www.labbs.org.uk IN THIS ISSUE:

The magazine of the Ladies Association of British Barbershop Singers
www.labbs.org.uk
March 2009
IN THIS ISSUE:
OVER HERE!
CHAIRMAN SIGNS OFF
Jacqui Edwards
looks back over the
last two years as her
time as Chairman
comes to a close
p.2
A retrosp ective and an u p d ate
QUARTETS
Westminster Chorus are on their way
CLUBS
IABS CONVENTION 2008
Isca Sound, Enigma
and Finesse
Did you ever go
across the sea to
Ireland?
p. 11
CHOOSING
MUSIC
Find out who did,
inside.
Liz Garnett s gu id ance
on choosing suitable
music.
p.5
p.12
Harmony InSpires
Green Street Blues
Avonbelles
Pennine Chimes
Harton Harmonisers
Tyneside Ladies
The Pitchpipers
p.6-7, 10-11
Whooping it up in Sligo
p.8-9
LABBS ROUND-UP
CELEBRATIONS IN SPAIN
Barbershop in Harmony, Fellowship of
Directors w eekend , Coast to Coast s new MD, the
other First Lad ies of LABBS and a note abou t the
Support Fund
p.2-5
ADS AND NOTICES
Advertisements, obituaries, and notices
p.13-15
Taking tim e ou t in Mad rid
p. 16
MARCH 2009
FROM
PAGE 2
VOICE BOX
LABBS CHAIRMAN
Hello everyone
I cannot believe that m y tw o years as Chairm an is alm ost over and that this is m y last article for Voice
Box. They say that time goes quickly when you are having fun!
Some exciting things have been happening during these two years; amongst the highlights are:
The formation of a new Spanish Association of Barbershop Singing (more on p.16)
Barbershop in H arm ony w as form ed in Ju ne 2007 and is now w ell established w ith one joint
event last year and others planned for 2009 (see below)
We are w orking tow ard s becom ing a charity and thu s being eligible to join Making Mu sic
We now, at long last, have a Funding Officer (Chris Raper from The White Rosettes).
Jacqui Edwards
I cannot reiterate enou gh how gratefu l I am to everyone w ho w orks so hard for the Association to m ake it w hat it is. The Execu tive, the Prelim s./ Convention Team and the E&J Com m ittee are the ones w e all know abou t of cou rse bu t there is a w hole
p halanx of p eop le ou t there beavering aw ay behind the scenes throu ghou t the year.
We are going from strength-to-strength w ith a grad u ally grow ing m em bership and I hop e that trend continu es for a long,
long time.
I have m anaged to visit 33 clu bs (inclu d ing Coast-to-Coast) since March 2007 and have encou ntered w ond erfu l hosp itality
from everyone. I wish I could have visited you all and to those I missed sorry, but a visit every two weeks for two years was
ju st im p ossible! Du ring these visits I have realised ju st how m u ch w e all d o for charity particu larly, it w ou ld seem, the noncom p eting choru ses. I know w e p u sh for singing excellence (and that is as it shou ld be) bu t an enorm ou s am ou nt of p leasu re
com es from just singing together, from the friend ship s form ed and from the charity events u nd ertaken and the charities
benefit enormously too of course.
H op efu lly in the next ed ition of Voice Box w e w ill hear of the su ccess of ou r w ond erfu l am bassad ors The Cheshire Chord
Company (cu rrent Eu rop ean Cham p ions), The W hit e Roset t es, Gem Connect ion, Amersham A Cappella, Hav oc, Not eO rious
and Fiz z ! at the Eu rop ean Convention in H olland . Very best w ishes to Havoc w hen they sing on the World H armony Council
Jamboree Show in Anaheim in July see you there girls!
Thank you all for making the last two years so wonderful!
Yours, in harmony, Jacqui Edwards
UPDAT
E
Rep resentatives of LABBS, BABS and
Sw eet Ad elines International (Region 31)
are continu ing to m eet regu larly. With a
collective voice of over 6000 m em bers
w e are w orking to p rom ote and raise the
profile of barbershop singing in the UK.
One Voice CD
This w ond erfu l CD, featu ring
quartets and choruses from all
three organisations, is now
available (see p. 14).
Marketing Workshop.
This is being held on 4th April
2009 in Birm ingham and w ill
focu s on, am ongst other
things, the m arketing of the Barbershop
in H arm ony Week in Sep tem ber and the
p rovision of tools for p u blicity officers.
Fu rther d etails and registration inform ation available from:
[email protected]
Arrangers Workshops.
An Improvers Day is being held on 26th
Ap ril. Details on LABBS w ebsite:
www.labbs.org.uk
An A dvanced W eekend is being
held on 13th/ 14th Ju ne w ith
David Wright in attend ance. By
invitation only.
Sing Barbershop Aw areness
Week.
This w ill ru n from 12th 20th
Sep tem ber 2009. We hop e that
all choru ses in each Association
w ill hold events across the UK d u ring
this w eek w ith the aim of increasing
p u blic and m ed ia aw areness of ou r
form of singing - concerts, singing in
p u blic p laces, rad io sp ots, singing
w orkshop s, anything that m ight w ork
in you r area and if you have any great
id eas please let u s know . Be innovative and please share you r id eas w ith
us all.
Sing Barbershop Show
at The London Palladium
This is on Su nd ay 20th Sep tem ber
2009 and is in conju nction w ith Macm illan Cancer Su p p ort.
Am ongst
those d efinitely ap p earing, to d ate,
w ill be LABBS cu rrent gold m ed al
choru s The Cheshire Chord Com p any
and gold m ed al qu artet N oteOriou s
and After H ou rs/ Pitch Invasion Octet.
This is a hu ge u nd ertaking for the
three organisations and w e all hop e
you will support it wholeheartedly.
Jacqui Edwards
on behalf of Barbershop in Harmony
MARCH 2009
PAGE 3
VOICE BOX
P RESENTATION OF LABBS TROPHY
In 1984, Sheila Rice (Ed u cation Ad visor), Marilyn Penketh (Arrangem ent
Category Sp ecialist), Margaret d e Wolf
(Interp retation Category Sp ecialist) and
Sand ra Land ey (Stage Presence Category Specialist) travelled to Providence,
Rhod e Island in ord er to attend the 25th
International Contest and Convention of
Harmony, Incorporated.
To com m em orate this sp ecial anniversary, LABBS d onated a silver p late
w hich is aw ard ed annu ally to the highest p laced , non-m ed allist choru s, scoring in Presentation.
Med als are aw ard ed to the first fou r
placed choruses.
In N ovem ber 2008, at the International Contest and Convention
held in Ap p leton, Wisconsin, the
LABBS trop hy w as p resented to
the Sounds of the Seacoast, from
Portsm ou th, N ew H am p shire by
Marilyn Penketh.
The choru s, und er the d irection of
Wend y McCoole, sang This Joint Is
Jumping and A uld Lang Syne and
p laced fifth w ith an average score
of 75%.
The annu al Fellow ship of Directors Workshop (organised by
LABBS) gives MDs and Mu sic
Team Mem bers an op p ortu nity
to air p roblem s and find solu tions, share techniqu es and generally su p p ort each other. This
year, there w ere sessions as d iverse as a p otted history of Barb er sh o p , Ch o r u s St a ck in g ,
Coaching, Cop yright, H ealthy Singing,
Vocal Anatom y and Warm Up s. Jiggle, a
N ovice Qu artet from Secon d City
Sou nd , m ad e an ap p earance as w illing
gu inea p igs w hilst Section Lead ers and
MDs practised their coaching skills.
From left to right: Club President, Heidi
Berger, MD Wendy McCoole and
LABBS Marilyn Penketh w ith the trop hy.
Harmony, Incorporated will celebrate its 50th anniversary in November 2009 by
returning to Providence, Rhode Island where it all started in 1959.
FELLOWSHIP OF DIRECTORS WEEKEND
Jeanne O Connor and Lynn Randall of
Village Vocal Chords (from Chicago Harmony Inc Gold Medallist Chorus)
joined Marilyn Penketh and Karen
Palmer to run the 2009 Fellow ship of
D irectors w eekend in January and it
was a huge success.
CONTRIBUTED BY MARILYN PENKETH
Directors is vital to them and this w eekend p roved really u sefu l. H ow ever, the
best MDs say that you never stop learning and the w eekend includ ed lots of
u sefu l m aterial for established MDs and
exp erienced Section Lead ers and
one of them com m ented that this
w eekend w as: "The best I have
attended in 10 years!"
Of the forty p lu s d elegates, a few attend ed as
in ter ested
on looker s
(not Mu sic Team m em bers or MDs) and they
w ere m ad e w elcom e. It w as a
great to see w hat it s like from
the other side of the risers,
said one, and I ve got lots to take back
to share with my chorus.
It w as a very bu sy w eekend w ith m u ch
to d igest - bu t there w as lots of tagsinging and laughter too.
CONTRIBUTED BY JEAN LEWIS
m ad e their first trip to the USA [see
above]. From that tim e, the LABBS/
H arm ony Inc p artnership has been
m u tu ally beneficial as both organisations d evelop ed and m oved w ith the
times.
The delegates were very
ap p reciative of the p art
that Jeanne and Lynn
p layed in the w eekend .
They treated us as
equals and w ere so
w illing to share everything that they knew
and yet w ere also w illing to listen to
our problems w ith sincerity and an
open mind, said one hap p y cu stom er.
What pow erhouses of energy, said
another, What a depth of know ledge!
What a w onderful, approachable, entertaining time they gave us!
Sp ecial thanks to Rosam u nd e
Pop e for her hard w ork; the
w eekend ran very sm oothly
thanks to her organisational
skills.
Som e d elegates had recently step p ed off
the risers to take over w hen MDs had
left their choru ses and w ere having to
learn very qu ickly; the Fellow ship of
In su m m ing u p the w eekend ,
Jeanne O Connor said how
p leased she w as to m ake the
trip to the UK in H arm ony
Inc s 50th year. She recalled attend ing
H arm ony Inc s Convention in its 25th
year w h en LABBS rep resen tatives
Left to right: Jeanne O Connor, Karen
Palmer, Lynn Randall, Rosamunde Pope,
Marilyn Penketh
MARCH 2009
VOICE BOX
FIRST LADIES OF LABBS
So far there have been tw o Voice Box
articles on the five Fou nd er Mem bers of
LABBS w ho w ere recognised at Conv en t io n 2008: Bu n n y Ba in b r id g e
(Tynesid e); Dap hne Pow ell (Read ing);
Lee Westlake (Teignm ou th); Margaret
d e Wolf (Liverp ool); Rhiannon Ow ensHall (Liverpool)
There w ere, of cou rse, m any others w ho
help ed to get LABBS established ; the
five of u s exchanged lengthy em ails and
had conversations w hen I w as in the
UK in an attem p t to establish w ho they
w ere and to try and ensu re that no one
has been overlooked . I am su re that
there w ere others so I w ill say that early
members included the following:
Anne Burrow s (Craw ley): H elp ed establish Arrangem ent Category; her hu s-
We shou ld also like to thank the other
lovely Bru nel lad ies w ho got u p on
Su nd ay m ornings, once a m onth, w hen
all sensible p eop le w ou ld still be blissfu lly sleeping, to d rive from Devon or
Cornw all to Leicester and w ho w ere
su ch assets to the choru s. Ou r thanks
also go to Dick for his very valu able
inp u t, esp ecially the m oves for one of
ou r Convention songs (and for teaching
u s how to ru n) and for organising the
am azing sand castle com p etition on the
beach in Sp ain, on ou r trip to La Cala in
2007. We have w ond erfu l m em ories of
you all.
I am happy to say that w e have been
amazingly lucky once again in our
search for a Chorus D irector and are
now happily singing under the direction of the incredibly talented Peter
Nugent, w ho w orks u s hard , bu t m akes
rehearsals great fun at the same time. As
I am su re lots of you know , Peter sang
baritone in the gold m ed al qu artet,
QED, and sings regu larly w ith Great
CONTRIBUTED BY MARGARET DE WOLF
band , Frank, help ed to establish LABBS Pauline Taylor (Avonbelles): Interp reStage Presence.
tation Ju d ge; her hu sband , Ken (MD
Great Western Choru s), help ed estabMD Craw ley Lad ies D orothy Tew son lish LABBS Interpretation Category
(Teignm ou th): First LABBS PRO; Balance and Blend (now inclu d ed in Sing- Sheila Riddington (Leicester): LABBS
ing) Judge; founded the Chordettes.
Chairman; regular Council attendee
Ellen Tew son (Craw ley): First LABBS Sheila Rice: help ed establish ArrangeSecretary
ment Category; MD Avonbelles.
Janet Phillips (Leicester): First LABBS Tess McCormick (Brighton): p resented
Chairm an; resigned throu gh ill-health first LABBS Trop hy, the Brighton Rose
after three months
Bowl, on behalf of her Club.
Marjorie Gordon (Tynesid e): Mem bership Secretary
Mary Hunt (Craw ley): d esigned the
first LABBS logo
UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT
Coast to Coast w ere very sad to say
goodbye, at the end of last year, to our
lovely D elyth Knight, w ho resigned
due to pressures of w ork and other
family and barbershop commitments.
We shou ld like to thank her for all her
hard w ork and the fu n and the friend ship w e enjoyed w ith her for three
years.
PAGE 4
Western Choru s as w ell as d irecting The
Chord ettes. Peter is interested in all
asp ects of mu sic, inclu d ing singing,
d irecting, arranging and m u sic technology, and I am su re he w ill take Coast to
Coast from strength to strength.
We are hop ing to attend the Irish Convention later this year, w here
w e w ill be very vociferou s in
ou r su p p ort for Peter s new
qu artet, Steel. We are also hop ing, of cou rse, to enjoy lots of
singing and lots of lau ghs w ith
ou r Irish friend s (old and new ).
STOP PRESS
Coast to Coast are d elighted to
be hosting a w orkshop on Su nd ay 28th Ju ne, w ith ou r gold
m ed al qu artet Noteorious. With
our chorious they w ill ru n a fu n
d ay w here you can learn and
p erform a song. Yes lad ies, it
can be d one in ju st one d ay!
Leave the chores behind and
have a d ay of fu n, friend ship
and singing. The venu e w ill be
in the Leicester area and w e
look forw ard to seeing you
there!
Peter N u gent, Coast to Coast s
new Chorus Director.
Pauline Beckford and Vera Evans
(Craw ley): gave valu able su p p ort and
assistance
I hop e that you have all enjoyed you r
history lesson!
CONTRIBUTED BY MARION MORLEY
Coast to Coast m eets on the 3rd Su nd ay of the m onth at the Y Centre in
Leicester across the road from the
railway station. Membership is open to
all LABBS members and rehearsals run
from 11.30a.m. to 3.30p.m.
New members are always welcome
MARCH 2009
PAGE 5
VOICE BOX
FIN DIN G SUIT ABLE MUSIC
Advice from LABBS Music Category D irector, Liz Garnett on how to select material that is most suitable for your chorus
or quartet.
CONTRIBUTED BY LIZ GARNETT
than those that p resent the song once
through and straight to the tag.
leap to take on the role and m ake it
to u se a Presentation tu rn of p hrase
believable.
Complexity of embellishment. The barbershop style featu res homoThe su ccess of
A good rule of thumb for
When p eop le choose m u sic to sing in con- phonic textures
that is,
that leap d ep end s
identifying how well a
test, they think a lot abou t its su itability in the chord s resu lt from
not only on ou r
term s of style: Is it barbershop , in the term s everybod y singing the p articu lar song s p ersona over- ability to enter
d efined by the contest and jud ging system sam e w ord s in the sam e laps with your own identity is to into the sp irit of
w e have ad op ted from the Barbershop rhythm at the sam e tim e. consider the karaoke test. Could the song bu t also
you sing this song at a karaoke
Harmony Society?
Arrangers vary this texhow well the song
night out without everyone
tu re to ad d exp ressive
fits u s as p erform laughing ?
Bu t there is an equ ally im p ortant d im en- nu ances or rhythm ic
ers in the first
sion to su itability, and this one ap p lies to d rive to songs bu t this
p lace. We need to
all the m u sic w e sing, not just for contest: ad d ed interest also ad d s p erform ance ask ourselves how hard the audience is
su itability to perform er. H ow ever great a challenges. The m ore often you see the going to have to w ork to su sp end their
song and arrangem ent is in itself, it w ill d ifferent p arts in an arrangem ent sing- disbelief as they listen. To give obvious
only produce a thrilling performance if it is ing in d ifferent rhythm s, the hard er the exam p les, it w ou ld sou nd as od d to
a good fit for your quartet or chorus.
ensemble will have to work to make the hear a qu artet of seventeen-year-olds
chord s line up to p rod u ce the classic rem iniscing abou t their p ast glories in
So, how d o you d ecid e if a song or ar- barbershop ringing sound.
Back in the Old Rou tine as it w ou ld
rangement is suitable for you?
to hear a qu artet of 50-year-old s singComplexity of harmony. Barbershop mu- ing the 1980 hit song Grand m a w e
Level of Difficulty
sic has classic harm onic m oves that w e Love You .
If you are choosing a song that you intend resp ond to intu itively as a resu lt of ou r
to invest a lot of rehearsal tim e in (e.g. for p erform ing and listening exp erience. A good ru le of thu m b for id entifying
contest or as a m ajor featu re in a show ), Arrangers m ay also choose to u se m ore how w ell a p articu lar song s p ersona
you need to p ick som ething that is w ithin u nu su al chord s to p lay w ith ou r exp ec- overlap s w ith you r ow n id entity is to
you r grou p s grasp bu t that has enou gh tations and thu s ad d em otional im p act consid er the karaoke test. Cou ld you
su bstance to make you
to ou r p erform ances. sing this song at a karaoke night ou t
raise you r gam e a litH ow ever, these m ore without everyone laughing ?
However great a song and
tle. The m u sical eleu nu su al chord s can be
arrangement is in itself, it will
ments to consider are:
hard er to tu ne, and inonly produce a thrilling
Your personality
performance if it is a good fit for d eed hard er to u nd erRange. If the singers
stand , since w e encou nyour quartet or chorus.
can t sing the highest/
ter them less often.
low est notes of their
p arts w ith good qu ality then there s no Character of the song
p oint attem p ting the song it w ill alw ays Every song has its ow n p ersona: the
show you r w eaknesses rather than you r virtu al character w hose p oint of view it
strengths
rep resents. The lyric tells u s qu ite a lot
Song s p ersona
abou t this age, sex, situ ation in life.
Length. The longer a song is, the m ore m u - The m u sic also tells u s qu ite a lot a
sical and vocal stam ina it requ ires. Also, sw ing tu ne gives a d ifferent feel of tim e
Opportunity for
the longer an arrangem ent is, the m ore and p lace from a Charleston rhythm .
convincing performance
likely it is to d isp lay com p lex em bellishing That p ersona is inevitably going to be
d evices as it progresses to su stain interest. d ifferent from the p ersonalities of
So, m ed leys and arrangem ents w ith long early-twentieth-centu ry British w om en,
rep eated sections are inherently hard er so w e have to m ake an im aginative
LABBS SUPPO RT FUN D
CONTRIBUTED BY VIV GARNER
The LABBS Su p p ort Fu nd is ad m inistered by the LABBS Ex- w ho has sp ecial need s. Fu nd s can be m ad e available to su ch
ecutive and is there to assist LABBS members.
a member (often as a carer is needed).
If you have been a LABBS m em ber for at least a year you are To ap p ly for assistance p lease contact Viv Garner (LABBS
entitled to requ est assistance to enable you to attend LABBS Treasu rer) in the first instance. You can reach her via em ail :
Barbershop events if for health reasons you need support.
[email protected]
The fu nd is for the benefit of any m em ber w ho is p hysically
d isabled , w hether on a p erm anent or tem p orary basis, and
If in doubt
ASK!
MARCH 2009
VOICE BOX
LEARN TO SING
CONTRIBUTED BY CELIA NICKSON
Ridgew ay Harmony, as w as, have
w ritten in to report on the success of
their Learn to Sing course and to
inspire others, as their new name
suggests, w ith the sound of harmony.
cou rse of ou r ow n. In the Au tu m n, w e
fou nd a hall in Cu m nor, sent ou t notices to all the local p ap ers and behind
the scenes many people worked hard to
ensu re w e had all the p acks and m u sic
and som e excellent coaches.
Like m any choru ses, w e had been
losing m em bers for a w hile, says
Celia N ickson, PRO, bu t w e had
seen Oxford H arm ony break into
Cu m nor w ith their m en s grou p and
had heard of other barbershop s choru ses having a singing cou rse to
sp read the w ord abou t barbershop
singing. With great trep id ation w e
d ecid ed to hold a three w eek singing
Enqu iries came in and the nu m bers
kep t rising. At one p oint w e w ere w ondering if all the people would be able to
fit in the hall, bu t the cou rse w as a su ccess w ith 59 p eop le attend ing. Existing
members learned new songs along with
new skills and those w ho had com e
fresh to barbershop had fu n and
learned abou t breathing, p ostu re and
sound formation.
C OME BACK TO SINGING
At the beginning of 2008 Green
Street Blues w ere a very depleted
chorus of just thirteen members.
They are starting 2009 w ith 24 full
members and another nine w aiting
for their auditions.
This is all d u e to the p henom enal
su ccess of ou r Come Back to Singing
course that took p lace in N ovem ber,
says Cat Finch.
Over five w eeks Tim m Barkw orth,
national voice coach and MD of The
Belles of 3 Spires joined forces w ith
Green Street s MD, Peter Kenned y, and
ran us through our paces.
We w ent throu gh a lot of bu bbling and
consequ ent d ribbling like babies the
first w eek, sirening like banshees and
im p ersonating Eliza Doolittle p ractising
her vow els/ d ip hthongs the 2nd w eek
and trying not to sou nd like Rolf H arris
with our noisy breathing the 3rd week.
By the end of the cou rse w e had a p olished and skilled p erform ance for ou r
new m em bers to show off to fam ilies
and friends in our end of course concert.
H ARMONY DAY EVENT
About 70 men and 100 lady barbershop singers enjoyed a Harmony
D ay at the D erw ent Hotel, Torquay, in November.
The event, organised by Sou th Exeter-based BABS choru s Iscap ella
Close H arm ony Choru s, w as attend ed by seven other barbershop
choru ses from arou nd the region for
PAGE 6
a day of coaching and singing.
Tw o of the UK s lead ing barbershop
singing coaches, Mike Taylor and Paula
William s, led the w orkshop sessions,
w hich concentrated on the vital elem ents in p rod u cing good singing, su ch
as p ostu re, breathing, resonance and
free vocal production.
Those of u s w ho had been w ith the chorus for a while were amazed at the speed
that songs w ere being picked u p and
excited by the lovely sou nd w e w ere
making.
Once the cou rse w as over w e w ere really
p leased that 15 p eop le d ecid ed that they
w ou ld like to join ou r choru s. We now
have 31 m em bers and have relau nched
ourselves as Harmony InSpires.
Ou r first sing ou t on Decem ber 17th w as
a great su ccess.
CONTRIBUTED BY CAT FINCH
By p itching the cou rse as Come Back to
Singing, nearly all the lad ies attend ing
w ere alread y accom p lished singers
from variou s other form s of choru ses,
so w e are thrilled that so m any of them
have d ecid ed to ad d their exp ertise to
the talents of Green Street Blues.
Many thanks to Tim m for all his hard
w ork and , if he can tolerate the d rive
from Sheffield again, he is m ore than
welcome to check our progress anytime
he likes.
CONTRIBUTED BY JENNY REEVES
Choru ses from Exeter, Tau nton, N ew ton Abbott and Plym ou th, inclu d ing
The Rivertones, River City Choru s
and Western Ap p roach all benefitted
from the fluent and interactive style of
the tw o tu tors, and the d ay finished
w ith each choru s p u tting into p ractice
w hat they had learned d u ring the
d ay. It cu lm inated in an eight-part
harm ony rend ition of the classic song
Misty su ng by all 170 p articip ants.
Peter Shru bsall, MD of Iscapella and
the m ain instigator of the event com m ented that the concep ts p u t forw ard
by the tu tors had d em onstrated the
im m ense im p rovem ent in voice qu ality that cou ld be achieved by ju st one
day of practical training.
MARCH 2009
A VON CALL IN ON CAMBORNE
In N ovember, the Avonbelles competed in the Camborne Music Festival
in Cornw all and w hat a fabulous
weekend it was.
They w on the fem ale ad u lt vocal class
w ith 256 m arks ou t of 300 and received
som e very favou rable com m ents from
the ad ju d icator. The trop hy w e w ere
p resented w ith w ill sit nicely in ou r
cabinet, says PRO Mand y Rogers. We
also received a Certificate and the Margaret Reynold s Baton in a very nice
p resentation box.
PAGE 7
VOICE BOX
think w e ve ever had an au d ience to
w ave good bye to as ou r coach p u lled
away. We felt like royalty.
As you can im agine, the afterglow w as
riotou s and ou r hotel valiantly p u t u p
w ith u s and the noise level. The next
CONTRIBUTED BY MANDY ROGERS
m orning w as slightly qu ieter of cou rse
bu t this d id n t last long and w e p artied
on the coach on the w ay hom e, only
stop p ing briefly to entertain the p u blic
in a gard en centre in Exeter, w here
again w e w ere asked to retu rn next
year.
In the evening they w ere asked to retu rn as sp ecial gu ests to entertain the
au d ience before the Male Voice Choru s
com p etition. Ou r original rep ertoire
was Let the River Run, Georgia, and How
Deep is The Ocean which brought a tear
to one lad y s eye, its su ch an em otional
song, says Mand y, bu t in the evening
we substituted It s Raining M en for Georgia w hich w ent d ow n a storm to rap tu rous applause.
We tru ly felt like rock stars: p eop le
were trying to board the coach when we
w ere leaving to w ish u s w ell! I d on t
A NGELIC CHIMES
CONTRIBUTED BY
GILL CHARLES
Pennine Chimes (Bradford) are proud to announce that they have been declared Angels in the local press!
They offered them selves u p for au ction to raise m oney for Myelom a Cancer Research at a recent charity ball. Angelo Clarke,
brother-in-law to Pennine members Pat and Christine, is currently in remission from Myeloma (cancer of the blood.)
H e and his w ife H elen organised their second annu al fu nd -raising event to say thank you to the charity that help ed him
throu gh his illness. An im p ressed gu est at the ball bid nearly £200 to hear the choru s sing for her, at her chosen venu e, to
wow her friends no doubt!
MARCH 2009
PAGE 8
VOICE BOX
A CROSS THE SEA TO I RELAND
There w asn t room in the last issu e of Voice Box to inclu d e the articles and p hotograp hs covering the 2008 Convention of the
Irish Association of Barbershop Singers in Sligo so here they are now to whet your appetite for this year.
FROM THE NORTH
CONTRIBUTED BY JO BRAHAM
At the beginning of October w e d u sted off the p assp orts, and set off for Sligo to the IABS Convention. Wow , those Irish
barbershop p ers su re know how to p arty! Bu t in tru e After Hours style, and in keep ing w ith ou r nam e of cou rse, w e kep t u p
w ith them till the early hou rs of Su nd ay m orning. We d id have som ething to celebrate, so that w as ou r excu se! We com peted in the International Quartet Competition and flew the flag for LABBS by coming out on top! Woo hoo, 4 pints of Guinness please!
For the first tim e, IABS combined the lad ies and the m en s qu artet com p etition so w e w ere u p against the m en too. This w as
d u e to the low nu m ber of entrants from the fairer sex. So c m on girls, it s a great exp erience of com p etition, esp ecially in the
run up to LABBS Convention, and a cracking weekend of socialising and song. Consider it for 2009. It would be great if there
w ere lots of LABBS qu artets to really boost the com p etition. Food for thou ght, eh?
FROM THE
MOUNTAINS OF
M OLD
CONTRIBUTED BY RITA GUNNIGLE
Mountain Harmony (Mold ) com p eted at
IABS last year and had a lot of fu n. Seven
Convention virgins Carol, Ju d e, Lynn, Angela, Jane, Debbie and H eather all had a
fabu lou s tim e and Ed na H u ghes p enned this
poem to commemorate the trip.
Across the sea to Ireland our Chorus went one day,
We started out before the dawn and soon were on our way,
Alas we did not get too far before news was relayed,
We'd have to make a detour - our sailing was delayed.
For several hours we passed the time by spending lots of money,
And our coach had a bit of a scrape: it really was not funny.
All aboard the Seacat, some folk were turning green,
But only a few miles to go now and the Irish coast is seen.
Saturday dawns, its grey and damp but soon we'll be on stage,
We're going to perform our very best 'cos we've practised for an age.
Our time on stage flies by so fast ,the songs are sung, we've done the deed,
Smiling sweetly at the judges to gain the points we need.
Results are in, we've done quite well, we're floating on a cloud.
Everyone is hap p y and Derek says he s p rou d "
All too soon the w eekend s p assed and on the coach w e p ile,
Home across the sea again, singing all the while.
A ND FROM BROMLEY
Velvet Harmony took tim e ou t from
the 2008 LABBS Convention and flew
(w ith an abru p t land ing at Knock that
w e w on t forget in a hu rry!) to the
Irish Association of Barbershop Singers Convention in Sligo. We w ere
hap p y to im p rove on ou r last p erform ance and com e 7th ou t of eleven
International Choru ses w ith a score of
61%. The contest w as m ixed so w e
had the novel exp erience of being
beaten by the Cotton Tow n Choru s
a BABS cham p ion choru s - no sham e
there!
The d ay of the com p etition w as a fine,
soft d ay - Irish for p ou ring ! There
w as no room for carrying brollies
betw een ou r changing room and the
bu ild ing w here w e w ere to sing, so
w e kep t ou r hair d ry on the w ay over
w ith a fetching array of hood s,
show er cap s and shop p ing bags
w hich w ere very glam orou s above ou r
sp arkling green stage gear! Jacqu i Edw ard s, LABBS Chairm an, (w ho flew ou t
w ith u s to lend her bass voice onstage
and her d elightfu l com p any for the
weekend - thanks again, Jacqu i) looked
p articu larly chic in a little p lastic su p ermarket number.
Being last on, w e had a fu ll and ap p reciative hou se that gave ou r Mu sical Director, N eil Watkins, an esp ecially w arm
welcome. We did our best to live up to it!
After the contest, w e d escend ed on the
tow n for d inner and , afterw ard s, serenad ed the bem u sed chefs and nearly
brought the kitchen to a standstill. Later,
at the Afterglow , a cou p le of ou r Section
Lead ers sang a song ap iece w ith After
Hours, who lit up the hotel lobby in their
fabulous purple dresses.
CONTRIBUTED BY KATE SHENNAN
Sligo is a little tow n w here old fashioned shop s and d rinking holes
ru b shou ld ers w ith a glossy shop p ing
m all and a snap p y new cafe w here the
peat-tinted river ru shes u nd er the
tow n centre Brid ge. Exp loring its d elights had to be fitted in around registration, rehearsals and com p etition bu t w e fou nd tim e to exp lore the p u bs
and hit the shops.
On Su nd ay, som e of u s w ent in gloriou s su nshine to check ou t the Gu inness and seafood chow d er at Strand hill beach w ith its w hite sand , Atlantic breakers and su rfers. Ou r Kiw i
m em ber had to be restrained from
stealing a w etsu it and board and
throwing herself into the waves!
We ll have to go back - for m ore singing, and that su rfing d em o!
MARCH 2009
PAGE 9
VOICE BOX
- SLIGO 2008 After Hours show off
their medals after winning the
quartet competition.
Mountain Harmony, gathered on the
steps of the Southern Hotel
Six teas and a Gu inness chaser p lease! some of the ladies of Velvet Harmony
relaxing in Strandhill.
IABS CONVENTION 2009
Come join us for our 21st anniversary Convention
at The Helix
DUBLIN
October 2-4th 2009
Looking forward to seeing all our barbershop friends return!
MARCH 2009
VOICE BOX
M AGIC MOMENTS
This personal look at barbershop was
sent in by the Humber Belles w ho
asked for it to be reprinted from their
club magazine. It w as w ritten by 18
year-old Mary Butcher.
As I w atch the Belles w arm u p in
their Sections, each so effortlessly
p oised and read y for their w eekly
sessions, I am stru ck by only one
thought: I am home. It is all p art of the
intim acy of being involved w ith a barbershop chorus.
I have alw ays know n that harm ony is
m y thing. From a very you ng age I
astou nd ed m y p arents w ith an ability
t o im p r ov ise co m p lex co u n t er m elod ies to alm ost every nu rsery
rhym e su ng at m e. Ironically, at ou r
w eekly H u m ber Belles p ractices I am
transp orted back to these tim es w ith
m any of ou r favou rite nu rsery-rhyme
warm-u p s. Bu t far from being the im p rom p tu , relaxed , a cap p ella singing I
had assu m ed , the intricacies of a barbershop choru s have been revealed to
m e. We stand before ou r au d ience as
one beautifully polished sound but the
intense am ou nt of training p u t in by
every ind ivid ual to achieve this is rem arkable. Behind the stage is an efficiently ru n organisation w ith a tru ly
incred ible m anagem ent of team s coord inating everything from rep ertoire
to costu m es to the balancing of sections. Dedication is definitely key.
In Janu ary, I m et u p w ith m y team
(The N acred Ram s) from the Card en
Arm s in Tilston to officially receive
their sp onsor m oney. Attached is a
p hoto of m e and m y team d isp laying a
chequ e for £1253. This d oes not inclu d e
the £285 I raised w ith the help of
LABBS m em bers. A sp ecial thank-you
goes to 'A Tou ch of TLC' for their collection of £35. Again m any thanks.
Christine Milner, Club-at-Large
BRIEF FROM THE NORTH-EAST
Beryl Cooke has written in to report that
The Harton Harmonisers enjoyed a
bu sy and p rod u ctive Christm as season
w ith sing-ou ts at a Chu rch and a H osp ice follow ed by a Christm as N ight Ou t
Their annu al Christm as Concert - w ith
gu ests Peers of H arm ony (BABS choru s) and their Qu artet Very Old Gold
w as a great su ccess. The program m e
inclu d ed H arton H arm onisers ow n
qu artet and octet Affinity and H arton
Sou l and the au d ience joined in w ith
the carol singing. The choru s p lans to
com p ete at local festivals in Febru ary
and March and Beryl ad d s, We also
m ay have a bu d d ing MD in ou r m id st
as And rea (one of ou r you nger m em bers) joined Mike at a Directors Ed u cation Day in Janu ary. She has ou r su p p ort!
CONTRIBUTED BY THE HUMBER BELLES
choru s that continu es to p u t in the effort, attention and care requ ired of su ch
a d em and ing skill: A choru s that I am
excep tionally prou d to be a part of. It is
barbershop harm ony at its finest alongsid e the com pany of the w arm est, m ost
excep tionally talented p eople I have
ever m et. And so m y 'm agic m om ent' of
this w eek and ind eed m any w eeks to
come: joining the Humber Belles.
The effect is both overw helm ing and
rew ard ing. The H u m ber Belles have
established a com p etitive, passionate
MS CH ALLEN GE UPDAT E
IN
PAGE 10
Bu nny Bainbrid ge rep orts that Tyneside Ladies (TLC) are still w aiting to
and hop ing for an MD to knock on
their d oor but are continu ing into
their 36th year w ith the sam e enthu siasm that they celebrated their 35th
w ith d inner and entertainm ent at
Kirtly Hall!
Over the Christm as p eriod the choru s
p erform ed at a great variety of venues a m u d d y Victorian m arket
(com p lete w ith big w heel and icescu lp ting contest), a gard en centre,
and the local shop p ing centre. Their
final singou t of 2008 w as their annu al
p u b craw l, singing carols for their
su p p orted charities: Breast Cancer
Detection, Macm illan N u rses and the
North-East Air Ambulance.
SNOWY RETREAT
The Pitchpipers (Havant) retreat w ith
Jeanne O Connor and Lynn Randall of
Village Vocal Chords (see also p.3)
took place on a snow y w eekend in February.
Und er their exp ert coaching, w e
w orked , w e p layed , w e lau ghed , w e
sang, w e even cried . It w as a tru ly am azing exp erience and a great p rivilege too.
Every one of u s cam e aw ay from this
fabu lou s trip m otivated , hap p y and eager to bu ild on the solid fou nd ations that
Jeanne and Lynn gave us. As this inspirational w eekend com es to a close, three
w ord s still float arou nd m y head tonight:
qu ality, u nity, friend ship . H ow fortu nate
w e are that ou r craft encom p asses all
three. If you have not tried it yet, I urge
you to organise a couple of days aw ay
with your chorus.
~MaryAnne Beames, PRO
MARCH 2009
PAGE 11
VOICE BOX
ISCA SOUND
CONTRIBUTED BY JENNY REEVES
Isca Sound qu artet, w ho are m em bers of The River City Choru s based
in Exeter, entered the Tau nton and Som erset Mu sic Festival in N ovem ber. They w ere d elighted to be aw ard ed a d istinction for singing ShBoom and All I Have To Do Is Dream. The ad jud icator commented that he
rarely got a chance to hear Barbershop singing, esp ecially d one so w ell,
and hoped that he would have a chance to hear more in the future as he
travels arou nd the cou ntry. It w as a w ond erfu l d ay for the qu artet and
for promoting barbershop singing.
Great
idea
Use a concertina folder, marked up with
members names, as an in-box for notices, music, hand-outs etc. That way, if someone
misses a rehearsal or meeting they can pick
up the information they need when they are
next in.
(Sent in by Jenny Brotherston, Reading)
G REETINGS FROM ENIGMA
CONTRIBUTED BY
STEPH RAMSEY
As you w ill know , w e are fairly accid ent-p rone and 2008
brou ght one broken lim b (Row ena), three op erations
(Step h & Su e B) and Su e H falling in the River Tham es We had a really bu sy year w ith p erform ances from Cheshire to and she d oesn t even d rink!
Sittingbou rne, Gillingham to Leicestershire, via Berkshire, Su rrey
and beyond , and 2009 is stacking u p to be ju st as hectic w ith m u - In ad d ition, of cou rse, w e w ere bu sy w ith ou r choru s, Signatu re, p rogressing throu gh the Rad io 3 Choir of the Year
sic festivals and performances!
au d itions. It w as great fu n (and hard w ork!), and w e w ere
very p leased to have been selected for the Ad u lt Choir
finals w e d id n t w in, bu t there is alw ays another year,
and The Cottontow n Choru s certainly d id Barbershop
proud!
Looking back, it w as Janu ary last year that w e last w rote an
article for Voice Box. So where did the rest of 2008 go?
Unfortu nately w e had to m iss Convention in H arrogate
bu t, belated ly, w e w ou ld like to congratu late all the m ed al
w inners, We hop e they all enjoy their gold en year.
Finally, w e w ou ld ju st like to exp ress ou r sincere cond olences to the fam ily and friend s of Uli from The Jazz Firm .
The qu artet is su rely one of the LABBS Qu artet greats
and Uli w ill be sad ly m issed .
FINESSE MAKE-OVER
When w e first p u t ou t an ad vert to all the LABBS Clu bs and
Qu artet Cham p ions to find a rep lacem ent for ou r irrep laceable
Debbie w e w ere really hop ing to find som eone exp erienced , m u sical, talented , fu n, w ith a fabu lou s voice and the right chem istry
to becom e a d ear friend . I know , w e d id n't w ant m u ch, bu t in
finding Nicky Salt all our hopes and expectations were met!
N icky com es to u s w ith a fantastic Barbershop p ed igree. She is a
LABBS Singing Ju d ge, an accom p lished qu artet Bass singer w ith
Rap p ort and Flau nt , an exp erienced singing coach in her sp are
tim e and the cu rrent Chair of Phoenix A Cap p ella Show case
Chorus.
We have had a cou p le of rehearsals so far, w ell, I u se the w ord
rehearsal in the loosest sense, in that they have m ostly involved
chatting and laughing! Mind you the hard work is about to begin
CONTRIBUTED BY HELEN OWEN
and w e can t w ait. We have a show to d o for the Knights
of H arm ony in Ap ril and ou r first com p etition exp erience
w ill com e in May in Gateshead , w hen w e w ill com p ete in
SAI Region 31 Quartet Contest.
We are alread y really looking forw ard to being back in
the sw ing of things at LABBS in Cheltenham , catching u p
w ith old friend s, m aking new ones, singing in the bar and
competing in the quartet semi-finals!
Please excuse the pun, but we really do feel like a Phoenix
rising from the ashes. Tow ard s the end of 2008, Finesse
w ere d istrau ght at losing Debbie and could n t im agine
what the future would hold. We could only have dreamed
that 2009 w ou ld d aw n qu ite so brightly w ith so m u ch fu n
and excitem ent w aiting to be had !
MARCH 2009
PAGE 12
VOICE BOX
W ESTMINSTER CHORUS ARE COMING!
Westminster Chorus, the dynamic US chorus w ho w on the
2007 International Gold medal, will be in the UK in July.
The story behind their visit: tw o of their m em bers w ere u nable to take p art in the 2007 choru s final, becau se they sang
w ith another choir that w as booked to com p ete at the Llangollen International Eisted d fod . Their choir w on the p restigiou s Choir of the World Trophy - the very sam e that Cam bridge Chord Company memorably won in 2004.
Their p ositive rep orts back to Westm inster Choru s got the
ball rolling. Abou t a third of the choru s also sings w ith 2008
gold m ed al choru s the Masters of Harmony, therefore in
2009 both cham p ion choru ses w ill sit ou t the International
Com p etition. They w ill, of cou rse, sing at the 2009 International Convention, but under much less pressure; in addition
the Convention w ill be close to their hom e, so their travel
costs will be much reduced.
2009 is therefore a u niqu e year for them - possibly the only
chance they w ill have to com p ete at Llangollen - w hich is
ind eed w hat they w ill be d oing. This is a great op p ortu nity
to see this su perb grou p , w ho are changing the face of barbershop music.
Fortu nately, they are in the UK for a w eek and have therefore set up a full itinerary:
Wednesday 8th July Reading
Show and Afterglow hosted by Thames Valley Chorus.
Thursday 9th July - Llangollen
Evening show appearance
Friday 10th July Llangollen
Folk Song Choir competition
Saturday 11th July Llangollen
Barbershop and Male Voice Choir com p etitions, and hop efu lly Choir of the World com p etition (for choral class w inners)
Sunday 12th July Leeds
Master class and Afterglow hosted by the White Rosettes,
Llangollen are offering good d eals for grou p bookings and
with the potential for Westminster to win both daytime comp etitions on Satu rd ay they w ill u nd ou bted ly leave a fabu lou s im p ression of barbershop m u sicianship everyw here
they sing.
The Tham es Valley Choru s and the White Rosettes events
w ill also give p eop le the chance to m eet the choru s u p close.
Whether you want to sit back and enjoy a full show performance or learn the techniqu es that m ake this choru s so su ccessfu l, you w ill not w ant to m iss these rare op p ortu nities to
see Westminster in the UK!
For more on the Eisteddfod see:
www.eisteddfod-ryngwladol.co.uk
SEE Westminster chorus
At
The concert hall,
TOWN HALL
Reading
on
8 July 2009
at 7.45pm
BOOK EARLY AND
Don t m iss ou t!
Box Office:
01189 60 60 60
Are you thinking of camping or
caravanning at LABBS Convention ?
If so please contact John Calvert to make arrangements:
[email protected]
MARCH 2009
VOICE BOX
PAGE 13
MARCH 2009
PAGE 14
VOICE BOX
26 great tracks from BABS/LABBS/SAI including:
Sound Celebration ~ Grand Central Chorus & guests
South Rampart St Parade ~ White Rosettes
Lover Come Back ~ Signature
Love Me ~ After Hours
My Girl~Cambridge Blues Bring Him Home ~ Soundcrew
From This Moment ~ Sound Bites
What ll I Do ~ Eu4ia
That Old Feeling ~ Vocal Zone
Land of Light/Flower of Scotland ~ Aberdeen Chorus
Softly As I Leave You ~ Gem Connection
Don t Break the H eart That Loves You ~ Finesse
When Day Is Done ~ Cottontown Chorus
Paintin This Old Tow n Blu e ~ The Jazz Firm
Original Dixie-land One Step ~ Forth Valley Chorus
After Today ~ Matrix If I Give My Heart to You ~ Phoenix
What Would I Do Without My Music ~ Surrey Harmony
and many more
This new CD showcases the cream of British barbershop.
Get your copy NOW by sending a cheque to
Viv Garner
23 King Street, Potton, Beds. SG19 2QZ.
Cost: £10 plus £1 p&p but ask about bulk buys.
01767 261520 or [email protected]
MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR
[email protected]
Thanks for all of you r feed back on the last issu e:
evid ently,
colou r p ictu res p aint a thou sand
words.
Send all copy to:
Jean Lewis
95 Shaw Drive
Walton on Thames
KT 12 2LR
TeL 01932 227239
If ou r Fou nd er Mem bers w ill ju st slow d ow n
enou gh for m e to catch u p w ith them there w ill be
another First Lad ies of LABBS article in the next issu e. It has been
su ggested that w e m ight d o a best-on-the-w eb featu re. If you have
any favourite barbershop-related websites, forums or tools, please let
me know.
Advertising rates:
£50 for a full page
£25 for a half page
£15 for a quarter page
£10 for a small ad
I have enlisted som e help for the first tim e this issu e. Margaret d e
Wolf is obviously a glutton for punishment and I am very grateful!
For new PROs, there are som e gu id elines for contribu tors to Voice
Box on the LABBS w ebsite and som e hints and tip s below . As w ell
as clu b and qu artet new s review s of LABBS w orkshop s, training
sessions, CDs or live barbershop show s are alw ays w elcom e, as are
great id eas , Convention Mem ories and gold m ed al mom ents :
keep em com ing!
All the best, Jean.
NB Payment to be sent with copy.
Please make cheques out to LABBS
DEADLINES for 2009
Last Friday in April (for June issue)
Last Friday in July (Sept issue)
Friday after Convention
(Christmas issue)
Send articles well in
advance of deadlines if
possible. This especially
applies to handwritten
articles.
If you do not want your article to be
edited please just say so when you send
it in and your wishes will be respected.
This may, of course, mean that your
article is omitted in its entirety as there
is not enough space to print everything.
Photographs should be at a resolution of at
least 200-300 dots-per-inch so do not compress them and please do not embed them
in Word documents or pdf files. If in doubt
please just ask the further away from the
deadline the better.
Club Secretaries should receive their club copies
by the middle of the issue month. Please make
sure LABBS Membership Secretary is aware of
any address changes and send any enquiries
about missing copies to her as she co-ordinates
all of the mailings with the printer.
MARCH 2009
VOICE BOX
PAGE 15
SAD TIMES
BETT PIPER
PAULINE MULLINS
It is w ith great regret
and sad ness that w e
have to annou nce the
d eath of Bett Pip er,
friend and avid barbershopper.
It is with great sadness that I write to report that Pauline
lost her fight w ith Motor N eu rone Disease last N ovem ber.
Bett su rrend ered to
barbershop in 1990
and took p art in her
first convention in
H arrogate as a m em ber of the Sid cu p based choru s 'Ap ril
Show ers' w hich later
becam e 'N ew Dim ension'. Alas, in early
2001, 'N ew Dim ension' cam e to an end
and Bett and others
joined Velvet H arm ony in Brom ley w here she stayed u ntil the p ressu re
of her job and interm ittent p oor health forced her to
resign.
Bett also joined Coast to Coast in Sep tem ber 1996 and
enjoyed all the trip s that w ere taken, the last one being
in Spain in 2007.
As Velvet H arm ony also lost another great friend
Pau line Mu llins tw o d ays after Bett w e can only hop e
they are ringing chord s together again, d esp ite both
being basses!
Sent in by Pam Coke
ULI GRIGOLEIT
It is with great sadness that The White Rosettes
and The Jazz Firm annou nce the d eath of Uli
Grigoleit on 12th December 2008. She had been
battling w ith cancer for 18 m onths bu t still alw ays had a
smile and happy thought for every one she spoke to.
Many of you w ill have shared
the p leasu re of hearing her fabu lou s tenor voice, w hich help ed
to m ake The Jazz Firm 's qu artet
g o ld a r e a li t y i n 2003
and help ed to shap e her section
w ithin The White Rosettes. She
w as a keen coach and a p atient
and informative educator.
Uli w ill be sorely m issed by the
choru s, by The Jazz Firm and all
her friend s w ithin the w id er
barbershop world.
Sent in by Sharon King
Pau line w as a m em ber of LABBS for nearly 20 years,
singing firstly w ith N ew Dim ension (some of you m ay
rem em ber the Sid cu p clu b, long gone bu t fond ly rem em bered at ou r annu al reu nions) and latterly w ith
Green Street Blues.
To say she was a valued member of the bass section and
m ad e a w ond erfu l Sing-ou t Secretary for several years
w ou ld be to vastly u nd erstate her contribu tion. She w as
alw ays there, alw ays on tim e, alw ays fu n to be w ith,
w orked and p layed hard and set a m arvellou s exam p le
of commitment and getting the maximum out of life.
We shared som e great tim es - Show s, H arm ony Colleges, Sing-ou ts, Retreats and ou r m em orable trip as a
choru s to Salt Lake City to rep resent LABBS at the H arm ony Jam boree w as a real highlight; all rem em bered for
m u ch lau ghter and joy. H er trad em ark w as lead ing the
singing on the Convention coach hom e w ith her ow n
u niqu e rend ition of Day-Oh! . Irrep laceable!
She w as also a m em ber of Coast to Coast and m ad e
m any friend s throu gh their show s and trip s abroad .
They looked as if they alw ays had a great tim e - believe
me - I ve seen the p hotos!
She bore her illness w ith grace and good hu m ou r; a
cru el d isease robbing her of her singing bu t never of her
d ignity, her sense of fu n, or her care for others. She is
sorely m issed and w e send ou r heartfelt cond olences to
her family and many friends.
Sent in by A lison Z dzylowski who adds, Cliff
faithfully attended every
barbershop event to enable
Pauline to be there. He
deserves to be mentioned
too.
Pauline and Cliff
are pictured together.
Y VIVA ESPANA
CONTRIBUTED BY LYN BAINES
Chaotic travelling cond itions cau sed by heavy snow falls in the
USA alm ost stop p ed the Missou ri-based Vocal Sp ectru m s
ap p earance at the Festival Viam agna Cajam ad rid in in Mad rid
in Decem ber 2008. Cancelled flights m eant that the Baritone
and the Bass w ere u nable to fly ou t bu t, after a sleep less night
for the organiser, replacements were found.
It w as said that, by the tim e of their p erform ance, no-one
w ou ld have know n that they w ere a scratch qu artet w ith only
a cou p le of hou rs rehearsal tim e. They brou ght the hou se
down with a faultless performance and the Spanish audience is
now firm ly hooked on barbershop . The Investigators , the first
all-Sp anish Men's Barbershop Qu artet, ap p eared as the sup p orting act. They w ere instru m ental in m aking the event p ossible and they recently form ed the Sp anish Association of Barbershop Singers.
On Su nd ay afternoon, a SABS Jam boree (Afterglow ) p rovid ed
an opportunity for the new members to get to know each other
and to sing together. Vocal Sp ectru m w as joined by The Investigators to sing as an octet and Ju st4Voices, an cap p ella
quartet, also sang.
The Investigators
Fernando, Jorge, Ramon and Nico
For more information
on SABS please see
their website:
www.sabs.es
Everyone enjoyed them selves and cou ld not resist a song or
two on the Metro on the way home!
Members of The Velvetones
and The Spangles
entertained the travelling
public on the way home
SABS hopes to organise a similar event in Torrevieja in 2009.
Dates for your diary
Mar 28th
LABBS AGM & Council Meeting
Apr 4th
Joint LABBS/BABS/Sweet Adelines
Marketing Workshop
18th
Education Day (Leeds & Bristol)
25th
Education Day (Chorleywood)
26th
Arrangers Day (Birmingham)
May
8-10th
Sweet Adelines International
Convention, Newcastle upon Tyne
25-28th
BABS Convention, Llandudno
Messrs. Waurwick, Dalbey, Wahlgren and Slamka.
The norm al line-u p for Vocal Sp ectru m is, of cou rse, Tim
Waurwick Eric Dalbey , Chris Hallam and Johnny Moroni.
It w as alread y p lanned that Mike Slam ka (Crossroad s) w ou ld
stand in for Johnny Moroni on the Su nd ay bu t Martin Wahlgren, w ho u su ally sings w ith Sw ed en s Ringm asters, only had
time to rehearse his part on the way to Madrid.
Printed by Pixel Beach, Reading
www.pixelbeach.co.uk
See LABBS website for a full list
The ed itor reserves the right to ed it any m aterial in the interests of
clarity, accu racy, su itability and to fit the sp ace available. The
decision of the editor as to the publication of any material is final.
Contribu tors are resp onsible for the op inions and facts contained
in the m aterial they su bm it and the view s so exp ressed are not
necessarily those of the editor, or LABBS.