The BHA Club of the Year is an annual award, coordinated by the Vice President - Membership and adjudicated by a special Committee of representatives appointed by the BHA Council.

The Award Committee will review each Club’s nomination and make recommendations to the BHA Council, with the winner to be announced at the 2018 Adelaide Convention.

The following criteria will be assessed for the 2018 BHA Club of the Year Award:

? Presence and promotion of Barbershop Singing to the community
? Community Service and charitable perspectives.
? Membership and marketing initiatives, including Youth outreach initiatives
? Website, Social Media and Media presence, and engagement
? Engagement with BHA and support for BHA initiatives
? Participation in BHA Contests & Conventions
? Quartet promotion and development initiatives

To apply, simply address each of the above criteria (in whatever form you like) and submit on behalf of the Club, including the details of a contact person for follow up as required.

The application needs to reach the BHA VP Membership Paul Adams (membership@barbershop.org.au), by close of business on Friday 8th September, 2018.

Paul Adams - BHA VP Membership
 

The BHA National Council is pleased to call for nominations for the 2018 BHA Medal.

First awarded in 2017 to Mike Donnelly, the BHA Medal recognises an individual’s exemplary contribution to the advancement of barbershop in Australia.   It will be awarded to a current BHA member in good standing who has consistently “put in” for barbershop.

The award is made for sustained outstanding leadership, innovation, influence or initiative development, which has resulted in an exemplary, transparent and publicly evident advancement of BHA. They will be recognised nationally for their sustained contribution for the association, their club, their community, or behind the scenes.    In limited circumstances, individuals may also be considered for nomination whilst no longer an active member due to retirement on the basis of incapacity.

Nomination for the BHA Medal must be made in writing and may come from individual BHA members, Regional or Club Committees.

Each nomination will be assessed by a subcommittee of independent (i.e. not involved in nominating or being a nominee) BHA members appointed by the BHA Council. If awarded (at the absolute discretion of the BHA Council), the BHA Medal will be presented at the next available national convention.

The award is kindly sponsored by Derek Cosburn, who said “Since my first introduction to barbershop singing at Dreamworld in about 1981-2, I have been the recipient of a quite a few medals during the time I’ve been involved, and I have for a number of years had the thought that I’d like to give back in some small way. I would like to help in the promotion of a medal that I’d hope would have some meaning to the recipient, and to all members within our society who may not attain one through singing, but deserve one because of other efforts.”

Nomination Criteria to be Addressed
(There could be many and varied reasons that set the nominee as an exemplar to the barbershop community.  Below are few ideas, but not an exhaustive list)

• Leadership
• Innovation
• Influence
• Initiative Development
• Membership and participation generation
• Coaching and education contribution
• Event organising
• Selflessness in consistently supporting and helping others
• New club/chorus generation
• Promotion of barbershop
• Length of service to BHA and/or club/chorus
• Achievement beyond national boarders
• Musical influence - Arranging skills and willingness to share those arrangements

The nomination must include the rationale for nomination, details of nomination criteria and supporting evidence, certification of the BHA members supporting the nomination and contact details for follow up with regards to the nomination.

Most importantly, in relation to the criteria above (or any other criteria thought relevant) the evidence of the nominee’s contribution to the advancement of BHA needs to be clearly stated.

At this time it is envisaged that nominations will be treated in confidence as only one BHA medal will be awarded each year, however, at the discretion of the BHA Council, Nominees and a summary of the reason for their nomination may be read out at the presentation ceremony and be accorded with due applause and acknowledgement.    The winner will then be presented with the medal.

A Life Member may be nominated for the BHA Medal, as the criteria used to award the Life Membership are not the same used to award the BHA Medal.

Life membership still remains BHA’s highest honour and award.

Nominations must be received by the BHA Executive Officer, Jeannie Hattendorf admin@barbershop.org.au, by close of business on Tuesday 28th August 2018.

For clarification on any aspect of the BHA medal purpose or nomination process please contact VP Membership via email on membership@barbershop.org.au

Yours in harmony

Paul Adams - BHA VP Membership
Barbershop Harmony Australia
www.barbershop.org.au

This is separate to the Club of the year award. It is, however, an equally important acknowledgement designed to allow Clubs throughout BHA to more publicly recognise one of their members. This would be for outstanding service and accomplishments as a member of your Club and as a member of Barbershop Harmony Australia. The criteria for the selection of your Chorus Member of the Year is up to each Club to determine.

All Clubs appreciate having committed members who are willing to go the extra mile, and this award is a timely opportunity for Clubs to show the tremendous gratitude that we have for these members who tirelessly contribute to the success of every Club.

This person’s name and a brief description of their efforts should be forwarded to the BHA Executive Officer, Jeannie Hattendorff (admin@barbersahop.org.au), also by Friday 7th September, 2017.

The Chorus Member of the Year will be acknowledged at the Welcome Dinner and a list of all nominees will be included in the following edition of In Harmony.

Paul Adams - BHA VP Membership
 

During August we sent out our most comprehensive member survey since 2005 as we seek to explore the views of our members, clubs and regions and inform the priorities and strategies for Barbershop within Australia.

The survey will be facilitated through the Survey Monkey platform and will be open for 4 weeks and we anticipate having the first pass of analysis ready for presentation at the Adelaide Convention membership forum.

Drawing on the latest research by Barbershop Harmony Society, this major survey has been designed to explore the member experience and aspirations for our Barbershop community; informing our clubs, regions and association in plans to ensure our ongoing sustainability.

If you have not already received it, watch out for it and ensure you take the opportunity to have your say.

Paul Adams
VP – Membership BHA

A key strategy for the BHA National Council is to engage more with our members and the Presidents Advisory Council on Membership (PACM) is one opportunity to do exactly that.

This initiative is designed to draw a diverse group of members to serve on PACM to consider topics of national significance to BHA and provide insights on new ideas and ways of doing things that support the objectives of BHA.

Members have been invited to join PACM to ensure we gain the geographical, demographic and societal diversity represented amongst our members, with meetings to be facilitated by the VP – Membership and reports on ideas and solutions proposed by the group to be provided back to the BHA National Council.

The first question posed to the group is “How will BHA better engage with its members?”

Paul Adams - BHA VP Membership
 

Harmony Academy 2018 - An Education Event You Can’t Miss

Following on from our convention in Adelaide, we will be holding our annual Harmony Academy at the Adare Camp and Caravan Park. This is an educational event you won’t want to miss, with a top class faculty of educators including our headline quartet Instant Classic.

What makes Harmony Academy different from previous Harmony Colleges?
Well, for a start we are dividing up our classes into a number of streams. You can then select a track based on your area of interest. Here is what you have to pick from:

• Directors College

• Performing Arts College

• Harmony College

• Masterclasses

• Honours Chorus

Of course, you will still be able to pick and choose whatever individual classes you are the most interested in.

Directors College
Want to be the best director you can be? Learn how to inspire your singers. Directors College has some core classes we encourage you to take but you get to choose which classes you attend. We are offering conducting techniques, private lessons in conducting, and other core classes including vocal production and theory.

Performing Arts College
This is a stream of classes designed to teach the participants how to approach performance in several areas of our craft. Classes this year include: Visual Impact, How to Put On A Great Show and The Emotional Journey.  Opportunities to be coached privately and “under glass” also available for individuals, quartets and choruses as time allows.

Harmony College
This is all about general Barbershop Harmony education for anyone who is new or seasoned and wants to learn more about our style of music, vocal production, theory and history.

Masterclasses
This is a collection of classes we offer that don’t fit into one of our other streams. Some of our classes are Arranging, Advanced Arranging, How to use social media better, Personal Voice Instructions

Honours Chorus
This is a stream for all singers who are interested in having a great time singing while learning about rehearsal techniques, ensemble singing and performance. The Honours Chorus will be under the direction of Alex Morris and the section leaders are our 2017 Australian Champion Quartet Lockout. If you are interested in being a part of this chorus you can sign up by clicking here.

Please note there are limited spots for this chorus, so it’s first come first served. We will provide you with learning resources so all you need to do is turn up knowing your music.

Harmony Academy Faculty
We have sourced some of the best educators for this year’s event, including our guest quartet Instant Classic. With such quality educators on offer this will truly be an International-level event. Our faculty this year includes:

David Zimmerman Theo Hicks Kohl Kitzmiller Kyle Kitzmiller Scott Kitzmiller Mike Kelly Jen Howson

Alex Morris Ash Schofield Stefan Pugliese Ali Jamison Daniel Beckitt Bec Hewitt Richard Reeve

What else do I need to know?
Harmony Academy will be held from Sunday the 16th through to Wednesday the 19th of September at the at the Adare Camp and Caravan Park, 20 Wattle Drive, McCracken (Victor Harbour).

Cost is only $340 which includes nearly three full days of Harmony Academy. All accommodation and meals will be provided - just show up ready to learn and have fun!

If you can't make the whole event we also have day passes available.

Also note that if you are unable to attend convention for any reason you are still able to register for Harmony Academy. Just use the sign up form here and you are good to go.

See you there!

Andrew Howson
VP Music
Barbershop Harmony Australia
www.barbershop.org.au

Ticket Purchases for Individual Events Now Available
Great News! Your family and friends can now purchase their tickets to various Convention events via the

BOOK TICKETS TO EVENTS

 button on the Convention website homepage. Tickets to the Quartet Semi Final Sessions, Quartet Final, Chorus Final, as well as the Chorus Corral and, of course, the Showcase of Champions Concert, are all available to purchase right now. So please encourage your family and friends to book their flights and accommodation (if they haven’t already done so) and purchase their printable tickets to the various events on offer. There are still plenty of seats available.

NB: The start time for the Showcase of Champions concert has been amended to 7.30pm. If you have purchased tickets to this event on behalf of family and friends please let them know of the revised time. The additional tickets you have purchased will be made available at the Registration & Hospitality Desk situated at the Level 1 Foyer, Adelaide Town Hall from 12.00pm Wednesday 12 September.
 

There will be two chorus rehearsal rooms available at the Adelaide Town Hall for use by competing choruses on Thursday 13 and Friday 14 September - one for large choruses and one for small choruses.

It is expected that these rooms will be in high demand and time allocations will need to be fairly distributed.

Each Chorus representative requesting the use of one of these rooms will be allocated a one hour session. Every effort will be made to allocate a session as close as possible to your requested time. If a second session is desired, these will be allocated once all choruses, who have requested a session time, have been allocated their first hour. Any session vacancies after the two rounds of allocations will be advertised on the Convention website and will be available on a first-come basis.

Applications will close on 31 August with the final session allocations advised soon thereafter.

 

FAQ
How do I book?
	To apply for the use of one of these rehearsal rooms please email Chris Koop at cwgkoop@gmail.com indicating your requirements and preference for session times. Chris will confirm your bookings via return email.
What will it cost?
	$100 per hour. Fee is payable by 19 August to ABCMA via EFT as follows:
	BSB: 036-051  Account number: 218960 Description: Your Chorus Name
What's the difference between the two rooms?
	The Meeting Hall (Large Chorus) has 6 x 4 step risers
	The David Spence Room (Small Chorus) has 4 x 3 step risers
Where are the two rooms?
	The Meeting Hall is located at the rear of the Town Hall and is accessible from the lane way on the southern side of the building.  The David Spence Room is located on Level 1.

Adelaide Convention - Registrations are now closed
Registrations for the Adelaide Convention need to close well prior to the actual Convention dates to enable catering and logistics to be finalised. If you have not already registered unfortunately you can no longer register.
 
 

The draw has now been carried out for the performance order for competing choruses in Adelaide. See the attached Pdf file for details

The draw has now been carried out for the performance order for competing quartets in Adelaide. See the attached Pdf file for details

If you've been on Facebook lately then you may have seen that we have some great new merchandise coming to the Harmony Marketplace in Adelaide this year. Including:

• Convention polo shirts and tees

• New look BHA polo shirts

• Freshly designed BHA typography tees

• Coffee Mugs

• Water Bottles

• Whiskey Tumblers

• ...and much more!

So whether you're looking for a way to drink your morning coffee, stay hydrated during the day, or have a quiet tipple during the afterglow then the Harmony Marketplace has something for you.

See you there!

Daniel Beckitt
VP Marketing & Development
Barbershop Harmony Australia

MEMBERSHIP YEAR

 

As part of your membership of Barbershop Harmony Australia, we have negotiated an arrangement with the Barbershop Harmony Society in the US to offer you discount purchases from the Barbershop Harmony Store.

BHA members are eligible for a 25% discount on many products from the Barbershop Harmony Society Marketplace.

Products include some sheet music, learning tracks, and clothing items. For the music items, many items are downloadable.

To gain your 25% discount you need to apply the affiliate code aff2019. Once this has been entered in the Gift certificate or promo code box, it is important to press the arrow to the right. The discount will then be applied automatically.  A tip for young players: do not re-enter the code at the box requesting your BHS membership number.

Trevor Rootes - BHA Secretary

Purchasing Music Online

• Increasingly, sheet music is being distributed online. Purchasing sheet music via a legal online store is permitted even when the store is based overseas.

• Online retailers have their own agreements with publishers and owners of works regarding the sale of the works.  As such, they may sell works into the territories for which they have an agreement.

• When purchasing music online, generally you are purchasing a licence to download or print that score for the purposes usually set out in the terms and conditions of the retailer. 

• The Barbershop Harmony Society Marketplace is our most important online store for sheet music. Currently, the BHS Marketplace online catalogue includes over 780 published titles online. And many of these have World Wide rights and are downloadable into the Australian copyright territory.

• For available titles go to:

https://shop.barbershop.org/sheet-music/sheet-music/worldwide-rights/

• The Barbershop Harmony Society also has over 3500 unpublished titles online.  Many of these also have World Wide rights and are downloadable into the Australian copyright territory.

• Go to:

https://shop.barbershop.org/sheet-music/sheet-music/worldwide-rights/

• When purchasing available sheet music from the BHS Marketplace, members should order the number of copies of the sheet music required for their chorus or quartet.

• A 25% discount is available on many of the works. To gain the discount use the code: aff2018.

Online Music Distributors of barbershop music:

• http://www.barbershop.org/resources/get-music/

• www.sheetmusicplus.com

• https://www.jwpepper.com/sheet-music/welcome.jsp

Help
If you have any questions or need help, please contact Trevor Rootes secretary@barbershop.org.au.

Eight Australians have just returned from an amazing week at BHS’ Harmony University in Nashville, Tennessee.  The eight of us (Lyndal Thorburn, Geordie Cullen, Jennifer and Glenda Lloyd from Canberra; Tim Green and Jono Albertini from Brisbane; Alex Morris from Melbourne (also on the faculty this year); and Lea Baker from Sydney) were amongst almost 800 students and voluntary faculty that delivered classes for a full week at the historic, green and very gracious Belmont University campus in Nashville. This year, participants came from 16 countries.

As a first timer at Harmony U, I was struck by the range of course offerings and the well-oiled BHS machines that runs this event every year. Their promo says that “this event should be on everyone’s bucket list” and they are not wrong, but I think, in effect, that if you have been once, you will want to go again!!  In addition to formal classes we had tag singing and woodshedding (improvised tag singing in the evenings), and lots of opportunities to meet new people and forge networks internationally.
 

Tim, Glenda and Jono

Lyndal, Lea, Glenda and Jennifer

We started every morning with physical and vocal warmups and then learned a tag and practised one of our songs for the concert on the Saturday night – all this was achieved in 45 minutes in what was a masterpiece of timing and coordination. It was especially impressive watching Kirk Young really focus on the tricky rhythmic bits of “Can’t Stop the Feeling” in a short rehearsal that achieved so much over 2 morning sessions!!

Geordie Cullen with Chas. Byram from Pennsylvania

My own program this year was based around arranging and conducting.  My Arranging 3 class worked with David Wright to arrange a song and argue over the finer points of moving arrangements from men’s into women’s ranges and vice versa. I learned a whole lot more about ways to achieve a key change! My (absolute) beginner conducting class every morning taught me the basic beat patterns and the afternoon “Outstanding Out Front” class the beginnings of melding (that tricky task of maintaining the beat with one hand and indicating key interpretive changes with the other).  In shorter elective classes I learned about listening for overtones, using social media effectively, getting paid for quartet gigs, care of the ageing voice, sight reading using Solvege, judging categories, coaching singers and analysing arrangements for both harmonic content and interpretation. 

We had two concerts – on Friday and Saturday nights – and were entertained by the quartets and choruses which had been coached during the week, and by Main Street Quartet which won International in 2017 (below).

A key theme this year was also inclusion – this covered recognising the origins of the art form amongst black singers, making provision for those with disabilities, and bringing the learning from barbershop singing into school curricula.  A major step towards inclusion in 2018 has been offering full membership of BHA to women, a step which was not without controversy, but support for which was demonstrated in the 20% (est.) attendance by women at this year’s Harmony U.

Harmony University is run every July, soon after the international convention. The program is divided into 6 “streams” for directors, music educators, performers, musical leaders, chorus/quartet members and youth.  In reality, the program is very flexible and it is quite acceptable to take lessons in all these streams during the week (except, I guess, the youth if you are not in the right age group!).  Attendees register for two streams that run morning and afternoon Monday to Friday plus ‘pick and mix’ from a range of early morning, lunch time, afternoon and evening electives.  You can be busy from 8am in the morning until late at night, if you want, or just do the core sessions.

In addition, there is a separate program for half a dozen choruses and 20 quartets to get a week of coaching, from 3-4 international coaches. And finally, there is a Brigade program, where 60 people sing in “mix and match” quartets, and then participate in an evening quartet competition over two nights, using music that is handed out beforehand.  Registration for next year’s Harmony University in Nashville will open in December 2018.


Lyndal Thorburn
(pics from Glenda Lloyd and Lyndal Thorburn)

In our organisation across Australia and internationally, there are many talented musicians with various degrees in music, who make this a wonderful association to be involved in. The Sunshine Region is pleased to acknowledge, and congratulate, a new addition to those numbers. Jono Albertini has now joined the ranks with a music degree to his name. 

Shane Graham
Sunshine Region Chair.

Voices in Paradise has been and gone for another year. It was a huge success again this year with 122 registrants from 9 different high schools, 6 universities including Griffith University’s Serotonin and Blenders Youth Chorus. The guest educators for the day were Blindside who coached the boys, and A Cappella champions, Drums of War who coached the girls. The registrants spent the day with their respective coaches fine tuning their songs and then performed them to a full house for the evening concert. The evening concert also featured The Blenders, Coastal Charisma, Seratonin, Post Busters, AB Paterson boys chorus, and to round out the night,  performances from Blindside and Drums of War. The night was polished off with a combined performance of 24K Magic by Bruno Mars.

In preparation for the Nationals in Adelaide we held our annual camp a couple of weeks ago at the Outdoor Education Centre at Maroon Dam just outside of Boonah in Qld. A very picturesque setting where we were put through our paces by Blindside, our coaches for the weekend. A great weekend of singing and frivolity and was had by all. 

Date Claimer:
This year is the 30^th Anniversary of The Blenders. We will be having a celebratory dinner on the 3^rd November at the Palmer Colonial Golf Club, Robina. We would love to have any past Blenders, family or friends to come along and celebrate this milestone with us. If you would like to attend please send your details to info@theblenders.com.au and we will be in touch with you. Should be great night. Hope to see you there.

Ian Mackey
Secretary

GREAT NEWS for Hills Harmony. 

Our NEW RISERS arrived safely and were kept in their boxes until their NEW TRAILER was completed.  Everything now is ready to roll. The trailer has been designed by Dick Bushell to allow easy loading and unloading of the risers, their secure storage and ease of transport to any Hills Harmony performance.  Dick also took into account the increasing age and decreasing agility of our members. It is planned to use the sides of the trailer as a travelling billboard for the chorus and our sponsors.  What a great asset and we thank Dick for all his fantastic work in design and organisation.  He even managed to sell our second hand risers to a Melbourne choir.

Other GREAT NEWS.  Our application to use the Hills Shire Council’s newly refurbished Pioneer Theatre has been successful. During the first season the fees have been waived as the Council is testing the theatre with a range of entertainment genres.  Sunday November 4 is the day for the Hills Harmony Showcase. An afternoon concert showcasing the a cappella harmonies we are all so familiar with.

Not so GREAT NEWS.  Only a bare minimum of us will be competing in Adelaide in September. However we are working hard with lots of rehearsal time and extra coaching so we will be performing at our best.  See you there.

Paul Meller
VP Marketing

This year Novatones Harmony Chorus has undergone some changes. First of all there was the change of venue for rehearsals and meetings. After a lengthy period at Wests City, the chorus now meets on Monday nights at Charlestown Bowling Club, which has been very accommodating with storage of our risers and other equipment, as well as providing free use of good-sized practice rooms.
The venue change has generally met with members’ approval, as CBC has easy vehicular access, abundant undercover parking and good facilities.

2018 has also seen some changes in personnel.  The group has lost a couple of long-term members, but from a mid-year membership drive, held over a few of weeks, the group has gained several new, keen members.  Novatones has been very fortunate to have the services of Musical Director Peter Donald, who has quite a long trip, up and back each time, from the Central Coast, to attend rehearsals, meetings and performances. Peter has exceptional musical talent and an ear for ‘perfect pitch’, as well as great ability, enthusiasm, and patience to get the best, out of all members of the chorus.  

Four Novatones members will be joining in with other Eastern Region Barbershop members, to perform as ‘East Coast Harmony Chorus’, at the BHA National Convention in Adelaide in September.
  
Over the last month or so, Novatones has attended some really varied gigs. One highlight occurred in early July when, after a couple of joint rehearsals, we teamed up with a couple of women’s choruses, to present a Sunday concert at a High Tea Show, entitled: ‘High, On A Cappella’ to a large enthusiastic audience at Fern Bay Retirement Village, near Stockton.

As well as Novatones, taking part were the locals, a prospective chorus: the Fern Bay ‘Women of Note’ and a women’s Harmony Chorus from Canberra.  One of the driving forces for this event was Sandy O’Neill, who is music director for ‘Women of Note’.  As well as each chorus performing on their own, the audience was treated to a songs by several talented quartets, including our own Beryllium, and a violin solo by Peter Donald.  

Novatones Harmony Chorus at Fern Bay

Sandy O’Neill directs the Combined Choruses at Fern Bay

Other recent events attended by Novatones members, were a Charity Ball, where the group made a donation of $3,000 towards Ronald McDonald House, and a Lion’s Club concert, where the group’s performance was very well received.

In the near future, Novatones members will go on a ‘pub crawl’, singing at the multiple Hotels along Beaumont St Hamilton, where we will be collecting more money for Ronald McDonald House.  Another fun occasion will be when the chorus is performing, and enjoying other performances, at a ‘Greek Night’ at The Greek Taverna, the Greek cultural centre of Newcastle.

In short, things are going well at Novatones Harmony Chorus, which has a great bunch of fellows, who enjoy each other’s company, and a very able Musical Director, who is well backed up by a competent and enthusiastic committee.

Mark Henley
Novatones Bari and Reporter

Fleurieu Harmony started a recruitment drive singing at the local shopping centres and markets, and after only three weeks, we are pleased to welcome three new singers Tim McCumiskey, Vladi Lorenzon & Andy Gates to the Chorus,we are still looking for another Tenor.

The chorus is looking forward to meeting old friends and acquaintances at the Nationals to be held in our state for the first time and busy rehearsing our songs. This Saturday morning we are holding a fundraiser for Rural Aid at Seaford Central shopping centre, we have been lucky with reasonable rain around Adelaide but only a few kilometres out things are pretty bad as is the case in many states, lets hope people give generously as they have done in the past for other disasters.

See you all soon 

Gordon Tomlinson - President

“All hands on deck”, was the call as we welcomed Jordan Travis to our rehearsal last week. Jordan is an accomplished barbershopper from Canada, and an international music judge and our expectations were high. We weren’t disapointed. The night was great. We showed him some good Queensland hospitality and he worked our socks off. The accompanying photo shows a lot of us puzzling over his use of imaginary stringed instruments to demonstrate what each voice part should be attempting to achieve in a certain song. Sounds a bit odd? Well, it worked. We were amazed at the difference to our sound. Many thanks to BHA for arranging his visit. It was certainly worth it.

This is timely, because we have our annual concert coming up very soon. In addition to HAH giving of our best we also have the Ballina Headliners as guest chorus. Readers will remember that we had a Battle of the Choruses with them in Stanthorpe last year. Other acts of course will help round out a great afternoon and evening of music. Our web-site haharmony.com.au has all the relevent details if you happen to be near Toowoomba on Saturday August 25.

Last week we welcomed back to our midst, Stuart Adey. He is one of the foundation members of HAH and he and his wife Beth retired to the NSW Central Coast some years ago and Stuart now sings with SOUNDWAVES in Gosford. It was lovely to catch up and Stuart actually knew a couple of the repertoire we are currently singing.

A couple of weeks ago we sang at the Toowoomba Camellia Show & Garden Expo. All funds raised go to the Toowoomba Hospice, so it is always a buzz to help in any way we can to raise funds for them. We did a couple of sets and the audience was very appreciative. Our President, Peter Devey was MC for the entire show and he said that we had the best reception of any of the acts that performed over both days.

As usual we are constantly putting interesting stuff up on our web-site, haharmony.com.au Check it  out.  Or visit us on Facebook.

Paddy Boxall
Secretary

Sydney Harmony takes 2^nd place in the 2018 Sydney Eisteddfod Australasian Open Choral Championship

On Sunday afternoon 24^th June, Sydney Harmony competed against 12 other finalist choirs including 4 other Barbershop Choruses and a top Sweet Adelines quartet.

Not only did we place against superb competitors, but we also took away a very generous prize of $1400 for our efforts.

We sang to a packed house at Sydney Grammar School’s John Vallance Hall. It was one of the friendliest audiences we’ve ever experienced with cheers and hoots during and at the end of each of the four songs we performed.

We’d certainly recommend that other Barbershop groups join such an Eisteddfod in your respective areas. Not only is it great fun but it’s an excellent way to promote ourselves to the non-Barbershop community, and to win some serious money in the process!

For a list of finalists, an audio of our performance and adjudicator’s comments see: www.sydneyeisteddfod.com.au and www.sydneyharmony.com.au

David Ojerholm
Sydney Harmony Chorus

 

Sydney Harmony was privileged to have Jordan Travis come and coach us during his brief stay in Sydney. Jordan’s immense skill in delivering tangible ways to improve our sound and reinforce good vocal technique inspired us to greater things throughout the evening. Even though we had just a couple of hours of coaching time with him, Jordan’s good humour and encouraging words will resonate with us for a long time. Fortunately we were able to share some of the beautiful sights of our fair city with Jordan in some of the best mid-winter weather we have seen here for a long time. Thanks BHA for sponsoring Jordan’s trip down under. We’d gladly welcome back our favourite Canadian, hopefully in the not too distant future!
 
Tony Sykes
VP Music
Sydney Harmony
 

It was a typical Melbourne Winters day. The sun was shining and the temperature hovered around 13 degrees. It was going to be a good day for The Melbournaires Harmony Chorus after all. Preparations and rehearsals for its first concert at its new home, St Peter & St Pauls, were completed and the big day had arrived.

With several new songs to be given their first public airing and accompanying instruments at the ready for specific numbers, including California Dreaming and Africa (where some members reverted to their primevil past to engage in jungle noises for effect) the chorus stood ready to welcome its guests, many of whom would be experiencing the euphoric harmonies for the first time.  Being a ticketed event, the chorus knew to expect around 200 guests, and sure enough, right on time, they began to trickle in. This was followed by a medium surge, then an almost overwhelming torrent, then back to the initial trickle as the stragglers filled in the empty seats. In Barbershop, this phenomenon is known as dynamics that add interest and meaning.

Included on the concert programme were a number of quartets, and our resident joker, Andrew Wright, who kept the audience engaged in a comic relief act, with his history of Barbershop and its beginnings.
Our perennial MC and favorite son John Baker, was a strangely unfamiliar face in the chorus, due to the successful cultivation of grey (God bless him!) facial hair, enhancing his reputation as an erudite gentleman.

While our regular MD Ian Lushey, was enjoying the hospitality of the Irish, our very competent no.2 MD David Durrant was in charge for the day. The chorus President John Webb had returned from overseas that morning, and to his eternal credit turned up to listen, having found a backrow seat, where the effects of jet-lag would probably go unnoticed. In fact he took in the entire concert and was very impressed with the performances, as was the audience as a whole. Its interaction with the acts and appreciation over-all were most encouraging and well justified.

The Melbournaires would like to wish every participating chorus and quartet, a most enjoyable if not successful Adelaide Convention.

Terry Phillips

We have had a busy time with performances and rehearsals in the last few months.

We performed at the most recent Australia Day Citizenship Ceremony at Mingara, with a combined Wyong, Gosford Citizenship ceremony, and have sung at subsequent Citizenship Ceremonies at Gosford Council.  Soundwaves have also performed at events in Woy Woy, Lisarow and Gosford.

Our chorus was fortunate enough to have a workshop with Jordan Travis, from Canada, who was generous with his time, and tips, to help smooth out some areas in our singing and overall preparation for our performances.

We will also be visited by Richard Reeve from BHA, on August 20, who also will be passing on some of his knowledge, to again, strengthen our singing and performance.

We have been advertising our Chorus on local Community Radio, through a Seniors Newspaper and also in other publications, and have been lucky enough to attract 6 new members. We gladly welcome any new members, who wish to experience what Barbershop Harmony singing can offer.
 
Soundwaves rehearse every Monday night from 7.00pm at Central Coast Leagues Club, Gosford. If anybody in the Central Coast region, is interested, we are always happy to see you. Also, if you are already a BHA member, and wish to join us for a night of great Barbershopping and fellowship, please feel free to drop in.

We look forward to seeing you.

Brian Dye
Publicity Officer
Soundwaves Chorus

This month the Perth's Southside Harmony Chorus was privileged to participate in a master class conducted by Ian Mulholland. . 

One of Ian’s major concentrations during his four hours - two each with the Chorus and Good News Singers - was dynamics, in concert with the emotional message of the songs’ lyrics. 

Another important technique Ian emphasised was the linkage between the last consonant of one word and the first consonant of the next - or “diphthong” (except that the term commonly refers to the ‘running together’ of two adjacent vowels rather than two adjacent “voiced consonants”) 

These techniques were practised and refined using "Edelweiss" as the basic vehicle.Ian was able to demonstrate his suggestions in a range of voices for each Chorus section. The results clearly demonstrated the efficacy of our efforts to implement Ian’s technique teaching."

Gary Thomas
Operations Manager
Southside Harmony Chorus

Ian socialising with Chorus members during the afternoon tea break

Ian with immediate past president Roy Browning

Wollongong Mens Barbershop Chorus is Happy to announce that they are beginning to reorganise themselves after a big drop in member numbers.  Our President John Toolan along with the other members have decided to revamp the CAMP.  We are in the process of getting a NEW MD and we have got a few NEW members on trial and we want to Welcome them aboard and hope they stick with it.  

Claudio (Marketing/Publicity Officer) and John (President) recently visited Vox Canvas to gain some insights for our own Chorus and we thank them for allowing us to join in on one of their rehearsal nights.

More Updates to our progress will be in future Newsletters

Watch this Space, Here comes Wollongong

Claudio Lodi
Marketing/Publicity officer

Harmony at the Ipswich “Miner Chords”

Over the last year or so the Miner Chords have been quietly adding new voices to their chorus and most of them have been women.

This blending of welcome voices has now made a further step forward, with our first female office bearers taking their place on the committee. This has been welcomed, as now for the first time in recent memory, we have been able to fill all positions.

This “new blood” augers a bright future as already our MD has signalled the introduction of a much more modern repertoire.

Things may be done a little differently from now on and we look to our future with enormous positivity.
Thank you to all the retiring office bearers for making this possible!

Howard Kennedy (Secretary)

 

I am with the Miner Chords in Ipswich, Qld.  I have just been elected President. Our chorus has several female members - including me.  As I am new to singing with a men’s chorus (but not new to Barbershop) We had a wonderful mentoring session on Wednesday 15th August with Richard Reeve from BHA who mentored us first through a Committee Meeting and got us thinking about future directions and how to approach the issues common to all Barbershop Choruses.

At 7.00 we changed focus to the chorus itself and we performed our songs for Richard to get his feedback.  He was very helpful, both to our MD and to the Chorus itself - he had us rehearsing individual notes at one point.  Amazing.  It really was amazing what a difference that made - and what discipline it took for us to just sing one note and not to keep right on singing - which is what we were busting to do.

At the end of the night we were exhilirated by what we had learned and we had a rather rambunctious and happy rendition of “Keep the Whole World Singing”.

cheers
Norid Krausz - President
 

Ron	Burns	Sunshine Coast Barbershop Chorus Inc
Roly	Cox	High Altitude Harmony Inc
Roger	Woodman	High Altitude Harmony Inc
Denis	Hawes	High Altitude Harmony Inc
Peter	Compston	Riverland Ramblers Mens Barbershop Chorus Inc
Ruben	Alcantara	Riverland Ramblers Mens Barbershop Chorus Inc
Eric	von Nida	High Altitude Harmony Inc
David	Lee	Hobart Men's Barbershop Harmony Club Inc
Sandy	Burns	Barbershop Harmony Club Of Canberra Inc
James	Wanjura	Barbershop Harmony Club Of Canberra Inc
Mike	Immer	Vox Canvas Club
Joel	Gibson	Vox Canvas Club
Dan	Karkoszka	Hobart Men's Barbershop Harmony Club Inc
Blair	Girle	Sunshine Coast Barbershop Chorus Inc
Cliff	Bray	Hobart Men's Barbershop Harmony Club Inc
Kevin	Roberts	Hobart Men's Barbershop Harmony Club Inc
Keith	Lello	Hobart Men's Barbershop Harmony Club Inc
David	Lang	Vox Canvas Club
Tom	Boyle	Gold Coast Barbershop Harmony Club Inc
Tam	Le-Vo	Gold Coast Barbershop Harmony Club Inc
Gunnar	Stahlman	Gold Coast Barbershop Harmony Club Inc
Warren	Lewis	Newcastle Harmony Club
Matt	Waples	Vox Canvas Club
Paul	Burckhardt	Gold Coast Barbershop Harmony Club Inc
Daniel	Keogh	Vox Canvas Club
Ray	Dalton	Hills Harmony Chorus Incorporated
David	Wotherspoon	Vox Canvas Club
Edward	Thornton	Adelaide Allsorts Harmony Inc.
Jamie	Ramzan	Adelaide Allsorts Harmony Inc.
Judy	Pimlott	Adelaide Allsorts Harmony Inc.
Alan	Atkinson	Adelaide Allsorts Harmony Inc.
Matt	Chung	The Baden Street Singers Inc
Rachael	Laing	The Baden Street Singers Inc
Alice	McCloskey	The Baden Street Singers Inc
John	Grennan	The Melbournaires Barbershop Chorus Inc

Dear Fellow Barbershoppers,

As a 24 year member of BHA (and AAMBS), I know many of you personally but for everyone else, you may know me as a former National Vice President and as an MC of many National and Regional events over the years.

I am addressing this letter to all of you in the hope that I can persuade you to give generously to a cause that has become very dear to my heart. The giving generously I speak of does not involve the giving of any money but only the giving of about 1 hour of your time and one other important commodity that you possess….your blood!

For the past 15 months, I have become transfusion dependent, requiring blood transfusions every two weeks.  As a result, I am constantly reminded of the great gift I continue to receive as the result of the generosity of people’s willingness to give a donation of their blood and decided that I needed to do all that I can to help promote this vital and important aspect of our National Health Care that doesn’t seem to receive the publicity that it deserves.

I’m sure that many of you are already blood doners and to those, I am so very grateful.  To all the rest, may I encourage you to consider this wonderful, gift giving, donation that will be used 100 per cent for the benefit of it’s recipients and that no administration fees or other deductions will be taken off the top and that it will ultimately be used as a life saver for thousands of Australians.

It is my hope that I can send this message out to as many people as I possibly can so I would urge you to not only consider your own donation but to also relay this message to all of your family and friends. 

Thank you all for allowing me the opportunity to bring this issue to your attention. 

Yours in harmony,

Bob Fritz

The Barbershop Checklist….

© by Howard Kennedy
There’s churches I’ve been where a checklist of four
In reverence is repeated both in and out of the door.
Now I have been thinking, mulling quite a while.
That we need a checklist in our “A cappella” style!

Is your breathing apparatus clear and warmed just right?
Are your vocal chords moistened and whetted through the night?
Do you know your notes and words? Immersed in all your part?
Presenting as the pitch pipe blows? Singing from the heart?

Are you singing notes quite forward or are they caught up in your throat?
With energy and expression? or Are you singing as in rote?
Does your stance allow some flexing, with your feet quite well aligned?
Is your choreographic movement with the chorus well combined?

Are you ringing all those seventh chords and those fifths and thirds?
Is your undulating volume in match with all the words?
Do you worry when a key change comes and your voice just starts to float?
Or do you maintain breath support to “hit” that first sweet note?

Have you filled in the white spaces? Completed every phrase?
Will the expression on your faces catch the audience’s gaze?
Are you sticking to the breathing plan and working as a team?
Are you holding well your mouth shape as your eyes like headlights beam?

Are you listening to the other parts, matching volume and those vowels?
Are you watching close your MD or avoiding those sweet scowls?
Are your eyes and body smiling, to reflect the meaning of the song?
Are you saying to your audience, “Why don’t you come along?”

Costume and make up on before you enter to transition?
Quiet movements to the risers as you settle in position?
Are your windows open clearly as you wait behind the curtain?
Can you contain excitement so your starting note is certain?

Are you suddenly aware your surroundings are all tile?
Your reflection is your audience at which you nod and smile.
Yet you gave a great performance and know through thick and thin.
That the ringing of our special chords will surely bring them in!
******************************