Date: October 29, 2001

Chorus Contest

What a great chorus contest. For the first time in many years, we got to see everyone but the first two choruses perform. It was a great show.

It got kind of scary, because the entertainment value of the presentations was really good, and we were trying to hold on to our sixth place position from 2000.

The Granite Statesmen showed why they are becoming perennial Champions of NED. They gave us a roller coaster ride of emotion and energy filled love songs with "What’ll I do," and "You’re Nobody Till Somebody Loves You."

As the contest continued, several choruses had excellent performances. Portland, Springfield, Saratoga, Burlington, Worcester, Manchester and Concord all looked like they had a chance at knocking us out of the medals, and we hadn’t seen Providence, but we knew they were always a top five threat.

When the results were announced, "Fifth Place, Springfield!" there was a hope left we had hung on for sixth, then came: "Fourth Place, Greater Montreal!" There was a collective cheer from our loyal supporters and then a huge sign of relief. The hard work was paying off.

The evaluation sessions were excellent, with Allen Gasper, lead of Saturday Evening Post, giving the Singing eval, with some great suggestions to help bring us to the next level. He was the low judge. Dennis Driscoll, Music Judge and arranger gave us the music eval, and again offered valuable information. Bobby Gray Jr. (bari of Saturday Evening Post Gold Medalist with 1985 Quartet Champs, New Tradition) was the low Presentation judge and he gave us a valuable eval, with some practical suggestions to carry us forward.

Dinner was next, with the gang all going to The Weathervane, where the great controlled singing was less apparent, but the fun was unrestrained. Our servers were cheery and efficient, the food was good and the companionship beyond compare!

Quartet Contest

Road Show was the run away winner of the quartet contest, taking a big lead on Friday night and adding a big score on Saturday night. These four guys had the audience (including the judges) from the start.

NEDAC show

The NEDAC show featured the Chorus Champion, Nashua, NH Granite Statesmen. They gave a very entertaining show reprising their contest set, and a great two-minute and 30 second version of the Ed Sullivan Show. It was very amusing.

They completed their set with an emotional and beautifully sung version of "God Bless America," inviting the audience to join in on the last chorus.

The past District Champs, Northeast Connection (1996), Club NED (1999) and Overdrive (2000) and the new Champs Road Show then wowed the audience with some great singing. The Preliminary Contest next April should be a real treat!

What’s next? We start tonight getting ready for Division.

Please check the list of jobs to ensure that your name is on the list in a place where you will be comfortable working for the week of the International convention. Have you signed up to take that week as vacation? Do it now!

We will need everyone from our Chapter to be available. This is going to be a massive undertaking, but it will be a lot of fun.

If it is possible for you, plan to come to Portland, OR for the SPEBSQSA 2002 International Convention and Contest. Besides having a wonderful time, you will be able to help us promote Montreal 2003, and to sell advance registrations. We hope that we will have the largest ever attendance at a SPEBSQSA International.

We start on the road to Division this week, but with party time to celebrate our great showing at District.

Please make sure that you have reviewed all the music that we will be singing this week and the presentation plan for each song, so that we are always in performance mode. We are singing well. Let's make sure that the audience (including Judges!) sees us at our best in all areas!

Feet, knees, shoulders, tongue, jaw. Remember what to do with each, and do it before each song we sing.

Here is our current repertoire list:

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

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