To support young singers, several ladies from AHH! assisted at two high school vocal music events. The first was Barbershop Mania at Oak Park High School, a quartet competition.



The winning quartet from Barbershop Mania got the chance to sing at the annual Dick Van Dyke High School Benefit Show. Members of AHH! had a blast working alongside fellow barbershoppers from Channelaire and Harmony Oaks men’s chorus at these inspiring events.

On the membership front, we are happy to welcome two new leads, Andrea Heisser and Linda Somdal, to the risers.

AHH! recently performed for over 600 women at the annual P.E.O. convention with an audience of women who are members of a sisterhood similar to Sweet Adelines. They were charming hosts. Following that we had the thrill of singing in the fabulous Air Force One Pavilion at the Reagan Library. Wow, what a venue!

Of course we are SO proud of AHH!'s own, Catherine Berriz, and Quartet Champions, Spirit. Please mark down this date: September 28.  Join us at an exclusive "Renew Your Spirit" Spa Day, an AHH! FUNdraiser for Spirit, at a deluxe location in Camarillo. Please visit the registration table for more information. Attendance is limited so be sure to get your ticket to this day of luxury.

Recently, we have had two coaches – Colleen Wilson and Jim Turnmire – come for evening rehearsals and an all-day retreat. We had a great learning time singing and preparing the song repertoire for our show, “Life is a Cabaret”, which will be on September 6 at the Clovis Veterans Memorial Building at 6 pm. For Cabaret ticket information, as well as news of other chorus events, please log on to www.caheartland.org. Come taste the wine, come hear the songs, come blow your diet, start celebrating – right this way, your table’s waiting!

Since March we've welcomed two new members, experienced lead, Cheryl Dove, and new bass, Lois Harvey. We're happy to have them with us.

Our June show, “How the West was Sung”, was a smashing success. We had a terrific time featuring (and sending off) Alisa Zichterman, Río's baritione, who is now married and living in Alexandria, VA. She's left a big hole in the chorus that will be hard to fill.

Our dear director, Queen Dani, attended the final IES and we are enjoying her sharing the knowledge she gained. We so love and admire Dani's spirit and guidance, and continue to have a wonderful time with her at the helm.

With just 3 more months before we take the contest stage in Hawaii, Channelaire’s activities are really heating up! Between now and then, we’re coaching, doing a show, kicking up our fundraising efforts, altering costumes, polishing music, and synchronizing choreo! Thanks, especially, to everyone who has supported our recent fundraisers – the Japanese pitch pipes are being shipped all around the U.S. and the world!!

It was great to see so many of you at our annual Cabaret Show in June. All of our chapter quartets were terrific – and even though it was 100 degrees that day, we never saw you sweat!  Well … maybe only a little!  Hope you’ve all marked your calendars for our big show on October 18. We look forward to presenting our Hawaii packages for our wonderful audience! This year we’ll be doing a matinee and evening performance at the newly renovated Oceanview Pavillion in Port Hueneme (Ventura Co.). Watch the R11NG and your mailboxes for information!

Jeff Baker

Channelaire has been working with vocal teacher, Diann Alexander, on a new program we’ve dubbed, “800 Club” – a series of five 2-hour workshops, with 1-hour small group follow-up. The workshops are yielding wonderful results and inspiring many of us to work even more on improving our voices. And of course, we love and appreciate our coaches Betty Clipman, Diane Porsch, and Jeff Baker. And Lori DeHoog, who provides immeasurable weekly visual support.

We can’t wait to work with Sandy and Ase this weekend in Bakersfield – and of course, “test drive” our Hawaii songs for our Region 11 friends on the Winners’ Circle Show. THANK YOU to the Winners’ Circle for offering this invaluable opportunity to the International competitors. And to Agoura Hills Harmony – we know how much time and effort it takes to be the host chorus this weekend. We appreciate you!

The squeaks have been silenced – those wretched squeaks that signal every weight shift, each foot movement. Our vintage risers have been sent to a school district that will treat them with respect and we have new, quiet, cushy risers. A blessed relief for all, except the front row who still stand on the unforgiving floor and can no longer blame riser noise for their lack of concentration on choreo.

Linda Kelly, Master Director Extraordinaire, and Caroline McLean, the diva of harmony at L.A. South Towns put on a quartet matching mixer for our two choruses. The resulting sets of four will participate in the first (annual?) Nervous Novice Quartet contest in August, subject to rules with curious overtones. Perhaps these “gems in the polishing process” will join the ranks of Region 11 registered quartets. Golden Sands is proud of our two registered quartets, High Tide and Dazzle. Will there be more?

Our Long Beach summer is filled with quartetting, beach parties, a garage sale, an endless number of new songs to learn, a show to plan, new members, and … we just booked Jim Arns for a very special coaching session. It’s great to be a beach girl!

Save the date for our fall show … Hollywood Canteen, a USO tribute … October 18. –
Margaret Brewer

As we continue the search for new members and a Director of the future, co-directors, Belinda and Nancy, work hard to keep the chorus progressing with vocal education and an expanding repertoire.

Our Merced Community continues to support us and keep us busy with performances. For the second time, we’re honored to be invited to sing in the 3rd Annual Music of Merced Festival on May 2, 2009, which will include some 30 other local music groups. This festival raises funds toward the restoration of our 1931 Merced Theater, which, along with others, was gutted and turned into a four-plex in 1978.

At the big Atwater July 4th celebration we gave a new twist to “Shop and Sing” by calling it  “STOP AND SING”. We invited women to STOP at our booth to SING a TAG or familiar tune with us. It was a FUN and SUCCESSFUL MARKETING Event.

Wow – Sylvia Alsbury! We got to share her expertise, knowledge and experience for only one evening, but it will be an evening we won’t soon forget. Thanks, Sylvia!

"One, Two, Three Strikes” . . . Hey! We weren’t out – we were in! On June 18th and July 5th, PHC was featured at Sinsheimer Field during the San Luis Blues and Rattler's baseball games, opening with the National Anthem and entertaining during the 7th inning stretch with, what else … Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

July 4th found us singing for the holiday crowd at Mitchell Park in San Luis Obispo. Everyone enjoyed the rousing program of patriotic music from PHC and the Gold Coast Chorus.

We’re always busy planning events to showcase our wonderful barbershop hobby, and one of our fun and informative events was a music workshop. Local area singers were sent special invitations to join us in song and learn about the barbershop experience, culminating with a performance with PHC at our annual concert in the park in August. It's all about sharing our favorite hobby!

A special congratulations to Logan Patrick-Miernicki, son of director Kim, who has taken over as front line director of the Gold Coast Chorus, the San Luis Obispo area men’s barbershop chorus. Logan, a third generation barbershopper, serves as a coach to PHC and we’re especially proud that Logan is “home grown”, having learned his craft from infancy. Keep the whole world singing Logan!

We are excited that Theresa has been accepted into the Director Mentor Program and Julie Starr will be her mentor! 

We've been ultra busy this spring and summer. For our Harmony Classic competition package at IES in July, we performed our original show "Carmen: Viva La Diva". We first performed it at our annual show on June 28, combining it with the awesome male quartet, Masterpiece, our chapter quartets, and entertainment by a Flamenco dance troupe and other original acts.

We were chosen to sing at the 2008 Rotary International Convention in Los Angeles on June 15 and were able to spread the joy of barbershop harmony to people from all over the world. Fun!

Our incredible coach, Mark Hale, has been instrumental preparing us for the shows and competitions. In addition to rehearsals and coaching, May was filled with activities. May 14 we walked the 5K with the Spirit of Santa Monica Team at the annual Revlon Walk for Cancer Cure. We celebrated Mother's Day with our annual "singing telegrams". At our Installation dinner on May 6, Patty Cobb Baker brought down the house as the Immortal Gypsy Queen from the "far off land of Oklahoma." 

Santa Monica Chorus is happy to introduce to you our newest tenor, Jackie Schneider, who learned our repertoire for IES! Welcome, Jackie!

To Channelaire, Voices Unlimited, Shimmer! and Spirit we send our aloha and cheers for you at International in Hawaii. And finally, but with a big fan fare, thank you, Agoura Hills Harmony, for hosting such a wonderful Summer Sizzler weekend! – Patti Nugent

Our activities through the summer included an Ice Cream Social/Membership Night on July 22. It included a silent auction, some vendors were present, and lots of singing and lots of ice cream! Then, in August we will have our annual luau, which is just a social night for us. Our show will be October 11, at our rehearsal site, 12345 E. Rosecrans, and will feature Ready, Willing and Mabel. It will certainly prove to be an "adventurous" show. Put it on your calendar!

This year’s chorus musical goal is to embrace the Judges’ Manual. Operation "Get into the Tone Zone" began with June with Sound Judge Judy “ears of a bat” Ashmore. Judy presented an excellent workshop on Sound and Showmanship, and their relationship to one another. Her presentation included a line item description of both score sheets with a DVD that showed choruses at the different scoring levels. She then followed up with a critical analysis of our scoresheets and what we need to focus on this year. Speaking of showmanship, we are very excited to work with the talented and zany Lisa Kneebone.

This year, South Valley Sound will once again be singing in the Star Chorus and we can’t wait to sing on the Winners’ Circle Show with Mary and Lee. We wish the best of luck to our two novice quartets. Limited Engagement with first-time quartetters, Cris Jacobs and Judy Pitt, and Bako Square with first-time quartetters, Brenda Garnas and Jan Smith. Kahuna Mahalo to Marcia Thomas, Captain of the internationally renowned “AHH”Loha Bako Hula Squad, and to Tamara Shimmin for spearheading our 4th of July dynomite fundraiser!

Congratulations to Santa Monica Chorus and our YWIH quartet, Razz-Ma-Tazz, for representing Region 11 at IES. Break a lip to our International competitors, Shimmer!, Spirit, Channelaire and Voices Unlimited. We are very proud to be represented by Mary Ashford, Bass of Shimmer!; Jolene Forzetting, Elayne Rich, Lee Hays and Mary Ashford, dual members with Channelaire, and Brenda Garnas, dual member with Voices Unlimited. What a wonderful educational experience for our region and organization!

Our own chorus has been busy these past few months signing on two brand new members, Olive Wald and Susan Scheetz. A long-time Tri City Sound member, Carolyn Yeates, has rejoined our organization and chorus after a hiatus.  Linda Hicks, another long-time chorus member has returned to the chorus after a leave of absence. We're delighted to welcome our new sisters and to have our "long lost" sisters back in the fold.

In April we sang at the Annual Chocoholic Festival in Lompoc. You can imagine the sights and SMELLS in the Grange Hall that Saturday. How interesting to sing with all that salivating going on! Our May Installation dinner was a blast, with our director, Barb Nigh, emceeing the event. Board members were acknowledged and Barb received her 30-year membership pin. Congratulations, Barb, we love you! 

In June, we sang at the Flower Show during the world famous Lompoc Flower Festival. What a beautiful setting it is to sing surrounded by all the fabulous floral arrangements. Also in June, Tri City Sound Chorus was honored and delighted to be coached by the venerable, Syliva Alsbury. "Quick breaths, phrase endings," and more jewels to improve our singing than can be listed here, filled our rehearsal night. We learned a lot, Sylvia, and can't thank you enough!  Congratulations on your 50 years in our great organization! –
Lyndell Penney

 We also are very proud of our quartet winners: Curtain Call – Most Improved, Pam Consoli – Most Promising Tenor, Jane Wolff - Most Promising Bass, and of course, Spirit, our new regional champs.

At our Installation Banquet, Marcia Bosma used zany acronyms to induct our new management team of Debi Bitterolf, Dee Cardello, Pat Kahmann, Sioux Schultz, Jane Wolff, and Lynne Wong. Sandy Huskins and Sue Peacock were co–Sweet Adelines of the Year.

In addition to singing at the A Cappella Scholarship Festival, we have given two performances.We really proved we are “Red Hot Mamas” when we sang at noon, outdoors, on a day that was 115 degrees, in the MakeMusicPasadena all-day music festival.

Additionally we had a wonderful weekend of coaching with Dale Syverson; an evening with Bobbette Gantz explaining the intricacies of judging; small group lessons with Patty Cobb Baker; a very successful yard sale, and many of us, including friends and family members volunteered for over ninety shifts at the Pasadena Showcase House as a fundraiser for our chorus.

Our big show on October 25 will feature VoCA and Spirit. Save the date. We will send out more information later. We hope to see many of you there.

We have also been busily preparing for our trip to Hawaii. We have had some awesome coaching with Carole Kirkpatrick, Shirley Kout, Sylvia Alsbury, and Doreen Philbin. We are so excited to have the awesome experience of competing in Hawaii. We are most certainly not going to be the biggest chorus in Hawaii, but we hope to bring something very special to the stage. We are looking forward to sharing our competition packages with you this weekend!  We would like to wish the very best of luck to our Region 11 Hawaii competitors, Channelaire, Shimmer! and Spirit!!  Have safe travels and we’ll see you on the beach!! – Cathy Lee