Date: March 18, 2002 Erin Howden next week!

We welcomed Rob Mance back in front of the chorus last week. For a guy who had his tonsils out a week and a half before, he looked and sounded remarkably well.

He even taught us a "short" tag. J

We are continuing to make incremental improvements week after week. I don't know about you, but I am having a great time singing with you every week. The fact we sound great to ourselves is wonderful. That our audiences enjoy what we do makes it a shared enjoyment that is hard to beat. The ringing chords are there to hear and feel. This is fun!

Unfortunately we won't be going on to the finals of the CBC Choral Concert Competition.

In an email message Rob Mance noted, "But, what an honour it was just to make it to the semi-finals (however, I still don't know when we'll be on the radio?) We received some very good marks (no matter what system they were using) and we received some very good comments. Apparently they had over 80 choirs to choose from in the various categories to send to the finals. They normally choose 2-3 choirs per category to move on. And, as mentioned these choirs normally already have CDs for sale at HMV. So, it was great to be up with that calibre of group.

"Here are what the judges had to say word for word... (They didn't even give us their name... just unreadable signatures.)

"'Judge 1: Quite expressive singing, good sound. Some attacks were a little ragged (Love Me) tuning not always solid - some harmonies difficult to read (Beginning) Good Work Mark: 79'

"'Judge 2: Nice Style and Good Sound! Mark: 79'

"'Judge 3: Great work - Really nice style - you caught the feel of each piece - Thank you for your performance! Mark: 80'

"'Judge 4: Belle sonorité - Fondu intéressant - dans le David Wright notamment. Mark: 80'

"'Judge 5: Challenging, quite adventurous repertoire. One feels the pleasure in singing from the ensemble. Mark: 75'

"Some very good comments from a national Jury of non-barbershop big-music people! Very Cool! I'm really excited to go for it again next time!"

The experience of singing and recording was great, the fact we were chosen to be semi-finalists was a great honour.

If we keep doing what we are doing and improve as we have shown we can, maybe next time we will make the finals (and maybe have a CD at HMV).

I swiped this idea from Tim Rutherford from the Ottawa Chapter. Here are the riser teams and a schedule.

The clock is starting to tick down toward our International Convention and Contest. We are at the stage of collecting the names of volunteers who are willing and able to work with us during the week of the convention.

The list of responsibilities and the timeline for their execution will be discussed when Steve Wheaton and Murray Phillips, the Convention co-chairmen meet with John Schneider, SPEBSQSA Manager, Convention and Meetings this coming Thursday. There has been some confusion as to who is responsible for what, that has resulted in a duplication of effort in some areas, so this meeting will clarify what we need to do, and by when.

There will be regular updates in the Mini-Pitch, so the members will know what is going on.

Right now the logo for the convention is going through its final stages, with the SPEBSQSA headquarters making the final decision.

Once it is approved, we will be developing the volunteer apparel and getting materials in place to start the sale of registrations.

Watch this space for more information.

Everett (Ev) Nau, Managing Director of Membership Development at SPEBSQSA Headquarters recently underwent quadruple bypass surgery. He has made a remarkable recovery, but this week had to be one of the toughest for him. Ev is a big guy who is from the Northeastern District and who has friends everywhere.

He was on his way to the funeral of his Stepmother when he received word that his Father had suffered a heart attack. He continued to his destination, and went to bed to get some much needed rest, when at 1:30 in the morning he was told to get to the hospital fast, as his Father had taken a turn for the worse. Unfortunately, Ev was unable to get there in time, as his Father died at 1:56 am. Our deepest sympathies go to Ev and his family.

We are all asked to help with the Harmony Inc. Area Contest and Convention. Since there will be an opportunity to enjoy a great barbershop weekend, I am sure you will want to be there.

In addition, we will want to help them, since they will be helping us with International 2003.

For more information ask Stacy Hugman-Frenette.

We are working on presentation and learning Roses of Picardy. If there is time we will start the Gershwin Medley. It will be a great one.

Rob will provide the April schedule soon!.