In June we continued our Wednesday evening Zoom rehearsals, but we also began doing small ensemble rehearsals for vaccinated members at Dede’s home. It was such a pleasure to join our voices together again in the same room! We look forward to full rehearsals once we find a new rehearsal facility.
Two of our members gave their 60-Second Sweet Adeline stories this month: Nancy Maass, who has been a member for over 47 years, and Angela Taylor, who is a 10-year member. They both shared how their chorus memberships have affected their lives in such a positive way.
SVC held a Bingo Bonanza in June, and good fun was had by all. Loring Church was our emcee, and she challenged us with music triva that provided both laughs and possibly some new knowledge. Join us at our next Bingo Bonanza in a couple of months!
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We have had a great month kicking off summer here at River Lights Chorus!
We have been continuing our in-person rehearsals, and like many around California, we are so excited at the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions that allows us to get together with our sisters in harmony and do what we love most....SING!
We got to open Military Appreciation Night at our local Modesto Nuts home game on June 19th! We are so proud of our team, and we were so honored to sing the National Anthem on such a special occasion. We can't wait to get back on the field in July.
Speaking of July, we are also hard at work preparing for our first post-Covid event, our Sweet Summer Social, featuring ice cream, games, and of course, a performance from River Lights Chorus!
We send all our love to our Region 12 sisters in harmony, and hope to see you this summer if you're around the Central Valley!
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High Desert Harmony's virtual performance, "The Spring Will Bloom," was a great success and so much fun! We taped in person on June 21st at Reno's beautiful Rancho San Rafael Park, and the video, which included some beautiful dancing sequences, streamed on our social media platforms on June 27th with an enthusiastic response from viewers. This performance was made possible in part with support from the City of Reno.
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The Spring Will Bloom performance
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Our first in-person performance in many months was at the Sierra Arts Festival at Reno City Plaza on June 26th. What fun to be together again, singing for an appreciative audience!
On June 30th, HDH taped a virtual performance at Reno's First United Methodist Church, one of our favorite places to sing. This performance will be streamed at 7pm on July 20th as part of the Church's Sweet Vibrations music series, which has long been a staple of Artown, Reno's month-long arts celebration held every July. HDH will be sharing the stage with the fabulous Free Range quartet. The video will be available at the Church's website: http://www.renofirstmethodist.org/. Check it out!
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We are Happy to BE BACK!
The date is June 2, 2021, the day the Pacific Empire Chorus met in person again for the first time since March 11, 2020. This was not a decision made lightly; leadership teams met and made a list of things they felt had to happen to make all members feel comfortable attending from the first night. Team leaders met with our landlords, membership created protocols, and a survey was created so that all members could share their feelings about the plan moving forward. The survey revealed that all members agreed that vaccinations would be required to attend rehearsals in person. (Zoom sessions will still be held in conjunction with the in-person rehearsals.) We decided to meet outdoors and wear masks, arriving an hour earlier and meeting for 2 hours, 6:30 to 8:30 pm. This time of year by that time it was getting dark and chilly. Close to 100% of our PEC ladies arrived for that first night, checking in and choosing to be a “hugger” or “not a hugger”. These strong ladies prevailed, bringing out the sweaters, coats and scarves, and they just kept singing. It will go down in “PEC Herstory” as a night to remember.
That first night, we felt sluggish and rusty, and we knew it was time to start getting our stamina back after months of waiting and hoping. We have several new songs we have been working on privately, and singing them together for the first time was mentally and physically rewarding. Plus, we got to sing through the songs that Patty is keeping in the repertoire, and it was a blast to let loose on those. It didn’t take long - give us an audience - even one - and a photographer, and The Hams are Back!
As the weeks progressed, we voted on Outdoors/No masks starting June 16, and that is when the sound could really be heard and we could actually work on singing together. Each week, the sound gets better, and our stamina gets stronger as we had all hoped. We have the strength of Director Patty to thank for keeping us all together, holding Zoom rehearsals each regular Wednesday night no matter what, keeping a calendar that kept us all focused, and bringing in coaches, new music and videos to inspire us. We voted again, and we will be starting rehearsals “Indoors/with Masks” in August. We are so thankful for our Hall at First Presbyterian Church and for all the space they give us to make a home. We are back, and it feels good. See you all in person hopefully SOON!
Just keep singing, Just keep singing . . . singing, singing . . . Just keep singing . . .
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As for everyone, it’s been a really different year for San Francisco Sound Wave. After a brief hiatus right after the shelter in place order, we resumed rehearsals via Zoom. One nice thing about these rehearsals is that our director Diane sets time aside each week to get together in small groups via the breakout rooms. We have the opportunity to get to know one another a little better with questions such as, “What are three words of advice that you would tell your 18 year old self?” I know I for one have appreciated being able to get to know some of the people who I don’t have a chance to talk to during regular riser rehearsals. Thank you, Diane, for keeping us connected over the past year plus!
We also had the opportunity to do a few Zoom coaching sessions, one with Kathleen Hansen, and three with Rob Mance, two in which he did individual fish bowl coaching sessions (one person is coached while the others watch). Both those who were coached and those who observed all came away with something new they could try to improve on with their singing.
During the past year we recorded one virtual parody, Self Isolation (to the tune of Locomotion), and we are currently working on another (TBA). Thank you to Kristin Hutchins for coming up with the words to both parodies, and thank you to Randy Sahae for putting them together in a video that others can view!! Click on the below image to check it out.
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Several members also participated in a collaboration with Peninsulaires Men’s Barbershop Chorus to produce a virtual video of A Whole New World. All reported having fun doing it, and they sound great! If you haven’t seen it, you can check it out here:
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A Whole New World - Collaboration with Peninsulaires
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Although it was cold in the perpetually foggy San Francisco Sunset District, we all bundled up in layers and had our first parking lot rehearsal on May 13th, where there were hugs, elbow bumps, and just overall excitement at being able to see one another in person. We continue to enjoy being able to actually create harmony with one another every other week outdoors, and are looking forward to being able to sing in the warmer indoors hopefully sometime in the near future.
Congratulations to Kristin Hutchins, who was recently voted our Wonder Woman of the Year (WOWY) for all that she does for SFSW!
We are looking forward to being able to connect with everyone when we can resume Regional in-person events. In the meantime, everyone stay safe and healthy!
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June 7th was celebration time for us during our annual installation event, on Zoom of course, but still a fun time for all. We welcomed back members not seen in a while including STAR members, which offered an opportunity to reconnect. Our creative Event Coordinator Kenit Golabi invited us to wear chorus costumes from the past, with a couple examples not seen in years, making it a festive evening.
Installation of board members was followed by a well-deserved recognition of those who kept the chorus going over the past 15 months: Zoom team members Nina and Sue, the management team, music team, and of course a special gift for our awesome director Barb Vander Putten.
Member anniversaries were also recognized with two members on top: Garrienne Nakano, celebrating 30 years, and Paula Kato, marking 40 years as Sweet Adelines.
In other news, we are looking forward to singing together outdoors in the coming weeks, and we will be returning to our rehearsal hall on Sept. 13. But we could not wait any longer to at least see each other, so on June 27th it was the impromptu OMG! It’s So Good to See You backyard dinner party/potluck, with plenty of hugs and laughter all around.
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Summer is here! The warm weather has been great for our in-person singing workshops. We have a Saturday and a Sunday option every other weekend, and with the lifting of many Covid restrictions, we have expanded the size of these gatherings as well. Members have really enjoyed singing together in person. Some have also taken the opportunity to help our facility search team by going to prospective sites and singing so that we can get an idea of how our sound would fit into the space. We are looking forward to finding the perfect site for us!
Throughout the month, Julie has been offering classes in vocal production. We have learned about respiration, phonation, and resonation so far. It has been fascinating to learn about the parts of the body and how they work together to produce the sounds we make when we sing.
We welcomed our fourth new member since we started virtual rehearsals, Michelle Smith. She sings bass. We are looking forward to getting to know her better.
We have also been continuing our Let's Get Moving program. A dedicated group of leaders have created a number of fitness videos to support the program, and our director has also provided vocal warmup videos. Each week, teams work on physical and vocal fitness and report their efforts. It has been a great way for our chorus to increase our stamina as we get closer to meeting in person.
We took some time in rehearsal to look to the future by doing some strategic planning regarding our goals. We will continue these discussions to assist our Strategic Planning Task Force in forming a statement of our vision and core values.
It's hard to believe we have been singing virtually for so long, but we have learned a great deal during this time and used many tools to facilitate these rehearsals. Nonetheless, we are looking forward to returning to in-person rehearsals. Watch this space next month - we'll be showcasing a new virtual performance!
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| Mon, Jul 12 2021 |
7:00pm |
MVC Author Chat: Kate Russell over Zoom |
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| Sat, Jul 24 2021 |
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Region 12 - Summer AIM w/Anna-Lisa Glad and Ryan Heller |
Virtual |
| Sat, Jul 24 2021 |
6:oo pm |
River Lights Ice Cream Social |
Grace Lutheran Church Parking Lot |
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| Thu, Aug 5 2021 |
7:30pm |
BASC - Ryan Heller Coaching |
Zoom |
| Thu, Aug 19 2021 |
7:30pm |
BASC - Kim Wonders Coaching |
Zoom |
| Mon, Sep 6 2021 |
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Region 12 - Travel in Tune! - Save the Date |
Virtual Event |
| Sat, Sep 11 2021 |
8:30am |
Deke Sharon coaching at Mission Valley |
TBD |
Fri, Sep 17 2021
to Sun, Sep 19 2021 |
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Region 12 - Fall AIM w/Kim Wonders |
Virtual |
Fri, Sep 17 2021
to Sat, Sep 18 2021 |
7:00pm |
Coaching with Ryan Heller |
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| Mon, Sep 20 2021 |
7:00pm |
MVC Zoom Author Chat Eileen Garvin |
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Fri, Oct 22 2021
to Sun, Oct 24 2021 |
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RMT Retreat |
Reno, Nevada |
| Sun, Nov 14 2021 |
2:00pm |
OCC Thankful Holidaze 2021 |
Newport, Oregon |
| Sat, Dec 4 2021 |
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MVC - 15th Annual JB Tea - TENTATIVE |
Saratoga Community Center, Saratoga, CA |
| Sat, Dec 4 2021 |
2:00pm |
OSC - SPIRIT OF THE HOLIDAYS |
Christ the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Salem, OR |
Sun, Dec 5 2021
to Fri, Dec 10 2021 |
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SVC - Pearl Harbor Tour 2021 |
Honolulu |
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Click on the pictures below to view individual chapters on Facebook. If you have not already liked their page do so now. Next month we will see the next three chapters.
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Facebook is an excellent way to reach out to your audience. Be sure to post weekly. It can be a recap of your latest rehearsal, the announcement of an upcoming event or share a related musical meme.
Pacific Shores Region 12 has two Facebook pages:
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SWEET ADELINES INTERNATIONAL NEWS!
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Join Region 12's own directors -
Dede Nibler and Kathy Scheel as co-directors on a trip of a lifetime to London.
www.harmony-travel.net for more information.
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