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Page 4 InCider Press October 2009 |
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This year was my first contest with the Little Apple Chorus in over a decade. My first contest ever was when I was a bit younger (about 15 to 20 years ago), the chorus competed in Nebraska (Omaha, I think). I remember the white tuxes and the nerves. I do not remember much about the performance or the convention itself, but I have vivid memories of our van breaking down in the middle of nowhere, Nebraska and my fears that we would never make it back home. This year’s contest went much better. I felt well prepared with both the music and the choreography. I also have been working on my “performance facial expressions”. As with everything, there are some things I want to do better next time, but there are many that went really well. I think I did a good job on singing and staying focused during the performance. I did come in late on one move, but did not let that bother me and I moved on. Overall, it went really well. I am glad that I could compete with the chorus. I think we did a great job. This experience will help all of us improve for our future performances. Each time I sing with the chorus on stage, it becomes more comfortable. I am learning to relax and enjoy myself, at least a little bit, and I think it shows. Thanks to everyone who put in time and effort to organize and prepare us for this contest. I had a great time and no car trouble at all.♪ |
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Better in many ways By Stewart Gardner |
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For the past several years I have been unable to be part of the chorus competition due to the requirements of my employment. This year was different. Having no excuse, I felt I had to "bite the bullet" and sign up to go. I never made a better decision. Even though I had to get up at 3:00 a.m. to get to Lincoln in time, the whole day was great. I found myself saying, "Whatever it takes, next year I'm going to the whole convention!" Our quartet has even benefited from our extra work getting ready. At least we are aware of those areas we can and must improve if we are to be a viable quartet. So I say that my attitude coming back is, "Bring it on !"♪ |
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Bring it on By Tom Miles, bass--Men of a Chord |
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This was our second trip to a contest/convention and we were anticipating it to be even better than Kansas City. It was all new to us then, and we figured we would know what to expect and enjoy once more. Since Dave had retired, we were able to arrive early, and I knew it was going to be a great weekend when we were able to find the perfect parking place right away!! We actually made it to the quartet semi-finals on time and were rewarded with some wonderful performances. Our two quartets were just outstanding, with The Manhattan Music Machine and The Late Night Edition making all of us very proud. Another source of pride was to watch Karen Nanninga receive District and International awards for her hard work on our chapter's newsletter. The quartet semi-final continued in the evening with more excellent quartets performing, followed by the CSD past champions show. We awakened Saturday to blowing snow, a reminder that we were in Nebraska and that winter had arrived. The blustery weather outside did not cool the excitement inside, and after a hurried breakfast, it was 'off to make-up' and “SHOWTIME”! Thanks to Janet Kiser's organizational skills, make-up went smoothly and our chorus was ready in record time. I was a little nervous before the chorus came out, but they did not disappoint -- performing their two songs better than ever before. All of us hooted, hollered and stood up for The Little Apple Chorus and their performance. The audience also seemed to really enjoy their performance with lots of reaction to the voodoo dolls. The rest of the day, folks that we had never met congratulated us on our chorus's performance, some saying it was their favorite of all. Simple words cannot express how great the evening performances were and to you who did not make it to Lincoln, you missed an unforgettable show. You just had to be there! ♪ |
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You just had to be there By Connie Lee |
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Mason Swenson, takes over directing and gives Ken Lang a voodoo hex. |