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Patrice Marshall - Accompanist
Russel Barnes (President) 0409 090 448
Julie Sergienko (Treasurer)
Pat Lowry (Secretary) 0437 697 009
Cherry Tunnock (Membership Secretary)
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Maggie Cripps (Music Production & Management)
0458 669 883
Edwina McLachlan
Graham Mitchell
Sylvia Ring 0402 217 344
Kerry Holmquest |
Hello everyone,
It was with spring in our steps that the committee met face to face yesterday (the first time without Zoom for months) and as we sat under the beautiful gum trees at Thomas Street Park, sipping coffee together with birdsong in the air, we had much to be optimistic about: relief about news of a certain election result, all these hard earned ‘doughnut’ days, together with the beautiful weather. There was a collective joy and feeling of relief; plus the optimism that we were about to work on a positive plan for Vocally Wild and 2021!
So, this is the latest from your hard-working committee:
FINANCES
Julie advises us that we are sound financially, with a healthy buffer to protect the choir from any possible ‘knowns or unknowns’! We are in the process of reviewing the fee structure for 2021 and currently happy to say there no plans to request any fees for the first term/semester 2021 until we are definite about how and when the choir will resume normal functioning. We are, of course, aware that many of you are in credit for Terms 1/2. Should we continue with Zoom singing, the costs of this will be covered.
REPLACEMENT OF CHOIR DIRECTOR AND FUTURE PLANS:
- We will only return to regular Tuesday night meetings when we have been advised that it is safe to do so and when we are totally happy that our venue meets with spacing requirements, air flow and ventilation standards, etc. necessary for a large choir such as ours.
- In the meantime, we will be considering all options for 2021 and we feel that by December this year we will be ready to advertise for ‘Expressions of Interest” in the Music Director position. This will give us time to review our Vocally Wild ‘Aims and Objectives’ and formulate a plan to move forward. These of course will then be discussed with possible applicants.
- Since a Tuesday night start in early February is unlikely at this stage, as an interim measure we hope to be able to continue with our Zoom singalongs, similar to the Sing Wine Tea and Chat session Dianne ran so successfully for us in October and anticipate that something can be organised by the end of January or early February.
In the meantime, we hope you will all come along to the following:
CHRISTMAS CAROLS ‘ZOOM,’ – TUESDAY, 8TH DECEMBER. 7.30 P.M.
Dianne is well under way with the planning for the Zoom Carols and we are really excited to announce that Katherine Gale will be our headline guest. You may remember we had the honour of singing with Katherine at the 2019 Bayside Carols in the Park. Katherine is a recent Bachelor of Music Graduate in Music Theatre; she is well known as an actor, versatile singer and dancer and it will be wonderful to see her again. But Katherine is not the only special guest!!! Diana and Dianne will also lead us in a carol or two and although I am not allowed to say at the moment, I know for a fact that many of you will be delighted with another very, extra special guest, who will remain anonymous for now!!
So make sure you’re ready to zoom in at 7.30 p.m. on the 8th December. We will let you know the link details in due course.
VOCALLY WILD END OF YEAR GET-TOGETHER – IN PERSON!!!
SUNDAY, 13TH DECEMBER. 5.00 P.M.
Venue yet to be announced. Because of the safety precautions, we can’t arrange food, drink, or for the venue to be at a certain club venue, so we are looking at finding a suitable space in a park, perhaps with undercover facilities (this will have to be paid for, but costs will be covered by V.W.). We will all need to bring our own food, drink, nibbles, but it will be wonderful to be able to meet up and celebrate the end of this very challenging year in a much happier frame of mind. Further details to come.
COMMUNITY CAROL SINGING
Unfortunately, due to the problems with distancing, rules regarding singing in numbers, even outside, and other uncertainties, we are unable to organise any community Carols singing this year as we have done in the past at aged care homes, street venues, seniors groups, etc. We even sang at the Rotary Market in the past, but due to strict guidelines, this too is not available to us. However, we thank those of you who have written to us, your suggestions were much appreciated.
Committee will have a final ‘in the park’ meeting on the 15th December and rest assured that we will all be focussed, to the best of our abilities, on how we can plan for a safe and active 2021 when we will hit the ground running with some joyful, happy songs! If you have any messages, questions, suggestions, please contact one of us prior to the 15th December.
Look forward to seeing as many of you as you possibly can at the Zoom on the 8th.
Kindest regards,
Pat.
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