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Here are all of our current news articles. You can also browse through the News Archive. In addition, the Diary will
tell you about our upcoming performances, many of which are public, and the Diary Archive is a history of our
past performances and other events.
| 21/10/2008 |
Velvet Harmony slips off to Sligo |
| We fly to Ireland , and compete in the International section of the Irish Barbershop Convention. A new experience for us and a very successful one. |
 Velvet Harmony took time out from the LABBS convention this year and flew (with an abrupt landing at Knock that we won’t forget in a hurry) to the Irish Association of Barbershop Singers’ convention in Sligo, where we were happy to improve on our last performance and come 7th out of eleven international choruses with a score of 61%. The category was mixed, so we had the novel experience of being beaten by the – male of course - Cotton Town Chorus (no shame there!).
The day of competition was a fine, soft day (Irish for “pouring”). No room for carrying brollies between our changing room and the building where we were to sing, so we kept our hair dry on the way over with a fetching array of hoods, shower caps and shopping bags – very glamorous above our sparkling green stage gear! Jacqui Edwards, LABBS chair, who flew out with us to lend us her bass voice onstage and her delightful company (thanks again, Jacqui!), looked particularly chic in a little plastic supermarket number.
Seeing the programme, one of our four “virgins” wanted to know who these men (managers? musical directors?) Mike Warmers and Mike Coolers were … Being last on we had a full and appreciative house, which gave our musical director Neil Watkins an especially warm welcome. We did our best our best to live up to it, and then descended on the town for dinner, afterwards serenading the bemused chefs who had fed us almost to a standstill. At the afterglow that night a couple of our section leaders sang a song apiece with After Hours, who lit up the hotel lobby in those fabulous purple dresses of theirs.
 Sligo is a little town where old-fashioned shops and drinking holes rub shoulders with a glossy shopping mall, and a snappy new cafe where the peat-tinted river rushes under the town centre bridge. Exploring its delights had to be fitted in around registration, rehearsals and competition (not to mention the hours spent wandering, lost, in the endless corridors of the vast Clarion Hotel) but time was found to explore the pubs and hit the shops.
On Sunday some of us went in glorious sunshine to check out the Guinness and seafood chowder at the beach at Strandhill, with its white sand, Atlantic breakers and surfers. Our kiwi member had to be restrained from stealing a wetsuit and board and throwing herself into the waves.
We’ll have to go back. For more singing, and that surfing demo.
Browse through more photographs in the Gallery. |
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| 25/01/2007 |
Why take Prozac when you can sing Prokofiev? |
| Studies show that singing, especially choral singing is good for your health and just plain makes you feel good. |
For a study published in the Journal of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health, the authors questioned members of a university choir and found that no fewer than 93 per cent agreed that singing made their mood more positive; 89 per cent reported feeling happier; 79 per cent said it helped to reduce stress and 78 per cent felt calmer. At the same time, though, 74 per cent were more energetic and 76 per cent more awake and alert. Who needs Prozac when you can sing Prokofiev? Why feel the blues when you can shake them off by singing the blues?
Other studies have shown that choral singing increases immunity, reduces depression, improves cognitive function, lowers stress levels and releases endorphins, the feel-good hormones. A joint Harvard and Yale study even found that it increased the life expectancy of the population of New Haven, Connecticut, by promoting a healthy heart and a better state of mind.
This extract is from an article by Mary Ann Sieghart in The Times, January 18, 2007 and used by permission. |
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