ISLAND CITY CHORUS

GREATER MONTREAL CHAPTER

SPEBSQSA Inc.

The Little Chorus that could!

MINI PITCH

Date: June 17, 2002

Congratulations to everyone who made the Guest Night a success. Special thanks to those who actually invited guests!

It looks very promising for three new members from the group that visited with us, and we exposed our hobby to a bunch of other people.

Jerry Silverberg and his team did a great job of organizing the evening, and everyone lent a hand to make our guests feel welcome.

Teaching a tag was an excellent way to show how easy it can be to learn a song in harmony. The fact we learned two helped make our prospective members more comfortable with the idea that they could "do this thing!"

For those who had guests, ask them how they enjoyed the evening and invite them back.

For those who didn't have a guest, invite one or two over the next week or two. After all, a person can only say yes or no to the idea.

It is time to start deciding how you want to pay for your share of the Summer Costume. As previously announced we will be looking great in a forest green polo shirt, tan pants, black belt, black socks and black shoes.

The members will be asked to pay $50.00 toward the cost of our outfit. The Chapter will pay for the remaining cost.

If you wish to use your accumulated credits to defray part of the $50.00 cost, you need to inform Jerry Silverberg as soon as possible. Since the gang going to Portland to promote our International Convention needs the costume, we will have it within the next few weeks. Très cool!

Thank you, to all those who have taken on the responsibility for setting up and taking down the risers. Please lend a hand where you can.

The registration fee has been set for the Montreal International Contest and Convention.

Early-bird registrants will pay $100.00 US. That will also put you in the early registrants' draw for seats and housing. All volunteers who wish to see any part of the contests MUST purchase a registration package.

What a great job everyone did at the Mason Temple on June 6. Two standing ovations, that's a first for us, and everyone should be proud of the way we performed. It was also fantastic that only 4 members were missing and that was due to illness or business commitments that couldn't be changed.

The comments from audience members after the show were incredible and we all left on a high looking forward to the next big performance. Speaking of which if any of you know of a convention, show or meeting where we could possibly perform please let us know.

In the meantime we continue to strive for excellence and to reach this goal we have booked our fall retreat at new facilities. The date is Sept.27-29 and the location is the CENTRE NOTRE DAME DE FATIMA on Île Perrot with property leading down to the lake.

The facilities are great. There are two buildings with four private bedrooms and four beds in each. We have five meals plus snacks included in our cost and what a great menu they have for us to select from.

The kitchen and dining rooms are super and our meals will be prepared by the staff and served cafeteria style. We will just need to bring our own Martoooonies as Bert Brossoit would say.

The cost will be $75.00 per person plus tax for everything. Remember if you raise any money for the Chapter by selling fund raising items 5% of the sale goes to your credit. You can use this amount to reduce your cost of this weekend. See Jerry Silverberg for monies you may have accumulated to date.

Let's all plan to be there. It's a great learning experience and a fun weekend for everyone.

We will also have wonderful coaching.

Here is our current and future repertoire list:

Songs in italic are going to be dropped. Songs in bold are to be learned or re-learned.

The 2002 International Convention in Portland is just around the corner, and we are in final preparation for our best webcast yet, with a whopping 36 hours of Internet broadcast live from the Rose Garden Arena in Portland, Oregon

Webcasts begin approximately 30 minutes before show -- subject to change. Times presented as webcast starts / performance starts

11:45 AM preshow / 12:15 p.m. contest - First quartet quarterfinals round. Forty-four quartets are in the running this year -- here are the first half.

06:45 PM preshow / 7:15 PM contest Second quartet quarterfinals round

06:30 PM preshow / 7 PM show - The Association of International Champions presents "United We Sing."

09:30 AM preshow / 10 AM contest

MBNA America Collegiate Barbershop Quartet Contest.

06:45 PM preshow / 7:15 PM contest -- Quartet semifinals: the Top Twenty quartets shoot it out for a chance at the finals.

10:15 AM preshow / 10:45 AM contest -- 2002 International Chorus Competition

6:30 PM preshow - 7 PM contest -- International Quartet Finals! Another tight race expected -- and as exciting as ever.

You'll need the Windows Media Player (http://www.windowsmedia.com/download) to tune in to the webcast. There are players for Windows 95 and later, and for Macintosh System 8 and later.

You'll be able to get all the information from our webcast page at the Portland web site, http://www.spebsqsa.org/portland

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

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