“You’re from the chorus with the white jackets. Which chorus are you? You’re so young!”

More than once at convention 2016 our members heard this and it is I suppose quite true:  Vocal Vibes is a young chorus in a number of ways.  In addition to having a sizable contingent of younger-than-average members, in Wollongong our six-year-old chorus competed for only the third time.  It was also our first competition under Jeanette Whitmore, whose superb skills and experience preparing and delivering at competition helped us put out a stronger and more skilled performance than ever before.
Vocal Vibes is also young because our membership also includes a number of women who are ‘young’ in barbershop:  whose journey in the art form is just beginning.  We took to convention 8 first timers, meaning that nearly 10% of all first timers at convention belonged to Vocal Vibes.  One of these was even at her first ever sing-out ever!  Each Vocal Vibes member receives a butterfly pin after her first sing-out, but the butterfly our Akke earned at Wollongong was extra significant and very well deserved.  Wollongong was of course a huge experience for every first-timer and they were made to feel very special by both Vocal Vibes and the conference organisers.
As well as competing as a chorus, Vocal Vibes was represented in three quartets:  Momentum, Platinum and Cha-Ching!, each of whom did us proud.  The remaining chorus members watched with a thrill as each foursome took to the stage for the terrifying feat that is Quartet Contest, and the chorus gave its vocal support from the audience.  We were so proud of them and they felt the love flow to the very distant stage.
When chorus competition day dawned we had the unenviable task of waiting until late afternoon to perform, but much hotel room singing and an inexplicably long and eerily quiet bus ride later, we were suddenly on stage.  A heart-rending interpretation of If I Loved You and a sassy, fun Jazz Me Blues later and it was all over.  But then it wasn’t: we were thrilled to be selected as one of 2 choruses to participate in the master class with judges Sharon Babb and Dale Syverson.  On stage for the second time in 24 hours we nailed our ballad and had fun with our uptune all over again.  The two judges’ wealth of experience and knowledge gave us lots of things to add to our toolbox as we continue to grow and develop in barbershop, and as a chorus.
Our fine showing at convention in 2016 was the result of an enormous amount of work by our Director, Section leaders, Music and Management teams, Choreographer and Costumer and their dedicated teams, Convention Liaison, our weekly extra practice group organiser, as well as each individual chorus member and the family and friends that help make it all possible. Vocal Vibes says a huge THANK YOU to them all!
Anna D.
Bass - Vocal Vibes