Page 18 - PowerPoint Presentation

Tags and Swipes, Spring 2021

Sound of New England Chorus

The dawn of a new year brought SONE hope for an eventual return to live rehearsals with the onset of
Covid 19 vaccinations. At our first January ZOOM meeting, we all stated our new year’s
resolutions. Many of us were brutally honest saying “ My resolution is to NOT make a resolution since
resolutions are so difficult to maintain.” We all did agree though that getting some physical activity and
daily singing into our schedules would be an attainable goal.

Our first guests of 2021 were Connie Light, Melody White, Lindsay Chartier and Holly Fisher of
Titanium. They are a vivacious foursome who gave us useful tips in our voice part break – out
sessions. They hooked us on trying their “ twelve step process to learning music” as we tackle our next
piece of music.

Many of our members tuned into the virtual Regional Weekend with presenter, Mary Rhea. The classes
were impressive and well organized. We certainly miss the “in person” experience, but the Region One
management team is to be commended for making us feel as together as possible under these unusual
circumstances.

February brought a new and very entertaining segment to our meetings with one of our beloved basses,
Marilyn Averill, launching “Queen for a Day”. Sue Mimnaugh was selected at random and was
interviewed with a series of questions that allowed us to get to know her better. We learned that, aside from
her passion for singing, she loves gardening and plants over 200 dahlia bulbs yearly along with many other
flowers. She also tends to our feathered friends and welcomes many birds to her yard. We look forward to
meeting other members in depth when they get their chance to be “ Queen for a Day”.

Liz Hardcastle, the lead from the international champion quartet, Ambiance, visited and regaled us
with anecdotes about her years with this magnificent quartet. We were surprised to hear that learning tracks
in the Ambiance era were not vocal but instead were instrumental. Liz feels that the instrumental tracks
were superior because it is good training in helping voices emulate the timbre of a particular instrument. We
have often been told, for example, that the basses need to sound like cellos. Now we can see the sensibility
of the human voice mimicking instruments. Liz told us her quartet earned money by performing on
weekends. They did shows on thirty weekends per year for nine years! A tough schedule to maintain
while raising families and working!

As a twenty -two year old just beginning her career in Sweet Adelines, Liz said her best lesson learned was
the importance of female relationships and how strong women are. In her 20’s, 30’s and 40’s, she learned to
be a “team player” instead of a “star”. She learned that unity, equality and working together are
paramount. Her most recent revelation is that a person needs to accept change and limitations. And a
favorite saying she shared – “With a song in your heart, how can you go wrong?”

On February 12, we held a surprise birthday party for our master director, Marion. There were members
of SONE, from both the present and the past, as well as Marion’s family and friends in on the ZOOM
call. Marion means so much to all of us in SONE, and we were thrilled that she could feel such joy on her
special day – flowers and balloons included!

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North Atlantic Region 1 Sweet Adelines