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Debbie Connolly introduces the chorus (San Diego) remarking that the
director's collection of gold quartet medals constitutes a monopoly.
Joni Bescos duplicates the announcement from last year and they sing
"It's a Great Day for the Irish/Medley." When they were announced as
champions, it took a few of them back 26 years when they won in
Seattle... a video is shown of that performance (I was there!) - "The
Song and Dance Man" The disappearing cane trick was so cool! I
remember thinking how beautiful those gowns were, with all the
"feathers" which we later found out were homemade.

Kim says that performance was considered innovative back then. Their
director, Marvin Yerkey, died, soon after they placed second in Los
Angeles, and it was hard holding the chorus together. Connie Noble
directed for five years and then Kim began as director. Joni steps
up to enumerate the skilled people who belong to the chorus - the
list goes on and on... 78 members have competed in quartets, for
instance. There is a wealth of experience in all levels of musical
and managerial leadership. There are also two members who have not
yet competed at a regional. 85 have been members of the chorus
management team. There are also almost 2200 years of membership.
Some drive for a long way... three are from Arizona, one from British
Columbia... and there were more of these examples.

At a retreat eight weeks before international, the last qualification
deadline was implemented. Thus the chorus that was going to be on
stage was on the risers for those last eight weeks. Coaches did all
the detail work and Kim was in charge of repetitions. (This was hard
for her... she wanted to pick.) They would do the package all the
way through and then listen to the minidisk and every member of the
chorus could give input or critique. They changed their rehearsals
from 7-10 to 6-10 to avoid having extra rehearsals. They asked the
chorus to come in already warmed up. Then they could begin right
away working on unit sound. She leads one of their exercises (from
Fred Waring).

The next goal was to internalize the performance so that no one
needed to think about their notes or their moves. Repetitions to
build stamina are crucial. "Suicide drills" - if you make a mistake,
you have to start the package all over again... doesn't take long
before you can do it all the way through.

Tape qualification is a huge commitment. Roughly a third of the
chorus served as listeners. They also did a visual qualification.
They were taped and critiqued with a score sheet. A perfect score
was 100. The required score for qualification was 80. The
categories marked included posture, choreographed moves and visual
sell. They worked very hard on getting into the right brain. The
chorus was divided into five vertical sections, each section had a
leader and several assistants to handle the teaching and critiquing.
They used three video cameras. Written critiques were given to the
members at the next rehearsal. A lot of work, but it allowed the
members to feel good about being visual.

Each singer scored an 85 or better on every song that was performed.
They chose the level of 85 themselves. They tried very hard to
include ever singer - if you're going to be a team, you've got to act
like one. Susan Lamb explained their "score sheet" for the vocal
tape qualification program. Areas evaluated included notes, words,
"the plan," and vocal production (tone and vowel) - even artistic
sound. Taping was done weekly, beginning as soon as three weeks
after a song was introduced and there was a "drop dead" deadline
after which no taping was allowed. Breathing was evaluated, too.
They had NSBZ's - or "no sneak breath zones." The evaluator would
summarize what she felt the singer should work on. The scoring
system doesn't allow for many errors and enables the singer to become
part of the unit.

The score sheets they use for evaluating will be posted on their web
site in about a week: http://www.sdchorus.org

Kim reminds that their way is not the only way.

One of the changes they had to make was in their initial
qualification process for joining the chorus. It doesn't make sense
to have a person join who probably will not be able to reach the 85
level on later qualifications.

Audition steps: 1) Voice placement test on the first night. Ask if
read music, what their experience level is, test the range, breathing
ability (sustain), pitch matching, can they hear a quick pattern and
repeat it back, when they sing a song like "Happy Birthday," do they
start and stop in the same key, they also evaluate the person's
ability to feel rhythm.

2) Riser tape - between 6 and 8 weeks. They get a list of approved
songs - all of which are in the repertoire. They get the results
that night or within 24 hours. Looking for holding their part - if
they do get off, can they back on, a blendable voice quality, do they
stay in key, can they make their voice work in the group. Two
opportunities to pass this tape. An 85 score is not required to pass
at this level.

3) Quartet audition - singing the song in a quartet of section
leader Again, the main goal is to evaluate the person's potential.
They tell the person that night and, if they pass, they sign on the
dotted line and pay their money.

Joni says she's known Kim since she was a child... and Kim has also
had a problem with music selection. When Kim told Joni of her
choices for Portland, Joni said no. The Irish Lullaby was arranged
for Acoustix and to show off the bass - not a good choice for this
choice (not because they don't have good bass section). Joni
suggested Athlone, which she then had to arrange. She recommended
Brian Beck to arrange their other anchor song (I didn't hear what the
title was). Joni performed some surgery on a David Wright
arrangement to make it fit the time. The ballad was one that Joni
would not have recommended for the international level before the
category changes of a few years ago.

They experimented with several sequences for the songs and selected
three uptunes, one ballad, one uptune for the performance package.
The arrangements were either done specifically for them or adapted
for them.

Joni arranged Athlone in b-flat. Kim wanted it in a-flat because
that's where she would sing it. Joni says, "but will the chorus sound
best in that key? - No." They proceed to demonstrate. The b-flat
version produces all kinds of goosebumps. The a-flat version sounds
muddy. You need to build resonance to sing in the higher key so you
won't sound like little girls.

Joni also worked hard to get them to free up their bodies because so
much of the showmanship category is based on body movement and
physical expression. She had a cappella Fanatix demonstrate (Connie
on tenor, Sandy on bari, Kim on lead and Susan on bass).

Kim gives much credit to their coaches. Cindy Hansen for
choreography, Joni for all of the detail work and a local friend and
former member to help them become more dramatic. Joni was Kim's very
first quartet coach. Their record had been 8 - 5 - 2 - 7 - 2 - 3...
showing they needed to become more consistent.

Toni (?) - the former member and friend who taught them drama! Her
job is to put the icing on the cake. Without the kiss of energy and
excitement of the lyrics, the song is just notes and words. You must
know all the words and notes and choreography and then have a "play"
or story for each song, upon which everyone agrees, to act out when
performing the song. She tells the story used for Athlone... the
visualization really helps the bring out the emotion in the song. It
involves stepping through a red door at the top of the stairs and
finding your childhood.

Kim likes chords. She has them sing again, holding the chords and
paying attention to the chords - the emotion is gone! Then they do
it again, telling the story... using forward motion. Speed is a
factor in forward motion but there is more to it. The story must be
retained by choosing the right words to emphasize.

Judges are trained to evaluation the level (A, B, C-, etc.) as soon
as you start singing, so it's in your best interest to have a strong
opening. They demonstrate - the difference is energy!

Synchronization has been a problem over the years. They didn't know
how to fix it. One of the ways was to get the choreography together.
Everyone had to have the same interpretation of the move so that they
could do it in unison. Then there are tempos. They set a tempo on
the metronome for each song and the members used them at home to
practice. Tempo is the job of the individual singer - after the
director selects to tempo and chooses the rhythmic patterns. They
also used "Dr. Beat." Unit delivery of the individual word stress is
another element of synchronization. (Baritone is lead inside out,
which is why baritones are the smartest ones in the chorus... they
just have to get over it [Joni is a bari]). Since the proper word
stress is more obvious for the leads, the other parts have to work at
matching the melody's stress, even if they part is going in the
opposite direction. They had duet rehearsals, with Joni.

The demonstrate some of the vocal effects used in the middle section.
They also start the middle part (where the front row dances the jig)
and the riser chorus drops out, proving that the front row does,
indeed, sing. In fact, they sound like a pretty fine "small chorus!"

They do performances for the city in exchange for their rehearsal space.

The commitment of each individual to do their personal best was the
key. They didn't wait for the director to sprinkle fairy dust on
them to fix that key change or whatever - they just did it.

Tell 'em what you're gonna tell 'em, tell, them tell 'em what you told 'em.

Mary Ellen Stepanich:

Every successful strategic plan must have three elements:

Where do you want to end? (Vision statement. A visual ... "This is
our time." Can we do this? Yes, we can! Modified for the future to
Will we do this again? Yes we will. They dragged the red door with
them.

Where are you coming from: Analyze strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, and threats to the chorus (SWOT).

Know the steps: They planned, they put evaluation programs in place.
SMART - specific, measurable, accepted by all, relevant to the
vision, time-oriented. "Home on the Range" - never hear a
discouraging word. "Don't worry - the truck will be there." Don't
waste time doing things that don't have a high priority.

WUT... warm-up team. A lot of the credit goes to them. They
developed attitude and stamina as well as good VP techniques and unit
sound.

Dream big, plan well, work hard, smile always and good things will
happen to you.

Kim: We are a team. We dreamed big. Our dream came true last year,
but it's not the end of anything. A song to catch you, make your
heart soar - every chorus needs one, and they sing theirs: "The
Power of the Dream."

--
Marti Lovejoy for the SING Reporting Team
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SweetAdelinesScores/messages
LovejoyMar @ att.net <--remove spaces