Virtual RES
The Region 26 Virtual RES was held October 2 - 4. It was an awesome event - well planned and well organized. We were able to learn from some of the top coaches and experts in our Sweet Adelines organization.
This was the first opportunity Torre from Southern Accord has had to attend a Region 26 Education event and she is sharing her experience and her learning from the weekend event. I believe there is more information to follow.
Thank you Torre for sharing your wonderful insights and experiences with all of us.
Region 26 Conference October 2020
Renew, Restore, Reboot
As someone who generally isn't in a position to attend and partake in events like this I truly value what our region did for us, for me. It isn't every day that we have the opportunity to learn from such amazing and skilled individuals, and not only in regards to singing, but in their lives in general. It was a gift to all of us to attend without any financial obligations. This is why when all the excuses, errands, and lists of "to do" swam through my head, I had to ensure that I didn't take this opportunity for granted.
All the information I gained was so beyond my expectations. If you missed this weekend of learning and connection with our region, I urge you to go onto the Region 26 members site and listen and watch the recordings and look at the extra handouts. This is especially useful when you are a newer member. Within the weekend I learned so many things that I will quickly mention. My ultimate favourite presenter was Katheen Hansen. She presented twice on vowel match and resonance match. There is some great information on how anatomy and also psychology can play into vocal issues that arise in individuals. As vocalists we are at higher risks of experiencing some of these challenges. As someone who is a newer member this information has been instrumental in helping me unlock the roadblocks I've been facing with my voice. Kim Vaughn also presented twice on singing in tune and basic vocal production, she's a great teacher.
Later on Kathleen also presented on fostering diversity, inclusion and belonging. This is another one I highly recommend for every member of our chorus. With our social and political climate here and around the world the conversation around inclusion has never been more important. Diversity is a given in the world, we all come from so many backgrounds, experiences, and DNA that makes us unique, and we need to embrace it and then show we are an open minded and safe group for our community. A group that upholds the highest standards in how we treat everyone in their differences. I think we all are doing great here, and there's always something new to learn. I'll have more to say on this on a later date.
I just want to quickly point out the presentations from all the categories of judges from competition. These sessions may have seemed repetitive for the long-standing members; however I think the review for all of us is great. The best part of all of these were that I learned how uplifting and supportive the Sweet Adelines International organization is. Here I was thinking that competition is a cut throat kind of experience, however, after listening to the presenters I now have a great deal of calm, everyone in the organization appears to want to help encourage choruses and vocalists to keep striving for better, by educating and lifting them up. They've got some fabulous videos and they're worth the watch.
I also wanted to let you know that you are not alone if you are struggling with maintaining practice at home. Lisa Hills presented a great discussion on how we can improve our practice at home, and we ended up with some great ideas that can help with that.