Are you interested in becoming a judge? If you are, please submit an Expression of Interest to our Chairman of Judges, Ian Mulholland, at ianmul58.im@gmail.com. The window for this year’s intake ends on 15 March 2020.

Valentines Day 2020 saw ninety plus singers from the Eastern Region barbershop community, abandon their Valentines in favour of a weekend away with their singing mates at the Catalina Conference Centre. This historic facility started its life as a hospital attached to the wartime Catalina Flying Boat Base at Rathmines on the shores of the beautiful Lake Macquarie about 90 minutes drive north of Sydney.

The centre was bursting at the seams with the sell-out crowd of our ninety or so delegates and faculty utilising the facility to its fullest.
 

Jono pondering a heavy question during the wrap-up session. L to R Keiran O'Dea, Jono Albertini, Vicki Dwyer, Gareth Hearne & Rob Sequeira.
(Russell Bailey was already wending his way home to Wollongong)

The faculty was made up of four noteworthy trainers from within our region plus two highly respected "imported" trainers.

The full faculty was made up of :
Rob Sequeira (Vox Canvas)
Vicki Dwyer (Sydney Harmony & Circular Keys)
Jono Albertini (The Blenders)
Kieran O'Dea (Adelaide Vocal Union)
Gareth Hearne (Sydney Harmony)
Russell Bailey (Wollongong Mens Barbershop Chorus)   



 

Jono has our undivided attention!!

The action packed program, which was deftly arranged by Vicki Dwyer,  started immediately after dinner on the Friday night and did not let up until we said our farewells after lunch on the following Sunday. The only thing lacking for the entire weekend was sleep!!









The highlight of this annual ER event was the Showcase Concert held at the Wangi Wangi Workers Club on the Saturday night. Around twelve quartets and six choruses performed to a highly enthusiastic audience of one hundred and fifty or so paying guests plus our delegates. The finale brought the house down when all the ninety+ delegates crowded onto the risers to perform to two selected songs for the weekend, I still call Australia Home, conducted by Vicki Dwyer and Put your arms around me, Conducted by Keiran O'Dea.   A memorable night indeed!.

No write-up of this event would be complete without acknowledging the huge personal effort put into it by our new Eastern Region President, Stuart Adey and his wife Beth. Stuart was the go-to man for virtually everything from arranging the venue, making sure everyone had a bed and providing all the catering for the weekend. Stuart was ably backed up by his mates from Soundwaves, but without Stuart's involvement, the event would, at very least, cost significantly more than the modest registration fee charged.     

Well done and thanks Stuart, SoundWaves and all those who worked thanklessly behind the scenes to make this such a great weekend. 

Dick Bushell

In the wake of horrendous bushfires in Victoria, some of which are still not under control, many stories of heroism and daring are emerging. The amazing courage of the fire fighters and volunteers has been lauded in the press, and rightly so, but behind them are equally amazing volunteers, without whom the front liners would never have lasted so long.

One such man is Melbournaires singer Gary (Gazza) Sturdy. Recognising a need to provide sustenance to exhausted fire fighters, Gazza took it on himself to organize meals in the East Gippsland town of Bruthen, and agreed to accept catering responsibility within the Operation Veteran Assist group of 94 fellow Veterans who had gathered from around Australia. With a $10,000 dollar RSL donation, this group set up a kitchen that fed exhausted firies and prepared them to continue the battle. 

Gazza soon received a call from the army who were helping fight the fires in Orbost, a two hour drive away, still in East Gippsland. He jumped to the call telling army officers what he needed to feed 300 personel. Given the all clear, he commandeered an 18 tonne truck and helicopter to convey a field kitchen and food from Albury/Wodonga to Orbost. When they arrived in good time, Gazza instructed a squad of army personnel to set the kitchen up and have it ready for production. This was done in record time. For the next ten days, Gazza cajoled, badgered, and pressured everybody providing food for the hungry fire fighters, amongst whom were equally devastated army personnel, who hadn’t eaten a decent meal for the previous days they were assisting. Gazza worked 19 hour days to organize around 400 meals per day per meal time, and over ten days 5700 meals were served.

In recognition of Gazzas’ efforts, he was awarded the Chief of Defence Force Medal presented to him by General Angus Campbell, one of only three handed out in the last ten years.

Gary also acknowledged the donations he received from the Melbournaires, who in return responded with a standing ovation after he outlined his activities. We are so proud of Gary Sturdy and his ever-supportive wife Dee, and know that once he is on a mission, nothing will stop him.
 

Last December, the Melbournaires continued a long standing tradition by performing at the Paramount Food Court in the heart of Melbourne. Sometimes accompanied by the tap, tap, tap, of knives and forks on plates, and the occasional slurp, slurp, slurp, of straws sucking up the last of a chocolate milk shake, the patrons were accorded a repertoire of Christmas songs.

This is a favorite gig for the Melbournaires, to help bring seasonal joy to the big city.

Terry Phillips

We are well into the New Year with a number of sing outs planned for February but it will be interesting to recall how we finished off 2019 with some great Christmas cheer in a number of venues. We had our usual shopping centre gigs but the most memorable was our set of Christmas songs at the Beewah carols by candlelight in front of 3000 people. Everybody got really into it and a number of very favourable comments were had from the audience.
 
lst in Homemaker Centre, we formed the School of Rock for the over 65’s. Please see the attached picture. Thanks to the School Locker Music Store for the guitars. We caused quite a stir in their shop window.

We are approaching 2020 with a new excitement as it’s our 30th Anniversary year.  We propose to hold a concert in August but we are also planning a formal dinner where we will invite all past and present members plus some VIP guests to help celebrate this achievement.

The Sunshine Statesmen are also hosting the Sunshine regional contest in May and are hoping for a great attendance from all the other choruses in the Sunshine region. We are hoping you all stay for the Free Bacon and Egg Roll brunch on Mooloolaba Spit Beach on Sunday morning before your drive home.

Mal Woods
 

We received some great news early in the new year. Hills Shire Council gave us a Community Funding Grant, valued at $3,400, to cover the cost of using their hi-tech 350 seat Pioneer Theatre for our October concert. We are now into full planning mode.


On our  first “Bring a mate” barbershop taster night, 15 guys had a great time singing and socialising with chorus members, experiencing barbershop  and the joy of singing together. The  following rehearsal we had seven returnees and a couple more who intend to come back in the future. We are going to do our best to keep them singing with us.
 

singing for NSW Premier, Gladys Berejiklian at the
Sydney Senior’s Expo at Darling Harbour

We took on a very demanding job of singing to the passing crowds at the NSW senior week celebrations  Three sets a day for two days  with only our retirees and those who could take time off work available.  A great Barbershop awareness raising opportunity because over the two days, thousands went to the concert, hundreds stayed to watch and listen and all of them were smiling, singing along and having a good time. Occasionally, we created a bit of a pedestrian blockage but we will always remember the large, very multicultural crowd singing the chorus of “I am Australian”. A very emotional experience.

 

sharing the stage with our Newcastle brothers, Novatones at the
Saturday night concert at Wangi Wangi Workers Club.

Straight from the ICC to the Eastern Region Workshop weekend with three more days of singing.  Great company, excellent educators and a new venue that work really well.  The Saturday night concert was of a very high standard and the 250 folks in the audience were well entertained

A huge month of Barbershop action, and what fun we have had.

Paul Meller 

Fleurieu started the new year with it’s first singout only the week after we returned from the break followed in February by two fundraisers at the local shops and market for Blaze Aid collecting $720.
Long time member Rod Whyte was awarded Life Membership by the Chorus for his dedicated efforts and services to the chorus, Rod joined the chorus 14 years ago and soon became a valuable member of the
Management Committee and was President for 4 years and has since rejoined the Committee, he is a glutten for punishment.

Sarah Bradley ,a non member, was awarded Honourary Membership of the Chorus for her coaching and generally giving valuable assistance over the past years.

With an old member, a Baritone, returning and recruiting another signed member, a Baritone, the Baritone section of Four is now looking very healthy, bringing a total of 21 singers, just need another Tenor or two.

We have a new Quartet in rehearsal called ’’The Pacemakers”, medical history unknown, they had a brief spot at the singout and were well received.

Wishing all Members and those at BHA a very Healthy and Harmonious new year.

Gordon Tomlinson

Festival Statesmen performing at Civic Park Carols in Adelaide December 2019.

February already! The year for Festival Statesmen is well underway.  With only one week until we hit the stage with our Fringe Show ‘Tough Boys’, the guys have been in full rehearsal mode to make our last significant fundraiser for Los Angeles a big success, hopefully some of you will get to see this exciting production.

Over the January long weekend we commenced our road to Los Angeles.  We held a two night retreat with 25 guys coming together at Nunyara Conference centre in the beautiful Adelaide Hills.  Our competition set and some additional repertoire kept us very busy with some excellent sessions, singing, and group bonding. The anticipation and excitement is already brewing. With a comprehensive schedule of rehearsals, competing at BHA Central Region, a weekend coaching session in May and a farewell concert we hope to do our very best to prepare for our trip. 

I would like to once again thank you all for your support of Festival Statesmen, we are very excited to represent you all on the International Stage in July.

Anthony Little
President Festival Statesmen

On Sunday, 22 December, Sound Connection had the privilege to perform in front of an estimated crowd of 22,000 people as part of the “Carols on the Beach” event in Surfers Paradise.  Sponsored by the Rotary Club of the Gold Coast, the carols are a beloved annual tradition for generations of many Gold Coast families.

Surfers Paradise Carols on the Beach

   

Jerry Sadlowski
Vice-President and Secretary
Sound Connection

Well, did you all out there in barbershop land keep up with your vocal excercises over the Christmas break? I know I intended to but, a stint in hospital submitting to the surgeon’s knife sort of let me down. And then when I was back in the arms of my family I was very hoarse for a couple of weeks as a consequence of having a breathing tube down my throat for some time. Which makes singing a bit difficult.

I rejoined the chorus a bit behind the rest of the boys and am now playing catch-up. We are working on a couple of new songs for this year and all the boys are very keen. 

We appointed Grant van Heerden as Assistant MD late last year and he is not only keeping us guessing with his hand waving which we are unused to but working us hard. Not content with those duties he keeps our weekly rehearsal schedule on song, sources interesting DVD’s, sheet music, learning tracks and runs the after supper glee club. He is heading down to Rathmines in NSW to the Eastern Region Harmony College to brush up on his barbershopping skills shortly.

Like a lot of Australia we have been experiencing drought conditions and this past few days has seen the rains starting to come in. The change in the sight of our part of the world from brown to green, the lightened atmosphere in the general population is something to see. We are truly blessed to live where we do.





The other evening one of our very early members, Bob Pearce met up with some of the chorus at Mike Ludwig’s place for some refreshments and a bit of a singalong. Bob’s wife Patrice has been unwell for quite some time and Bob has been unable to keep up his attendance with HAH. It was lovely to see him and and keep our frienship alive.

As usual we will post interesting stuff on our web-site, haharmony.com.au Check it out. And don’t forget to visit us on Facebook.

Paddy Boxall
Secretary

Tom McManus was quite a character, active in the first decade of our chorus.  A Scot, short in stature, he made up for this, wearing a tin whistle and using it freely when the chorus were tardy mounting the risers.  Tom actively promoted ‘Barbershop’ hosting a weekly segment on community radio. After his death this trophy was inaugurated in 2000 to honour his commitment. 

The trophy is awarded annually to a member of the Chorus who has shown  □ Extraordinary improvement in singing performance  □ Outstanding commitment to the Chorus in a broad range of activities   □ Inspiration and encouragement to other members.

Brian Chung is this year’s recipient.
Brian was born in Sydney, spent his youth in Haymarket and Ultimo. Graduated in Electrical Engineering and Science from Sydney University 1971, working as a Telecommunications Engineer for 35 years. 
While in  Paris (1979) as a Telecommunications scholar he met Leila, they married in 1980. Their common language was French until Leila’s English improved more than Brian’s French! They have two adult children.

Brian enjoys rather risky pastimes: mountain climbing for the past 12 years, loving the challenges and beauty of places visited: NZ, Morocco, Italy, Borneo and his favourite destinations in Switzerland. Not bad, Brian is afraid of heights!
Not studying music at school, he made the fateful decision to study French and Latin! His interest was sparked listening to a 2000 person French choir sing “Do You Hear The People Sing”.  He attended an open night, being blown away by ‘Barbershop harmony’,  attended our free 5 week course and joined  the chorus.  This enabled Brian to learn a new skill, participate in a community club and charitable events and meet new people.

Brians role as VP Membership since 2018 and his skills in  personal interaction were contributing factors in attaining this award which he accepted with humility. 

Lionel Eastwood 
Events Coordinator 
 

In a cruel twist the Blaze Aid gig that The Blenders were to sing at was postponed due the recent wet weather in SE Queensland. Blaze Aid is a volunteer-based organisation that works with families and individuals in rural Australia after natural disasters such as fires and floods. Volunteers work alongside rural families, and help to rebuild fences and other structures that have been damaged or destroyed by fire or other natural disasters. We now look forward to singing at the rescheduled event.

The Gold Coast Council recently held a mega-citizenship ceremony where we were privileged to sing our Australiana set for the new citizens. Over 3000 people became citizens at the ceremony including two of our own, Derek Charleston and Alan Martin. Congratulations guys on becoming citizens.

























We were also pleased to sing in support another of our members, Noel Grummitt. Noel, who is a town planner, has proposed to develop a centre which celebrates the development and achievements of the Gold Coast City. We wish him well with his ‘Our City Our Story’ project. It was great to help kick off his project.

A highlight of our many Christmas Gigs was to perform at the Mayors Christmas carols held in the Broadwater Parklands and sharing the stage for one song with our sister chorus, Coastal Charisma to sing ‘Do You Hear What I Hear’. 

Now that Christmas has passed us by we are now planning for the year with preparations for our annual Voices In Paradise (VIP) event. This year VIP will be held at The Gold Coast Arts Theatre (HOTA – HOME OF THE ARTS) on the 6th June.

We would also like to welcome New members, John Daly, Ian Scott, Ian Peak, Ben McInnes, and Alex McKenna to the Blenders.

Ian Mackey
Executive Member

After the long break after the Christmas season, Novatones members are keen to embark on a new decade of Barbershop singing. This year starts with Eastern Region workshop, where lots of competition and impromptu singing will take place and long-time acquaintances will be renewed. Novatones has already been booked for gigs coming up, including one concert to assist in raise awareness of and funds for Motor Neurone Disease. 

Recently, after much discussion of the pros and cons, there was a vote put to Novatones members. This vote was necessary to decide whether or not we should become a mixed chorus, rather than what exists at present: an all-male chorus.  An increase in member numbers is seen to be needed, as last year we had to knock back a couple of mid-week gigs  due to the unavailability of some members and thus not being able to adequately balance the four parts in the chorus, particularly in the tenor part.
 
The members decided for the club to remain as is. That being as an all-male chorus.  The main reason seeming to be that in Novatones, members are able to enjoy their hobby, while being in the company of other blokes.  This does not mean that Novatones won’t be singing and working with women’s choirs and choruses, just that they will not be registered as members of Novatones, nor attend rehearsals and concerts as members of Novatones.  This vote left the group in somewhat of a quandary- if we are not bringing women into the club, how do we fill the need for more members?
 
The plan is to advertise and have members of the male public, (hopefully with some popular local sporting identities attracting more male participants), in an introductory harmony-singing event. These new singers will then have the chance to be part of our ‘a capella’ Barbershop Harmony Chorus.

Later in the year we have teed up a concert where Novatones will join with the ‘Women of Note’ and other choirs. Not long after that there is the excitement of the BHA convention in September in Auckland New Zealand.  
Meanwhile we are working hard on new songs and refreshing old ones, so that we can take an active and competent part in competition and community events this year.
 
Mark Henley
Bari and Novatones Reporter

It’s not every day that a Barbershop Quartet gets a chance to sing and perform at the famous Woodford Folk Festival and, according to the festival organisers, the first quartet he has ever hired. Brian Martin, our baritone, has been to many of these festivals, but for the rest of the quartet, Graham Kingsford, Tenor, Rob Schluter, Bass and Malcolm Woods, Lead, it was a first and what an eye opener it was.

We didn’t foresee that it attracts 135,000 visitors and 2000 performers of all ages over the six days, it has numerous stage venues for putting on performances as well as smaller stalls for workshops and jam sessions. All genres of music are catered for so we felt very honoured to be representing the barbershop community and by the appreciation and applause shown by the audience we didn’t disappoint. 

We put on two shows on the Saturday and Sunday of 40 minutes whilst Brian entertained the audience on the other days teaching four part harmony to the audience with songs and tags. The Parlour was our venue, which held approximately 180 seats, wasn’t full on Saturday but on Sunday afternoon it was standing room only. It was very satisfying that so many young people connected with us after the show to voice their appreciation and ask for details of where they can find information on a chorus near to them.

Mal Woods - Lead
RIMFIRE QUARTET
  

A year ago I booked a two month trip to England, intending to do a 4 week language course in Italy. But, having decided against it, I wondered how I would fill my time. 

Just before leaving Australia in December I did a quick internet search to check out the barbershop situation in London.There were several choruses, but “Capital Chorus” in West London caught my eye, and was reasonably close to where I was staying. Having emailed them and had a response saying I’d be welcome to join them for a rehearsal, I headed along on a dark, cold, winter’s night with just a wisp of trepidation. I’d looked at a couple of their performances on the website and they looked quite a jolly bunch, so I wasn’t too nervous.

After warming up with them and watching a couple of songs, they encouraged me to join in. Here, I have to admit, as a Lead, it’s much easier to join in from scratch. With the sheet music, and a couple of Leads behind me, I felt like I’d been singing with them for years.

On top of that, they had a new musical director who I couldn’t believe had only done a couple of rehearsals with them. He obviously also felt at home, as I would have sworn he’d been there for years.
To top off a great evening of singing, quite a few went to the local pub where I wasn’t allowed to buy a round of beers. I felt so at home with them, after 3 pints of beer I’d decided to move back to London! After 4 pints, we were thrown out at 1am.

I planned the rest of my two months around being in London on Monday nights as I didn’t want to miss a single rehearsal. It was such an enriching experience traveling to the other side of the world to find an instant “family” I could be part of. I realise how special the barbershop fraternity is.

It was great to end the trip attending one of their performances the night before I left and celebrating afterwards ( where I think we stayed till closing time again). I asked if they had an associate membership so I could join to keep up with them. They very kindly said it would be on the agenda for the next executive meeting!

So! A very big thanks to Capital Chorus and to the Barbershop Network for providing such a magnificent opportunity. Though after sobering up, I realised it wasn’t very likely I’d be moving back to London in the near future. I look forward to singing with them when I visit next year.

Eric von Nida
Member of High Altitude Harmony