This month has seen a good attendance by our male singers which is very encouraging. Songs like Ol’ Man River have been included in the program by Margaret Merriman to utilise their voices.

Faith Hicks encouraged members of the group to choose their favourite songs at one of the sessions, whilst Brian Greed introduced the song Cabaret.

Gwen Barnes has been providing accompaniment on the piano.

It is good to see both Gwen Cheetham and Patsy Bollard back with us after being away for a couple of weeks.

During the past month we have added another six copies of Harmony book 1 to our collection, so we should not have to share Harmony books in the near future.

Members are reminded of the forthcoming Benalla Dramatic production of Robin the Hood in the Benalla Town Hall over two weekends from 24 May to 1 June 2019. For more information visit the website www.benallatheatrecompany.org.au

The next meeting of Singing for Fun will be on Thursday 2 May 2019 at 10am in our U3A room.
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Margaret Jenkins

The March meetings of Singing for Fun have demonstrated the wide variety of songs which are available to our leaders in our three Song books.

Faith Hicks continues to find old songs in Book 1 which we have not sung for many months and which are great to revive.

Brian Greed introduced us to some interesting harmony for “Pedro the Fisherman” whilst Margaret Merriman has had us enjoying several different rounds.  Our pianist Gwen Barnes is doing a great job on the piano.

We would like to thank the friend of Terry Dillon who made extra hinges for the shelves in the cupboard which stores our song books. Four shelves are definitely easier to work with.

It is great to see over 35 enthusiastic U3A members at Singing for Fun Group some weeks.  However, these great numbers have shown that we need to increase the number of copies of each Song book we have available. We hope you don’t mind sharing a book until we have worked through making the extra books. To date we have produced 6 extra copies of Book 2.

The next Singing for Fun will be on Thursday 4 April 2019 at 10am in the U3A Room.  
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Margaret Jenkins

This year we have welcomed five new members Joan Badrock, Julie Hooper, Carole Ruta, Chris Dunster and Suzanne Berry to our Singing for Fun group. We hope you all enjoy singing with us and look forward to getting to know you all.
 
We are fortunate that our three singing leaders Faith Hicks, Brian Greed and Margaret Merriman are full of enthusiasm for 2019.  Faith is revisiting many of the songs we have not sung for several months, while Brian and Margaret both have a new challenge for us with a new song on the horizon.

We are grateful that our pianist Gwen Barnes is providing accompaniment on the piano to our three leaders.
    
During January we were saddened to learn that one of our valued members Elsbeth Shaw had passed away. Elsbeth was a great friend to several of our members and will be remembered for her cheery personality and excellent company as well as her singing.

Thank you to Dorothy Webber for negotiating that our members can use the chairs and tables near the kitchen for morning tea every time we meet. 

The next meeting of Singing for Fun will be on Thursday 7 March 2019 at 10am in the U3A Room at the Seniors Complex.
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Margaret Jenkins

Early in December we celebrated the end of the year with a concert at Cooinda. This concert was slightly longer than what was presented at the Meet and Mingle day in November and included some Christmas favourites.  From the applause received the concert appeared to be enjoyed by the Cooinda residents.

Afterwards several members of the Singing for Fun group went to the Golf Club for their end of year lunch.

Singing for Fun in 2019 will start on Thursday 7 February at 10am in the U3A room at the seniors complex. We have had good numbers at our enrolment days and look forward to seeing everyone at our first session.
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Margaret Jenkins    

​​At our last Thursday morning meeting for the year Joyce Borschmann congratulated the group on the quality of their performance at the 100 years Commemoration of the End of World War 1 in the Benalla Town Hall on 11 November 2018. Joyce said that she had received congratulations from many members of the public regarding the U3A Singers.

Joyce is retiring as Convenor of the Singing for Fun and Harmony groups after 13 years at the helm but is remaining as a valued member of the sopranos of our group. Margaret Jenkins is going to be Convenor of Singing for Fun and Harmony in 2019.

As this is the last Newsletter for the year we would like to thank our three talented conductors Faith Hicks, Brian Greed and Margaret Merriman who have encouraged and improved the group throughout the year. We thank them for their time and expertise. We would also like to thank Gwen Barnes for her assistance on the piano during the year. It is a big job to learn and play so many songs so regularly for the group.

Also thank you to Ian Grace for opening up every Thursday that we meet, arranging the chairs, and also for closing up at the end of each session. Morning tea is an important social part of our group and thank you to Trish Roe for overseeing the morning tea and coffee throughout the year – we regularly have 30 people at our sessions and Trish and her team always have a smile and know who likes what.

Lastly but not least. What a performance we gave at Meet and Mingle on Wednesday 21 November for other members of U3A and the public. Our group really do seem able to lift themselves when singing out with excellent diction and expression added to most songs. The three conductors are to be congratulated for putting together a varied program of songs, and the performance was excellent. Well done everyone. 

Margaret Jenkins

Our three leaders Faith Hicks, Brian Greed and Margaret Merriman have been finalising their selection of songs for our Sing Out sessions. These performances will be on Wednesday 21st November at 10am at U3A Meet and Mingle and at Cooinda on Thursday 6th December at 10.30am.

We are performing two songs “I Vow to Thee my Country” and “Finlandia” at the 100 Years Commemoration of World War 1 on Sunday 11 November at 2.30pm at the Benalla Town Hall. Members of the Benalla Dramatic Society will also be participating in the program with other choral items.
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Margaret Jenkins

U3A Benalla was invited to be the guest speaker at the Cooinda AGM on Tuesday 25th September 2018. As part of this presentation the members of the Singing for Fun group were invited to sing. Whilst their performance was not long, it was great to be able to show the variety of songs that we enjoy singing.

One of the interesting aspects of the past month was when our Convenor, Joyce Borschmann decided to show us how a song could be improved by the use of drama. Many of us were unaware that Joyce had been a drama instructor during her teaching career, and were enthralled at the interest that could be added to “Right said Fred” by Joyce. Hopefully we have learnt a little of what she was showing us and put it into our rendition of that song at Cooinda.

We thank our leaders Faith Hicks, Brian Greed and Margaret Merriman who continue to provide us with ways to improve the songs we are singing.

Just a reminder that we are performing two songs at the 100th anniversary of the end of World War 1 on Sunday 11 November 2018 at 2pm in the Benalla Town Hall. Also our end of year performances will be at Meet and Mingle on Wednesday 21 November 2018 at 10am at the Senior Citizens complex, and at Cooinda on Thursday 6 December 2018 at 10.30am.
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Margaret Jenkins

During August the new Kawai piano has been moved to the opposite end of the U3A room where we hold Singing for Fun. The advantage of this position is that the piano is not near the doorway into the room. With the change in position of the piano, the singers are now facing the parkland, and therefore have the advantage of being able to admire the view of the parkland between songs.

Our leader, Joyce Borschmann has provided members of the Singing Group with a number of dates to put in their calendars. The first date to note is Sunday 11 November 2018 at 2pm in the Benalla Town Hall. This day is the 100th anniversary of the end of World War 1, and the Singing Group has been asked to sing two songs at the commemorative service.

The dates for our end of year performances will be at Meet and Mingle on Wednesday 21 November 2018 at 10am at the Senior Citizens complex, and at Cooinda on Thursday 6 December 2018 at 10.30am.

Our leaders, Faith Hicks, Brian Greed and Margaret Merriman, supported by our pianist Gwen Barnes, continue to present us with a variety of songs which we enjoy.
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Margaret Jenkins