Page 29 - PowerPoint Presentation

Tags and Swipes, Winter 2022

Sound of New England Chorus

Greetings from Sound of New England Chorus to all our sisters in harmony! By the time you read this,
2021 will have come to a close and we'll be into a new year. We hope you all had a good holiday season
filled with many of your favorite things.

We've had some changes in our chorus since the last update. Our temporary rehearsal space at St. Joseph
University ended when the fall semester started. We continued to meet on ZOOM until early autumn when
we were enthusiastically welcomed by Bethany Lutheran Church. We currently rehearse in the sanctuary
which has a tiered access to the altar area. This serves as a great alternative to risers! We film our
rehearsals by live feed on Facebook so that members who can't join us in person can participate virtually.

Fall Regional was cancelled due to Covid concerns but many of us watched remotely as Dale Syverson,
noted director/coach/judge, presented sessions entitled: Learning styles - What's in it for me?, Jewels of
music, Embellishments, Dabbling in dynamics and Understanding the art of ballad singing. Nothing can
replace the "in-person " experience of educational offerings, but we are so grateful that technology has given
us the capability to carry on virtually. "Travel in Tune" has been another wonderful opportunity to visit
other regions for insights into how we can cope during these times which are so "not normal" for our art
form. We enjoyed "Daily Grateful" offered by Erin Howden of Region 16 as she reminded us that our
commitment to our love of barbershop cannot be deterred just because the virus has kept us apart. We look
forward to another episode of "Travel in Tune" in January.

At our last rehearsal in October, we came dressed for Halloween and discussed what we had been doing to
pass time at home during Covid. One of our members achieved certification as a yoga instructor, another
learned to knit. And we read books - lots and lots of books! We also shared with each other something that
had been the weirdest thing to ever happen to us during Halloween. We heard some pretty strange stuff! In
November we started reviewing our Christmas music just in case we might get an opportunity to perform in
the community during the holidays.

We celebrated SONE's 28th anniversary, complete with a cake made by our member, Andrea, via
ZOOM. We couldn't eat the cake but it certainly looked delicious on our computers! We spent some time
reminiscing and discussing ways to cope, to optimize our thinking, to live in the present and formulate goals
for the future. We've had a tough year emotionally with the passing of several members of our SONE
family: Angie Levine's mother, Angela; Gwen Sibley and Marilyn Averill who were active SONE
members; and Carolyn Marsano, member emeritus. We grieve the recent sudden loss of John Reynolds,
husband of member, Val Reynolds. Our hearts are saddened beyond belief at these losses but the memories
we have of these wonderful people buoy us and inspire us as we carry on.

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North Atlantic Region 1 Sweet Adelines