ISLAND CITY CHORUS

GREATER MONTREAL CHAPTER

SPEBSQSA Inc.

The Little Chorus that could!

MINI PITCH

Date: May 5, 2003

Our Associate Director Morgan LaCroix and her friends enjoyed a pretty good contest, placing well in the Quartet Contest at the Sweet Adeline Region 1 Convention this weekend. At this time no scores are available for the chorus contest.

Last weekend the Montreal Chapter of Harmony, Inc. competed in the Area 2 contest. The chorus qualified for the Harmony, Inc. International Contest in November, and a quartet with Lindsay Chartier also qualified (after singing together for four hours. [You will have to ask Lindsay about this is a story.])

This means that Lindsay has qualified to sing at the International Contests of both Harmony, Inc. and Sweet Adelines in the same year. Pretty impressive!

The West Island Chronicle really is going to run a story on the preparations for the International Convention. It will be appearing in the Wednesday, May 7th Issue.

There was too much news last week.

Stan Blicker has an opportunity for us to sing for a group on Friday, May 23, 2003 in the evening. Please check your schedule and try to be there. It is a paid singout!

Get your souvenir lapel pin for the 2003 International Convention. They are on sale for $7.50 CDN or $5.00 US. This is going to be a major fundraiser for the Chapter, and Ron Schurman has already sent out letters to the Presidents of all NED Chapters, encouraging them to send in orders. Replies are already coming in.

If you need a pin, or will be going somewhere that you can sell some of these pins, ask Ron Schurman, Murray Phillips, or Steve Wheaton for some. The money we raise will be very helpful in financing the extras we want to do during the Convention.

Plans are underway for the 6^th Annual "One Step at a Time" Walk of Hope so please mark your calendars now. The Missing Children's Network Canada, in collaboration with CJAD/MIX 96, is proud to announce that its annual Walk of Hope will be held on Saturday, May 31st, 2003 at Centennial Park in Beaconsfield, 288 Beaconsfield Blvd. This is a great opportunity to be seen by the media. Let’s help raise funds for the Missing Children's Network and help raise awareness of barbershopping in general.

Pledge forms are available from Alan MacKenzie.

Last Thursday, the people in charge of committees and activities met to share their progress. Things are coming along well and with less than two months to go, we are on schedule. We will have a great Convention!

There are over 9,480 people registered so far, and the hotel reservations are being picked up at a remarkable rate. The block is over 85% taken as of Thursday, May 1.

This is the last weekend for Prelims and we will know which quartets have qualified by the time we rehearse on Monday.

After some soul searching and discussion, Steve Wheaton and Murray Phillips have taken on the Transportation Committee chairmanship. This will be part of their duties as Co-Chairmen of the Convention. They have nothing else to do anyway.

During convention week, we are recommending that all volunteers, except those needing their cars for the job they are doing, use public transportation. As you know, parking downtown is expensive. We will have a very limited number of parking discount coupons. If you, or one of your volunteers really needs parking, let Stan Blicker know.

We are still accumulating the reserve of volunteers needed to make this a successful convention.

Do you have any friends that would like to see what goes on at our Conventions? Suggest that they volunteer.

Remember that we will need everyone's total commitment the week of the Contest. The email to volunteers asking for their shirt size has been sent and we are in the process of ordering the volunteer shirts for the people who will be helping us with the Convention.

I was in harmony heaven this week as I listened to my new Four Voices CD. The long awaited CD was worth the wait!

The enthusiasm of these four young men is evident throughout the selections they have included. There is a fun bonus track where they talk about their voyage to the Championship, and the importance of music in their lives. All four are graduates of Lee University and sang in the Voices of Lee during their university careers.

When Four Voices competed in Nashville the hit of the quartet contest was their rendition of "If I Only Had a Brain," followed by "No No Nora." Both are on the CD, along with "Lazybones," David Wright's wonderful arrangement. Clay Hine (Gold medal baritone of FRED) is the primary arranger for Four Voices, and his work is everywhere on this CD. The Voices of Lee have one cut as well, singing, "Lamb of God."

If you have one, I am sure you are enjoying it. If you haven't I can recommend that you pick one up. They will be available at the International Convention in Harmony Marketplace.

Four Voices will be one of our featured quartets for the Annual Show on May 29, 2004

Practice is something we do at home, every day, between rehearsals!

Rehearsal is where we reinforce what we have been practising every day!