Queensland Report April 2012 – Irene Bartlett

Where does the time go? Australia Day, the Easter weekend and Anzac Day have come and gone – as has one third of 2012!
On the 15th April we held our first event for the year. “Sing A New Song” was an afternoon workshop with a classical voice focus. Adele Nisbet prepared and presented a very thoughtful overview of art song including some well-known pieces and some new. This was an interactive workshop and all who attended thoroughly enjoyed singing through the repertoire as Adele led them on a journey transversing a range of styles, periods, countries and composers. Continuing our support and encouragement of our regional membership the Qld Chapter Committee was pleased to award two bursaries to assist with expenses of travel to Brisbane. The recipients were: Margaret Tarrant from Grafton and Robyn Edgar from Bundaberg.
In February we welcomed Marisa Lee to the Queensland committee. Marisa accepted the position of regional representative for the Gold Coast and with great enthusiasm organized a daylong seminar/workshop (April 22nd) with specialist presenters Ron Morris (vocal health), Irene Bartlett (CCM style and technique), Nick Hollamby (CCM repertoire for young voice) and Paul Sabey (professional performance in Musical Theatre). The workshop was a great success attracting 46 registrants from the Gold Coast and Northern NSW. Great work Marisa!
We are now busily planning for our major event for 2012. This will be a full two-day workshop (Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th August) featuring contemporary specialist Professor Anne Peckham (Berklee College of Music, Boston, U.S.A.). Anne is a performer, vocal instructor, clinician, choral director and specialist in musical theatre and is the author of an impressive list of publications through Berklee Press and Hal Leonard Publications including her book, “The Contemporary Singer”. We are pleased to be working co-jointly with the ANATS NSW committee to bring Anne to Australia.
Incidentally, we think we may have discovered our caterer for life! Geoff Ashendon tells me that there were more than a few murmured expressions of appreciation between mouthfuls of homemade macaroon and brownie at afternoon tea. To fully appreciate the majesty of macaroon heaven, you’ll just have to register for our August event – don’t miss out. Put a date claimer in your diary today.

Irene Bartlett