Page 24 - Fall 2021 Tags and Swipes

Tags and Swipes, Fall 2021

Sound of New England Chorus

Sunny greetings from Sound of New England Chorus! After a long winter, it’s been refreshing to have an
additional hour of sunlight at the end of the day and the promise fulfilled of warmer weather, flowers
blooming and trees displaying new growth. An antithesis to anticipation of spring and summer was the
sudden loss of beloved chorus member, Gwen Sibley, in March. Gwen had a beautiful voice and was a
linchpin of the bass section. She originally sang with Farmington Valley Chorus and was a charter member
of SONE. We hold her sister , Kathy, who is also a SONE member, in our thoughts and prayers.

March brought Mo Barrett to us via Zoom for another inspirational session. Next came “What a Pile of
Craft”, the Region One educational weekend. Many of our members attended the sessions virtually, and we
want to thank the Region One planning committee for all the work that was required to put this
together! Well done! Again another wonderful educational event occurred in April with Region One’s “
Roots of Performance” which was offered 4/5 through 4/9.

Past International Queens of Harmony, “Love Notes”, visited virtually in April and led us through some
exercises focused on getting our voices back in shape. We continued to work on new music and also brain –
stormed ideas about how we could manage to get back to in- person rehearsals. Zoom rehearsals continued
to start with “good news” from each member, physical and vocal warm – ups followed by work on new
music and review of repertoire.

In early May, Val Reynolds was honored as our “Queen for a Day”. It was so enlightening to hear more
about Val, her commitment to her music- writing and recording. These are such interesting facts that most
of us never knew about Val! We watched our 2019 regional contest video and offered critiques. There are
further sessions planned to go into detail regarding what we can do to improve. We also had a session with
Corrina Garriock who watched the video with us and offered suggestions to guide our efforts to
improve. May was a busy month that gave us another “Queen for the Day”, Alex Chase. We learned that
Alex works as a guitar builder and is a member of the Luthier Guild of America!

June brought a welcome visit from Tori Postma who gave us an in depth discussion of the newly – named
category, visual communication ( previously known as showmanship). We watched videos of Liza Minnelli
and Justin Timberlake to get a sense of what is really needed to engage the interest of an audience. Another
wonderful Region One event,” MASK-erade”, was held in June at the Sheraton in Springfield. The agenda
included a workshop presented by 2012 International Quartet winners, “ Martini”. A contest for best
decorated mask was held and the new Region One logo design was unveiled.

In July we were able to have our first in-person rehearsal in a classroom at the University of St. Joseph! It
was just so unbelievable to see each other and get to hear barbershop chords LIVE!! Our live rehearsals are
in a state of flux due to the increased Covid delta cases. Another factor is we have no assurance that we will
be able to use a room at the college once the students return for the beginning of the semester. Our
management team continues to work on a variety of possible rehearsal sites.

Another sadness occurred this summer with the passing of Angela Levine, the mother of our team leader,
Angie Levine. Angela was one of our most loyal supporters who rarely missed any of our
performances. We extend deepest condolences to Angie and her family.

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North Atlantic Region 1 Sweet Adelines