February ended on a high note as we met (on the risers!) for a full Saturday of singing and choreography. North Metro’s Erin Howden had previously met over zoom with our dedicated choreo team and given them some creative ideas for our uptune.
Our Costume Chair, Valerie Richie, organized a plan for our upcoming rehearsals that involves having us wear a specific costume piece each week so that we can be sure everyone has the appropriate pieces on-hand, and that the size & fit are still consistent with an attractive, unified chorus appearance.
And to add to all the usual fun, our beloved and incredibly high-energy director offers regular small-group voice lessons to all interested members. And that’s many of us! We love having the opportunity to build our skill-level and confidence, thank-you Dede Nibler!
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Well, the groundhog may have seen her shadow, but February brought relaxed Covid restrictions and SOS back together in person, full of February singing and love. We are happy to be up on our risers again and welcoming our guests and potential new SOS singers; we thoroughly enjoyed a visit from Sonja Smith, our former tenor extraordinaire who resides in Austria. We celebrated Valentine's Day wearing pink and red, and each member received a wonderful SOS coaster handcrafted by Tessa Murray. In keeping with the month, we began work on a new love song, rehearsed our choreo, and continued preparations for our next free in person mini show on March 29, at the LBC Carston Cabaret-our first in two years. We can’t wait to perform for an audience! We are looking forward to March, with our theme of “Lucky,” beginning with Mardi Gras fanfare!
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Southern Oregon Sound (SOS) was delighted to welcome back a former bass to our chorus in February who will sing with us at contest in Eugene. Susan Riemer was our bass section leader before she moved to Gold Beach. She’s a marine mammal expert with Oregon’s Department of Fish and Wildlife. We’re so happy she’s going to sing with us again for contest even though she’s still busy with her seal research and it’s a long drive to get to coaching sessions with us (3 hours!).
We had our second coaching session with Kathy Scheel on February 26th. We met in the community center in Sutherlin, Oregon to meet Kathy half-way between Medford and Salem this time. Gail Hillyer from Northwest Harmony Chorus, who’s a good friend of Southern Oregon Sound, came along to sit in and take notes and photos. Our chorus has been working hard on our music, and this time we were able to finalize our interp for contest in Eugene.
We may be small since the pandemic, but after Saturday I can say “we are mighty!” I’m so proud of our remaining members for all of the hard work they’ve been putting in between our weekly rehearsals. This contest is just the beginning of our chorus re-build efforts. After our coaching, a few of us shared a yummy Chinese dinner with Kathy and Gail (the restaurant was called the Yummy House so of course the food was too!).
Kathy coached Passin’ Notes again on our contest songs after the chorus coaching. It’s hard to get rid of old muscle memory from previous performances, but we like our new interp for our songs. A lot of laughs were had as each of us had memory lapses along the way, but repetition will be our best friend between now and Eugene!
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As the virus numbers started to decline in February, we were able to sing again on the risers in the second week of February. It was so great to be back in person and hear those chords ring! As we continue to work toward competition, we had additional choreo rehearsals on a Saturday for our front row as well as our riser performers. This was a great opportunity to focus on our visual performance separate from our regular singing rehearsal time.
The Regional Competition Steering Committee came to visit on the 17th to survey our rehearsal space since it will be used as one of the venues for Contest on April 30. They answered questions from the chorus as well as examining our breakout rooms and other facilities in order to ensure all will go smoothly on the day of competition.
We also had a great Quartet Workshop on the 19th which gave several quartets the opportunity to be coached by our director, Julie Starr, and one of our assistant directors, Voula Brown. Many attended to watch as well, and it was a great opportunity for all to learn how to improve vocal production and unit sound.
We are looking forward to traveling "Back to Our Future" with our Virtual Gala and Auction on March 20th at 3:45pm! We hope many of you will register to join us for a wonderful hour of musical entertainment and fun, including the culmination of our silent auction (which begins March 11 at noon) and our real-time auction. You can view more information and register at this link or click the image below.
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Fri, Mar 11-
Sun, Mar 13 |
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BASC - Ryan Heller Coaching |
Contact for Details |
| Sat, Mar 12 |
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MVC Coaching with Nikki Blackmer |
OBI Studios |
| Sun, Mar 20 |
3:45pm |
Bay Area Showcase Virtual Gala and Auction |
Virtual |
| Sat, Mar 26 |
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BASC - Judy Pozsgay Coaching |
Contact for Details |
| Tue, Mar 29 |
7:30pm |
SOS - Mini-Show |
Luther Burbank Center for the Performing Arts |
Fri, Apr 1
to Sat, Apr 2 |
7:00pm |
DVC Ryan Heller Coaching |
DVC Rehearsal site |
Fri, Apr 8
to Sun, Apr 10 |
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SOS - Coaching w/ Ryan Heller |
Santa Rosa, CA |
Fri, Apr 8
to Sun, Apr 10 |
9:00am |
MVC coaching with Jim Arns |
OBI Studios |
| Fri, Apr 8 |
7:00pm |
Coaching w/NIkki Blackmer |
Eugene, OR |
| Sat, Apr 9 |
9:30am |
Chorus coaching w/Nikki Blackmer |
Eugene, OR |
| Thu, Apr 21 |
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Regional Managment Team Meeting - Retreat |
Virtual Event |
| Thu, Apr 21 |
8:00pm |
Friends and Family Performance |
Milpitas |
Fri, Apr 29
to Sat, Apr 30 |
7:00pm |
Ryan Heller Coaching |
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| Sat, Apr 30 |
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Chorus Contest Video Recording |
Milpitas, CA |
| Sat, May 7 |
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Chorus Contest Video Recording |
Eugene, OR |
| Sat, May 14 |
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Chorus Contest Video Recording |
West Sacramento, CA |
Fri, May 27
to Sat, May 28 |
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Region 12 Competition Virtual Video Results |
Virtual Video Contest |
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Virtual Bingo FUNdraiser Night!!
Come support Sacramento Valley Chorus from the comfort of your own home. You just might win some CA$H!!
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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:
- Pacific Shores Region 12 - Sweet Adelines - This Facebook is used to promote the region's activity and news. Currently 990 Likes, 1114 Following
- Pacific Shores Region 12 - Chats - This Facebook page can be used by the chapters to post events and news. Visit the page and join the group and invite your Region 12 Friends. Currently 176 Members - Please help us grow our Chats Group. Invite your friends.
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SWEET ADELINES INTERNATIONAL NEWS!
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NEW SWEET ADELINES COMMUNITY EVENTS CALENDAR
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The SA community events calendar (https://sweetadelines.com/calendar) is now your go-to source to find out where and when SA events are happening in your community, and to publicize your chorus’s upcoming event. Go to this page and click “Add Event” to add any chorus event you may have!
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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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Early Bird Registration
NOW OPEN!
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Register now to save your place for...
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The incomparable joy of barbershop music!
Education from world-class barbershop faculty!
Visiting with barbershop friends for tag singing, afterglows, and fun!
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Phoenix Convention Center (Competition Venue)
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The Phoenix Convention Center (our new home from Sept. 12–17) GBAC STAR rating ensures a safer environment for gatherings like our exciting return to the international stage.
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Stay where the action is! The official Sweet Adelines hotel block opens in May. Keep up with Sweet Adelines communications channels so you’ll be ready to book rooms early.
Sign up to sing in the Family Chorus.
Plan your day-to-day with the event schedule, find out who's competing, learn topics and instructors of education classes, and check out tour offerings and other special activities planned for Phoenix!
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Sweet Adelines International
74th Annual International Convention & Competition
September 12-17, 2022
Phoenix Convention Center
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
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Your HCNW planning team has been hard at work on plans for this summer. As you can likely imagine, our primary focus over the last few months has been creating a safe and enriching experience for our students, faculty, and staff in the midst of continued COVID exposure concerns, limitations on travel, and changing protocols. With so many variables beyond our control, and as much as we had hoped to meet in person, it has become clear that HCNW should be held virtually in 2022.
MANAGING LOGISTICS & LIMITATIONS
After reviewing state and local COVID safety policies, researching best practices and health guidelines from similar events, and communicating with University of Puget Sound event staff, it has become clear that holding an in-person event that allows us to gather to sing, even in small groups, just Apossible. As much as we want to reconnect as friends and fellow singers, the on-campus requirements for masking, social distancing, and room capacities will significantly limit class sizes, coaching opportunities, options for shows - including restrictions around singing on campus. We just wouldn’t be able to do the things that make Harmony College Northwest so wonderful. We do know, however, that we can create a fun and fulfilling virtual event, so that’s what we are going to do!
LOOKING AHEAD
Making a firm decision about holding a Virtual HCNW means that the HCNW team can move full speed ahead with our plans! Last summer, we offered multiple learning tracks, online coaching, specialized workshops, a great closing show… and you can expect more of that in 2022. We’ll be incorporating your feedback, making improvements, and getting everything ready for another fantastic virtual event.
Stay tuned for more information about registration, classes, faculty, and more… coming your way soon!
www.harmonycollege.net
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