in 1988 with Savvy and most
 recently in 2001 with a cappella Gold.
A vocal teacher and member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing,
 Kim holds a B.A.in Music Education and an M.A. in Vocal Pedagogy from
San Diego State University."

Kim coached both the chorus and Jan ... it was hard work for everyone but much appreciated.
 
Jan and Jill with Kym .....
 

Kim Vaughn's advice – 14^th November 2012
From the vocal warmups:
* Sing UH not AH
* OH should always have lots of resonance – lips forward.
* When singing the LOO-LEE exercise, keep the OO resonance in the EE
* Have fun! Your face should look as though you're having a good time.
Only 'idiot' is enough.
When working on Toora Loora:
* Don't lower your body at the same time as you start to sing.
Hold still and start.
* When taking a breath, have your mouth in the shape of the vowel
you are about to sing.
* Your mouth belongs to the singing part of you.
Your eyes smile and perform while your mouth sings.
* Brighter doesn't mean louder.
Don't be heavy and out of tune for louder. Add more head voice.
* Make the right choices about good vocal production.
* Some places in songs can pull you into the wrong place.
Don't let them.
* Sing every singable sound with no spaces.
* Don't sound like a 'warped record' going around when singing
 "over in Killarney”, sing all sounds

* “over in” - stretch the N out a little to make it more 'barbershop'

* GOH-OO – sing the diphthong, add resonance and breath support.
* Take the breath out before “in her good old...”
* Use the word “old” to turn the dynamic to softer for “Irish way”.
* No slide on “Irish” or “world”
* There should not be too much 'R' in “hear”
* Take the breath out before “hush”.
* In bar 24 the basses, baris and tenors sing their own timing for “way” (turn the diphthong), straight into “give” after the breath, while the leads take a snatch breath before singing the pickup “and I'd”.
* For the CHORUS section sing in tempo the whole way until the tenor/bass move in bar 59/60 when we slow down.
* For the lead pickup in bar 60 follow the same technique as already mentioned for bar 24.
* When singing Toora make sure it is TOO then RAH.
* Basses need to be in tune for those tricky notes in bars 49 – 51
When working on How Many Hearts (which we didn't have much time for):
* Too many sloppy attacks and releases.
* Everyone must know the correct duration of each breath,
whether it's a snatch breath, a longer breath, etc.
* Too many synch errors caused by the breaths.
* Don't slide on “tell” (bar 13) - keep a straight pitch.
* Everyone must start together – don't wait to come in after
everyone else gets going.
* Everyone must breathe together, especially before “va va va...”
* Everyone (except tenors) must breathe before “I fell in love” bars 46/47
* Everyone must know the breath plan, including where
NOT to take sneak breaths.
* Don't oversing so that the sound is harsh for this song. Keep head voice and resonance in the sound – more like the sound Kim heard for Toora Loora.

Festival of the Choirs - Kiama 14th October 2012

 On stage performance ... looking good!

Just a snippet of the perfomance with

KICKIN' IT UP A NOTCH 

 

Thanks from Jan ......

Once again it was a great performance at Kiama on Sunday afternoon.

Thanks to all who were there.

We had some very appreciative comments from members of the audience.

It makes me realise how much I enjoy working with singers who want to sing at a high level!

Thank you.

Many thanks also to the men who helped to get our risers to Kiama
and back again – Les Quimby, Eric Skipworth, Craig Palmer and Gary.
It took up a big part of their day.

'Kickin' it Up a Notch' Concert - 6th October 2012

THE PROGRAMME

1. Footloose

2. I Got Rhythm Medley
3. Could I Have This Dance
4. Sway (Bazinga!)
5.  And All That Jazz
6.  Taking a Chance on Love
7.  Moondance (Vivace quartet)
8. Arthur Murray
9. Fever
INTERVAL
1.  Kickin' it up a Notch
2. As Long as I'm Singing
3. Shelter
4. Toora Loora Loora
5. Summertime
6. Sailing
7. Good Old A Cappella

Comments from a Terri with assistance from Jannie B and Debbie ....

We’ve all “been workin’ so hard” these past weeks to“kick(in’) it up a notch” for the performance on Saturday.

I reckon Mr. Murray would have been pleased to issue us with a Certificate of Competency as we“swayed to the music” and showed our audience that we’ve “got rhythm” and “all that Jazz” brings us out in a “fever” of enthusiasm and showmanship.

We have discovered that “as long as” we’re “singin’ then the world’s all right” be it autumn, winter, spring or “summertime” we are “sailing”through life. We’re all for “takin’ a chance on” the support of friends and family as we “stand there on the platform” and sing our favourite songs. Whether they are sung in a Broadway belt, sultry smooth or “in tones so sweet and low” we can demonstrate the diversity of our “good old a cappella” style.

The dancers take us back .....

Here's our Sam singing with the so called Little Big Band.

 

Thanks from Jan........

Congratulations to all for a great show on Saturday! I've heard some very good reviews from family, friends and past members of the chorus who were there – I'm sure you have too. This is what Yvonne wrote in an email: “Thank you and the chorus for a wonderful afternoon showing what it means to be excellent. I was so proud to have some of my neighbours with me.

There were so many times when I felt you really reached that point of excellence that touches the audience.”

 I hope you enjoyed performing. You all looked as though you were having a good time. Thanks to everyone who was involved in the organisation of the event, particularly Michele and the members of the Show Committee, Jill for her work on the choreo and showmanship, and Karen and Louise for their innovative costume accessories which really brightened up our black velvet. It was a big program of songs for you to learn (especially our newer members), but every song was entertaining and it was a good mix of old and new repertoire, which the audience appreciated.

 Our quartets, guest artists and Jon, our MC, also contributed well to the success of the show. Thanks to them all.