What's Happening at BHA?
 An update from your President, Ian Mulholland.Your Busy Council
Over the last two months, since our face-to-face and goal setting meeting, your BHA National Council has been getting down to the various tasks that we set ourselves. Some of the most important outcomes that affect members are outlined below. Music scholarships are available to both BHS Harmony University (up to $3,000 available) and BHA Harmony College (this year termed “Masterclasses” due to the shorter duration) (up to $500 available). Please contact our Music VP, Andrew Howson (music@barbershop.org.au) for an application form if you are interested. We are also making available scholarships to assist with the re-training of BHA judges in the Presentation category to the new Performance category (to a maximum of $1,500), and funding of BHA Judges to attain International accreditation (to a maximum of $1,500) upon application to the Chairman of AGBJ, Alex Morris (contest@barbershop.org.au). A special Youth Harmony College will be incorporated into the 2016 Convention Masterclass programme, with the second half to be run afterwards, utilising members of the National Education Faculty (NEF), subject to there being sufficient numbers. Youth Development VP, Trevor Rootes has more details (youth@barbershop.org.au). A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed with BHNZ for the future running of PanPac Conventions (see separate news item). Your Council has been trialling new technology to conduct its meetings to save the costs of across the monthly country teleconferences. We still have some way to go, but our goal is to save money for members. A new policy manual (containing policies on membership, scholarships and subsidies and a number of other relevant issues) is being assembled. In due course, when completed, this will be a valuable resource for all members to consult on the website. A review of our Regional structure is also underway to ensure that we are operating with maximum efficiency and non-duplication. At present the preliminary outline of this is being worked on by a subcommittee of Councillors, with Regional Chairmen to be involved in the next stage. Training for Club Secretaries in using our website (especially for updating membership details) is available upon request. Please contact our Executive Assistant, Jeannie Hattendorf (admin@barbershop.org.au) if you would like this arranged. A new Charter document for the continued operation of our Australasian Guild of Barbershop Judges (AGBJ) (shared with BHNZ) is being drawn up by the Chairman of AGBJ, Alex Morris. This will ensure that our judging standards are maintained and improved into the future, and that our judges are utilised to full effect and efficiency. Owing to recent changes in copyright law in the USA, some of our Clubs and quartets have been experiencing difficulties in securing song arrangements. After an extensive investigation, the Council has drawn up some guidelines that we hope will help. These are referred to elsewhere in this newsletter, and have been posted to the BHA website. Please note that while every effort has been taken to make these guidelines as complete as possible, BHA does not take any responsibility or accept any liability for them. If you are in doubt about a copyright issue, you should contact the relevant authority for advice. BHA does require all of its members, quartets and choruses to follow copyright laws. Our Secretary, Kieran Hutton, is working on securing DGR status for BHA, which allows tax deductible gifts to be made to BHA, and allows us to more effectively raise funds for such things as Youth Development. We continue to trial our Mixed Harmony contests in the same format as last year, with the intention of then putting the issue to a vote by members at the next AGM. We eagerly look forward to our first Annual Convention in Newcastle this year, with the PanPac Convention to follow in Sydney in 2017. The Council is currently calling for Expressions of Interest for Clubs or Regions to assist in hosting a Convention in their home town in either 2018 or 2019 (the Convention in 2020 will be the next PanPac in Auckland, NZ). If your Club or Region is interested, please contact our Events VP, Keith Thornton (events@barbershop.org.au). So, you can see your Council is working very hard for members behind the scenes, and the above activities are just a snapshot of what is going on. I will have the pleasure of attending both the Sunshine Region and Western Region contests this year, and I look forward to catching up with those members then. Otherwise, see you in Newcastle! Sing-cerely, Ian Mulholland President president@barbershop.org.au
Upcoming Events
2016 will provide plenty of action for BHA Members, with Youth BBDO’s, Regional Contests, numerous concerts and, of course, our BHA National Convention “Hunter Harmony" coming up in Newcastle in late September. Next up: Regional Contests… If you haven’t already entered your Quartet or Chorus, do it now before it’s too late, most entry closing dates are not far away. Regional Contests are scheduled for: Sunshine Region – Sunday, 24 April
Central region – Sunday, 01 May Victorian Region – Sunday, 01 May Eastern Region – Saturday, 07 May & Western Region – Saturday, 14 May Hunter Harmony… Preparations are well underway for our 2016 Convention, Hunter Harmony. Newcastle City Hall will be the venue for most of our events and specially our Youth contests and BHA Quartet contests. The newly refurbished Wests City Club will be the location for our Welcome Dinner, Chorus Contest and our Saturday evening Showcase of Champions. The Convention Website is now up and running, you can access this via the usual BHA site. Points to note:
Regards, Keith Thornton VP Events events@barbershop.org.au Understanding Copyright
Obtaining the appropriate Copyright approvals for new songs has become a most vexing issue for many Choruses and Quartets. Gone are the days when we could just order what we wanted from BHS and then just wait for the required number of copies to turn up in the mail.
After much discussion with BHS and copyright authorities, BHA have now updated the guidelines covering the process to obtain copyright approval by BHA members. These guidelines can be found by clicking the following link: http://www.barbershop.org.au/commonfiles/bha/db_uploads/COPYRIGHT_GUIDELINES_May_2016_update_1.pdf ...or by going directly to the BHA website under the 'Downloads/Documentation' tabs. Trevor Rootes Vice President
Youth Development
youth@barbershop.org.au
Pan-Pacific Conventions
New Memorandum of Understanding signed between BHA and BHNZ
Previously, under an informal understanding between BHA, BHNZ and Hawaii, Pan-Pacific Conventions have been run every 3 or 4 years since 1994, rotating between New Zealand, Hawaii and Australia. Hawaii has been a difficult location for Australians to get to (mainly due to the cost), and Hawaii has struggled to get numbers to Australian PanPacs. Recently, Hawaii indicated that they may be unable to meet their anticipated rotation for 2017. BHA and BHNZ wish to continue to run PanPacs, and with Hawaii’s understanding, have entered into an MOU to operate future PanPacs. 
Massed sing at the last PanPac in Wellington NZ in 2014
The goals of PanPac Conventions are to:
PanPac Conventions will alternate in future, between Australia and New Zealand, with participation from all countries bordering the Pacific and/or Australia invited (i.e. Japan, West Coast USA, Asia etc.). Each Association may run its own National contest (with associated medals and awards) within the combined PanPac contest.
The 2017 PanPac Convention will be held in Sydney, Australia, with subsequent locations to be agreed, typically three years in advance (the 2020 PanPac is likely to be held in Auckland, New Zealand). When agreed between BHA and BHNZ, a PanPac could be held outside of Australasia. We look forward to continuing our barbershop brotherhood across the ditch! Ian Mulholland BHA President 2016 East Coast Harmony College
The East Coast Harmony College was held again in February at the picturesque Myuna Bay Conference facility by the shores of Lake Macquarie on the NSW Central Coast. This annual event attracted around 60 singers mostly from NSW Clubs but also several representatives from Queensland and Victoria.  The first class faculty was made up of Andrew and Jen Howson, Lea Baker, Jonathon Bligh and Rob Sequeira.  The interesting and enjoyable program was ably arranged by Jen Howson which kept us all engaged for the whole weekend. I am sure we are all now better singers as a result of the weekend. The College ran from Friday evening until after lunch on the Sunday. The many highlights included the fantastic interaction and fellowship (and just a “little” communal singing complete with essential “lubrication”) between all the members of the nine choruses who attended and the great Saturday night show which was held at the nearby Wangi Wangi Workers Club and was attended by all delegates as well as a number of paying members of the public. Congratulations and thanks must go to the host Chorus SOUNDWAVES and in particular, Stuart Adey and his long suffering wife Beth who organised and provided virtually the entire catering for the whole weekend at an unbelievably low cost. THANK YOU STUART AND BETH. Planning is already underway for next year’s event and is eagerly looked forward to be all us Eastern Regionites. Brian Bleakley – Chairman Eastern Region New Chorus Formed in NSW
A new barbershop chorus has been formed at Wangi Workers Club. They sing Thursdays from 7pm and are tentatively called Southlakes Chorus. It has been operating now for four weeks and has 8 new members with singing interest attending. The first night was attended by members of Soundwaves Gosford who have offered their support to the new guys. Gary Kirk and Stuart Adey are teaching polecats and new songs including Don't Blame Me from the Myuna Bay workshop. Five of the new members attended the day activities on Saturday 27th February at Myuna Bay and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Stuart Adey Valé – Laurie Russell
The death occurred in Perth last month of Laurie Russell, following a long illness. The funeral was attended by many lovers of singing and admirers of Laurie’s many skills – including John Christie, David Macgill and Bruce Okely.Very few in the Australian barbershop movement would be aware that, had it not been for Laurie’s initial enthusiasm, there might not have been such a movement in Australia.Laurie, as the founder and leader of a quartet called The Four Notes, was largely responsible for the fact that the quartet, and their wives, attended the 1984 Convention of the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America (Inc), held in St Louis, Missouri.
The Four Notes (from left): Laurie Russell, Bruce Okely, David Macgill, John LittleThe other quartet members were John Little, David Macgill and Bruce Okely. When they returned to Perth the latter three, full of enthusiasm (and only a limited amount of knowledge of barbershop) set about forming firstly, a barbershop quartet, then a barbershop chorus, which led to a State barbershop association, which led to the National barbershop association – currently known as Barbershop Harmony Australia.Laurie Russell chose to continue performing and teaching traditional and classical vocal performance. However he never lost interest in his old friends and the progress of the barbershop movement.John Brigatti President, West Coast Chordsmen
Are you using the right forms??
New BHA Membership, Chorus and Quartet registration forms
Application forms to register members, quartets and clubs with BHA have undergone a makeover and are now available through the BHA website. If you have any of the older forms included on your Club website please delete them in favour of the new documents. Better still, just include the following links on your website to make sure you always have the latest form available without the need to upload new documents each time there is a change! Also, please check the BHA website for the latest information regarding membership fees. Membership Application Form Membership Application Form - Club at Large Quartet Registration Application Form Club Registration Application Form Thankyou Jeannie Hattendorff Executive Assistant New members - April 2016
WELCOME to our new BHA members! Your National Council extends a BIG welcome on behalf of all BHA members to the following members who have joined us in recent months.
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