Vol 2016 Issue 27
29 Sept 2016
FOR YOUR CALENDAR____________________
Take note of these important 2016 dates. Changes will be made
as new information is received.
Oct 1—Nuit Blanche—watch for additional information soon
Oct 5—Coaching with Judd Orf
October 15—CACM Workshop
October 19th—November 23rd— Learn to Sing Program
October 28—BOTY Dinner
November 10—Bud and Spud
December 10—Joint Christmas Show
May 13, 2017 Northern Plains Competition (Fargo)
QUARTET CORNER
Hats Off is made up of Victor Olafson (lead); David Peters (tenor); Doogie
Kautz (baritone); and me, Ken Broadfoot (bass). We practice weekly (not
weakly!) at my house. We've been a quartet since the summer of 2014 and
are really enjoying our sound. We've been working at building up our
repertoire, which now consists of a combination of songs we've picked for the
quartet (including a Christmas song Doogie wrote and arranged himself,
Santa Put Your Phone Away); chorus songs; and polecats. So far, we've
performed at several Chapter-related gigs as well as quartet-only gigs. We're
finding that singing to small audiences is more fun than larger ones. They
tend to be more intimate in the sense that we can interact with the audience
members more easily and informally - and we don't feel as bad about Victor
telling his frog jokes! Probably the most enjoyable gig we had was a housewarming party we did for a young
couple. Cont page 2
Inside this issue:
Our Bud and Spud will be held on
10 November and we are asking all
members to solicit a minimum of
two donations for our Silent Auction.
Please give them to Ken F or Brian S
as you bring them in to rehearsals.
Thanks for your support. This is one
of our biggest events for fund raising.
Upcoming Events
Birthdays
Learn to Sing
1
1
2
Learn to Sing
3
Rehearsal Schedule
4
Calendar
5
Editorial Page
6
We have TEN donations to date
28 September 2016
WC REHEARSAL SEPT 28, 2016
7:30
Open with our “new” Welcome song and
any upbeat song out of repertoire – Art / Victor
7:35
Vocal Craft/Warm-up – Art / Victor
7:50
CACM Sectionals ─ Do You Know the Way to Bethlehem?
a new Christmas song for the joint choruses. Copies will have to be distributed.
A fairly easy learn for notes, but wordy…
8:20 aprox.
return to sing Do You Know the Way to Bethlehem? ensemble – Art / Victor
8:35
Review Be Our Guest (about 15 - 20 minutes)
Work on page 1 of Bring Him Home (whatever time is left until break time) – Art / Victor
This song is not so much difficult as it is to keep from sinking in pitch. The problem
is on page 1. Pay attention to any trick that may be suggested to help keep the
pitch up.
9:00
Health break and brief business meeting.
9:15
10 minute sectional on reviewing your section’s note issues in workin’ on the Railroad
9:25
return to sing I’ve Been workin’ on the Railroad ensemble – Art / Victor
9:35ish
check status of Christmas songs:
Little St. Nick
Angels We Have Heard on High
Lo How a Rose
Feast of Lights Medley – Art / Victor
10:00
Close with I’m Feelin’ Fine
Note 1: 7:00 pm start next Wednesday.
Judd Orff, a performance judge, will be here to coach us on October 5th. I’ve asked him to concentrate
on giving us easy transferable skills which we can use to enhance our performances without using complicated choreography. He asked that we let him work with some of our repertoire songs.
Note 2:
The Learn to Sing program Bruce spoke about will start October 23rd. This special program
will also commence each rehearsal at 7:00 pm. We are using this program to learn 2 of our Christmas
songs using the CACM method. Your participation at the 7 o’clock start will be critical in helping these
men make the decision that they want to sing with us on our shows.
QUARTET CORNER
Cont from page 1
They had invited several of their friends over. It was a small house with no air-conditioning and it was a
very warm evening. Despite that, we had a very enthusiastic response, and we had them participate in
learning and singing a couple of tags, which they seemed to get a big kick out of! A great evening,
made even better by the fact that the woman who hired us paid us a fee considerably in excess of the
amount we'd previously agreed on! And, later on, she invited us to sing at her office Christmas party!
This year has so far been a little slow for us performance-wise. We sang at a New Year's Eve party at a
seniors residence; at the Pancake Breakfast in January; at the Chapter's annual show in May; and at
the 55+ Centre in July. Our most recent gig was this past weekend where we went to Armstrong's Point
(the Eastgate/Middlegate/ Westgate area) to provide entertainment for people who were touring one of
several grand old houses there. The Sweet Adelines quartet NStyle sang there as well. It was a lovely
setting (we were on a small stage they'd set up in the garden area of the property) and the afternoon
was very pleasant.
We're currently working on a new Christmas song that Doogie has arranged, as well as a couple of
songs for Spring competition.
Ken Broadfoot
A NEW INITIATIVE FOR THE WINNIPEG CHAPTER
For a number of years, our sisters in Sweet Adelines International have capitalized on this innate human desire to Learn to Sing through a very successful program called "Ready, Set, Grow," the basis of
which is the execution of a program based on offering free voice lessons to women in their local
communities. At the same time, a number of our own chapters Society-wide have experimented with
their own hybrid programs to offer similar programs of voice instruction for men in their communities,
with varying levels of "success," as measured by increasing chapters' membership. And, as you've
likely read in a recent Harmonizer*, one of the Society's best-known International Medalist choruses,
the Sound of the Rockies (Denver), offered a program of top-rate vocal instruction, which they coined
"Ready, Set, Sing," to men in their community, resulting in a substantial growth in membership (as
well as a high degree of satisfaction among participants).
Based on the accounts of these programs, a thoughtful study by a number of Society volunteers in
conjunction with the activity of the Membership Growth Task Force, was undertaken to assess the
execution and success of a number of other Society chapters' independent programs following the
same general principle of "free voice lessons," generally lasting four to six weeks. It's subsequently
been determined that as many as twenty other such chapter-run programs, developed with or without
a blueprint specifically provided by other chapters, have been developed and executed, to one degree
or another.
Meanwhile, the Society learned of the monstrous success achieved by one of our valued affiliates,
BABS (British Association of Barbershop Singers), which, through its own organization-wide "Learn to
Sing " program in 2009-2010, increased its membership dramatically!
Even though the precise methods used by all these programs varied, as did the chapter size and-ultimately--the results (some of which are still being measured), it became clear that the concept of
"Learn to Sing " was a formidable one, capitalizing on that opportunity to both teach men to sing
(enriching their lives!) and, with proper execution, enrich the membership of our own chapters with a
well-produced, carefully executed program.
Learn to Sing Meets the Challenge, Fulfills the Mission
After a number of valued contributors were consulted to suggest, consider and comment on key elements of a standardized program which the Society might offer to its chapters for their use, the CEO
and the Director of Education asked your Music & Performance Committee, representing all 17 Districts through their DVPs (or Directors) of M&P, to shepherd the introduction and support of what is
likely to become one of the Society's most successful programs, officially called Learn to Sing . Society Staff members participated in a carefully monitored pilot of Learn to Sing in a small (but largely
healthy!) chapter in Athens, Alabama to insure that, along with the positive experience documented in
Denver and elsewhere with medium-to-large sized chapters, success with LTS could be achieved with
chapters of all sizes which commit the resources and energy to follow through with this new product.
The words of the introductory announcement distributed to media outlets by the Sound of the Rockies
Chorus simply and clearly identify the mission of this initiative, "...to offer free vocal lessons for six
weeks to men of all ages who enjoy singing and are interested in learning more about the craft of
singing four-part harmony." Here it is, in black and white: a proven way to capitalize on the inherent
desire in men to Learn to Sing while, at the same time, integrating them in a low pressure but systematic way into ensemble singing, with an eye toward bringing them into our fraternity; thus, enriching more lives through singing!
The Learn to Sing Program
Program Objectives
While the primary objective of Learn to Sing is membership growth, here's a look at other
benefits your Chapter might expect to gain from participation:
Provide solid music education to current and potential members, including
proper singing techniques
Improve participants' physical health and mental stamina
Expose non-members to the hobby in a non-threatening environment
Vary your chapter meeting
NOTE - The above write up which gives the background to the Learn to Sing Program has been extracted from the Barbershop Harmony Website.
The Plan for Implementing “Learn to Sing ” for the Winnipeg Chapter
When Drummond and I were at Leadership Academy in January, we attended a workshop put on by the
Mankato Chapter on their implementation of the Learn to Sing program. They have been running the
program for four years and of the approximately 100 men who had taken the program they had a 25%
retention rate. In other words, their chapter added 25 new members in four years!
Drummond and I brought the idea back to the Executive and it was decided that we would implement
Learn to Sing leading up to our Christmas performances.
The highlights of the plan are as follows:
Advertising of the program will start in early September. Ken Finnbogason has produced posters, a
press release and has already contacted many of the media outlets.
Any man who enjoys singing and who would like to learn more about singing is invited to attend our
rehearsals.
The Learn to Sing Program will start on October 19th and run through to November 23rd. Our first
potential Church Christmas performance is on November 25th.
Members of the Chapter together with the Learn to Sing participants will learn two Christmas
songs over that six week period.
The Rehearsal Schedule will be as follows:
6:45 Meet and Greet
8:00 Work on second song
7:00 Warm ups
8:20 Break, refreshments, tags
7:10 L2S program – vocal instruction
and training
8:30 Start regular rehearsal
10:00 Wrap up for the Night
7:40 Work on first song
The Learn to Sing participants will be invited to stay for the rest of the Chordsmen rehearsal if
they are interested.
The Learn to Sing participants will sing the two numbers they have prepared with the Chorus on
the joint show with the Sweet-Ads as well as any of the Christmas Shows at Winnipeg Churches
which we are hoping to book in the next few months (We already have one booking!).
The objective in this program is to expose men who enjoy singing to Barbershop. As you are no
doubt aware, recruitment has been a top priority for the Executive for the last several years. In
order for this program to be a success, we need buy-in and participation by each and every
member of the chapter. One of the main tenants of the program is “Each man brings a man”,
so start giving some thought to who you would like to invite out to the program. The Learn to
Sing Program is not a spectator sport---everyone needs to do their part.
I am prepared to answer questions as best I can at the next Chapter Meeting.
Bruce Wilton
~ September 2016 ~
Sunday
4
Monday
5 Labour Day
Tuesday
6
7
Corn Roast at
Arts
11
1
2
13
18
1
9
20
2
6
25
Wednesday
14
Rehearsal
21
Rehearsal
27
28
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
1
2
3
8
9
10
15
16
17
22
23
24
29
30
Rehearsal
~ October 2016 ~
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
1
Nuit Blanche
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
12
13
14
19
20
21
22
27
28
29
Coaching with
Judd Orf
9
10
11
16
17
18
Rehearsal
15
CACM Workshop
Learn to Sing
23
24
25
26
Learn to Sing
30
31
BOTY Dinner
Winnipeg Golden
Chordsmen
the Web
n
o
e
r
a
om
We
rdsmen.c
o
h
c
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www.go
Notes 4 U
This is the official weekly bulletin of the Winnipeg
Golden Chordsmen Chorus. For more information
about us go to our website:
www.goldenchordsmen.com
Editor - Brian Sanderson – 204-895-0989
barbrian@shaw.ca 3 Peppertree Pl Winnipeg, Mb,
R3R2B2
Unless carrying a by-line or some form of credit to
borrowed sources, all items in this bulletin are by
the editor and do not necessarily reflect the
opinions of the chapter or board. If anyone wishes
to contribute anything to the next Notes 4 U, wishes
to subscribe or un-subscribe, or has questions
about any of the items in Notes, contact the editor.
2016 Chapter Executive
President - Drummond Brown
Past President - Art Gross
Executive VP—Bruce Wilton
VP Membership & Chapter Development - Harold Casselman
& Larry Bredesen
VP Music and Performance - Herold Driedger
VP Marketing & Public Relations - Ken Finnbogason
Secretary - Ken Broadfoot
Treasurer - David Petrie
Chorus Manager—Chris Magas
Board Members at Large
Larry Hunter Ian McAmmond
Brian Metcalfe Brian Sanderson
2016 Music Committee
VP Music and Performance - Herold Driedger
Director - Sherrie Bredesen
Assistant Directors Victor Olafson, Art Gross
Tenor Section - Duncan Zaluski Asst. Art Gross
Lead Section - Larry Hunter Asst Charles Siegel
Bass Section - Ken Finnbogason Asst Larry Bredesen
Baritone Section - John Latham
2016 Leadership Positions
Accountant - Gary Miles
Attendance and 50/50 - Norm Silverberg
Awards Banquet Chairs - Gary & Ricki Miles
Charities - Harold Casselman
Xmas Chorus – Larry Bredesen
Grey Cup Pool Chair – Brian Sanderson
Historian Music Librarian - Duncan Zaluski
Notes 4 U Editor – Brian Sanderson
Program Director –
Refreshments - Milt Muldrew, Harold Casselman
Singing Valentines –
Sing Canada Harmony - Gordon Billows
Sunshine – Harold Casselman
Wardrobe - Charles Siegel, Gordon Sargent
Website - Gordon Billows
Youth Outreach – Brian Sanderson, Ian McAmmond,
Jeremy Clemens-Mierau
Competition Coordinator –
2016 Show Producers – Art Gross
2016 Show Chairman—Brian Metcalfe
District Delegate/Chapter Counsellor Gordon Billows