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IN THIS ISSUE
- Keep A Melody Ringing – honouring those who have gone before.
- “Thank yous” for educational opportunities at Harmony College NorthWest
- Centennial Secondary School’s production, The Little Mermaid Jr.
- Harmony, Inc Area 1 fundraiser
- Leave a Legacy. Include Sing Canada Harmony in your will.
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Keep A Melody Ringing plaque
The KEEP A MELODY RINGING plaque is a permanent memorial dedicated to Canadians who loved Barbershop Harmony. When Sing Canada Harmony receives a memorial donation to honour a chapter member, their spouse or friend, the name of the individual is posted to the In Memoriam section of Sing Canada Harmony’s website. When the cumulative In Memoriam donations reach $1000 or more, a memorial plate is engraved with the individual’s information for the plaque. The KEEP A MELODY RINGING plaque is located at BHS Headquarters in Nashville, TN.
There are currently 34 plates on the plaque, each containing 5 names of people who have been honoured by their peers in memory of their love of barbershop and their contributions. Here is an example.
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Sounds of Superior Chorus
The Sounds of Superior Chorus would like to thank the Scholarship Committee for awarding the chorus a very generous scholarship to support a chorus retreat and coaching session with Erin Howden. Your support has allowed us to benefit once again from the energy and knowledge that Erin brings, renewing our commitment to grow our craft and bring excellence in performing.
Our coaching workshop was held on the evening of Friday, April 25 and all day Saturday, April 26. The focus of our workshop was on unifying our sound and visual communication with our audience.
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Women in Harmony Barbershop Chorus
Greetings! On behalf of the members of the Women in Harmony barbershop chorus based here in Brandon, Manitoba, I’d like to sincerely thank you for your kind awarding of a scholarship in March. The monies granted were utilised to provide for the presentation of a Find Your Voice Prospective Member night held on April 7th. We introduced our guests to the basics of barbershop, learned a new song together (“Lean On Me”…..the perfect message in these challenging times), and shared fellowship over munchies afterwards. We have had two new members join the chorus as a result of the evening! As a small chorus, every new member gains strength and enriches our little community and provides the opportunity for us to share our love of a cappella singing with someone new. We also used these monies to hold a May 24th one-day retreat for our chorus members to learn new repertoire, which will be used at our Fall show being planned for October 18th. The chorus members worked very hard delving into these arrangements but also enjoyed the visiting and bonding that happens when you spend the whole day together as opposed to two and a half hours on Monday nights at rehearsal.
Thank you for your continued support of a cappella singing at the grassroots level in Canada. All the best. Take care!
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We helped several people attend the excellent school put on by the Evergreen District. Harmony College NorthWest (NCNW).
Two of their stories follow.
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Cam Bischoff writes:
I was granted a Sing Canada Harmony scholarship to assist me in going to Harmony College Northwest for the first time. As a chorus member who is on the board and has recently taken on more of a leadership role, I was encouraged by my director to attend the event as an educational opportunity. It was a great weekend of fun, learning and networking within the barbershop community, as well as a chance to take in performances from groups to whom I wouldn’t otherwise have much exposure.
My choice of courses focused on what would help me better serve my chorus. This meant sessions on chorus warm-ups, running sectionals, rehearsal methods, healthy chapter initiatives, and defining organisational values. I also attended a PVI and some vocal production classes to both further my own skills as well as develop new tools to assist singers around me. Finally, as an often nervous singer, I made a selfish pick to attend a talk on performance anxiety!
Not only did I gain many new insights from the experience, but was also validated in much of the knowledge and beliefs I already held. I left the event with a greater sense of confidence in my abilities and in being a trustworthy voice to my chorus mates. I am very grateful for the support that Sing Canada Harmony is bringing to those who lack the funds to participate in opportunities such as HCNW. I have been aware of their work for some time, but having now gone through the scholarship process for myself, I have a greater interest in what they are doing and in supporting them in return, to “pay it forward” to the next singer.
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Dawson Honey writes:
Being quite new to the Barbershop community, I was very excited to be able to attend HCNW and receive some formal instruction. I particularly enjoyed the arranger’s workshop where I learned some more technical aspects of the style, and was able to put names to concepts I had picked up on earlier. I also attended a class on improvisation where I learned several exercises that I hope to try with my chorus and quartet. Since coming home, I’ve led a warmup session for my chorus with an exercise that I learned in the pitch maintenance class.
Aside from the structured sessions and performances, which showed me the upper levels of what can be achieved in this style, it was also valuable to be able to just walk around and join in with random people learning and singing tags. The sounds of it coming down the hallway drew me like a moth to a flame, and it was wonderful to be able to meet like-minded people who were interested in singing and music to the degree that I am.
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You make a difference*!
When you donate to Sing Canada Harmony, you help us to provide educational opportunities for worthy recipients across Canada.
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Centennial Secondary School’s production, The Little Mermaid Jr.
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