march 2006 - Thames Valley Chorus

. 

READING BARBERSHOP HARMONY CLUB 

www.rbhc.org.uk MARCH 2006 

Away Weekend 2006 

Marsham Court Hotel 

Bornemouth 

Only 7 more Tuesdays to Convention! 

WELCOME NEW CLUB MEMBERS 

A big WELCOME to the LEARN to SING students that have stayed on to harmonise with the 

Thames Valley Chorus. We hope that your time with us will be a rewarding one and that you 

will enjoy the many facets of singing in the Barbershop style. 

Please take heed of the advice to take your own time to integrate yourself into our ranks. It is 

important that you do so and discuss any issues or concerns with us as time progresses. Your 

Buddy could have all the answers but if not, he'll know where to get them. 

Page - 1 

Please update your diaries to include the list of Club commitments on page 2.


A LOOK AHEAD TO 

APRIL 2006 

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY 

1 

April 

2006 

2 3 4 

Rehearsal 

5 6 7 8 

9 10 11 

Rehearsal 

TAG RAG 

COPY 

DEADLINE 

16 

Easter Sunday 

17 

Easter Monday 

18 

Rehearsal 

TAG RAG 

DISTRIBUTION 

12 13 14 

Good Friday 

19 20 21 22 

15 

23 24 25 

Rehearsal 

26 27 28 29 

30 

April 


Calendars showing the remaining days of March 2006 and the month of May 2006 

are at the back of TAG RAG 

MORE DATES FOR YOUR DIARY * Addition/Update to last month’s TAG RAG 

MAR 31 Fri Full Chorus Caravan Club International - Sparsholt College 

Winchester 

MAY 12 Fri Daytimers+ Fawley Court Henley - Craft Experience 

MAY 19/21 Fri-Sun Full Chorus BABS Convention Harrogate 

JUL 1 Sat Full Chorus Singout at Wimborne Hants 

JUL 11 Tue Daytimers Stoke Poges Club 2pm sing 

* JUL 23 Sun Full Chorus Highclere Hall Singout 

* SEP 15 Fri 35-man Hungerford Town Hall. 2 x 30 min spots. 

OCT 10 Daytimers Hungerford Town Hall (tbc) 

NOV 18 Sat Full Chorus Charity Show a la Dreweatte & Neatte 

DEC we/3rd Full Chorus Overseas trip - possibly Budapest. 

DEC 10 Sat Full Chorus Christmas Show Desborough Suite TBC 

DEC 12 Tue Daytimers Pangbourne WI 2.30 sing 

* DEC 16 Sat Full Chorus Desborough Show Maidenhead 

2007 

MAY 25-27 Fri-Sun BABS Convention Scarborough 

JUN 9 Sat Full Chorus Show Reading Town Hall 60th Anniversary of 

Düsseldorf twinning. 

Page - 2 

Please update your diaries to include the list of Club commitments above.


TAG RAG MARCH 2006 

CONTENTS LIST 

Page 

2 A LOOK AHEAD TO APRIL 2006 

2 MORE DATES FOR YOUR DIARY 

3 PETER'S POINTS COOKSON 

3 EDITORIAL STARKIE 

4 LEARN TO SING PEARCE 

4 LEARN TO SING PLAUDITS 

5 EMAIL TO THE EDITOR 

4 QUARTET CAPERS MERVYN CLARK 

5 BARBERSHOP BABES 

6. GET ME THERE AYRES 

6 SELECTED WEEKLY NOTICES 

8 HAPPENSTANCE LAIGHT 

9 ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIP NEWS COLLIS 

9 ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIP LETTERS 

10 CORRESPONDENCE 

11 HISTORICAL NOTES HAYDN ADAMS 

12 LONG TIME NO WRITE BRUCE BEER 

14 SUPPORTERS IRENE STARKIE 

15 BUDAPEST & VIENNA FESTIVAL INFO 

19 NEW MEMBER PHOTO GALLERY 

20 DATES FOR YOUR DIARY 

NEXT COPY DEADLINE: 

14TH MARCH FOR 21ST DISTRIBUTION 

PETER’S POINTS 

With an extremely successful Learn to Sing 

programme and a great Away Weekend launching 

2006 we now need to consolidate and focus on 

some serious barbershop singing in the run up to 

Convention. This is the time of year when we must 

take our hobby really seriously. Convention is the 

only time in the year when all the choruses have the 

opportunity to hear live the standards being achieved 

by their peers. Reading has high standards to 

maintain and no doubt there will be interest in the 

Club’s performance after the exposure resulting 

from Prague, the Ant and Dec show, and the LtS 

programme. 

We have a fabulous package to take to Convention; 

two wonderful contrasting songs with imaginative 

staging. It is our individual responsibility to deliver 

the best performance possible and make the most of 

the opportunity created by this material. The 

objective in involving Club members in the LtS 

programme was to enhance our knowledge and 

skills so we can continually improve the quality of 

our singing. The lightness of touch Rhiannon is 

seeking was demonstrated beautifully in the final 

rendition of the ballad at the away weekend. This is 

the quality we want to display not only in Harrogate 

but whenever we sing! 

Page - 3 

To help us deliver our best each week Rhiannon will 

identify sections of both songs to concentrate on. 

This “homework” will be published every Tuesday 

in TVC Notices. Please allocate some time during 

the week (every day would be good!) to make sure 

you are totally familiar with the material. 

Another important task for us all, in parallel with 

Convention preparations, is to integrate the new 

members into the Club. It’s great to see so many 

new faces on the risers on Tuesdays. Already eight 

LtS attendees have passed their “auditions”. They 

have commented how welcome they have been 

made. Please introduce yourselves, make them feel 

at home, and help maximise their enjoyment from 

this wonderful hobby. 

These are exciting times for the Club. 

In harmony 

PETER COOKSON 

Chairman 

*********************************** 

EDITORIAL 

It way very saddening to hear that Bruce Beer lost 

his father to a heart attack. Eric has been a great 

supporter of our Club over the years. We give our 

sincere condolences to Bruce and his family. 

I have a lot of copy to share with you this month. I 

welcome two new contributors - Simon Laight 

who's been threatening me with an article for about a 

year now and Mike Ayres whose experience with an 

internet derived route from his home to 

Bournemouth is worthy of an orienteering 

raspberry. I'm also including the gist of the two 

overseas trips under consideration, to Vienna and 

Budapest. Whatever the final choice is, if they are 

only half as successful as Prague they'll be magic! 

It is hard to remember that only just over four weeks 

ago we were enjoying the last of the Learn to Sing 

lessons. The whole thing was a most enjoyable 

We can accomplish anything within our ability only if we think we can.


experience but I was glad when we started getting 

back to normal. That has just got to be one of the 

more exciting things we have done and over seven 

weeks as well. Congratulations to all. 

Hard on the heels of the Learn to Sing was the 

Chorus Away Weekend. This was also an 

exhilarating experience. Congratulations to 

Rhiannon and the Section Leaders for managing to 

get through so much useful work on the Saturday. 

And on the Sunday Michele took us all to places we 

had never been before, all thoroughly enjoyable. I 

am pleased to note that the Saturday evening meal 

was how it was envisaged to be last year. Our 

thanks must go to the Marsham Court Hotel's 

Conference organiser Carol McStocker for that. I 

have already dealt with the issue we had with 

Sunday lunch and next year it will be a hot buffet 

just like we had on the Saturday. The weekend of 

16/17 March has already been pencilled into the 

Hotel's diary awaiting confirmation from our 

Executive. 

Information on two Advent and Christmas Festival 

venues, Budapest and Vienna have been displayed 

on the Club notice board recently and I've taken the 

liberty of reproducing the main features of both 

events in this Tag Rag. Budapest is expected to cost 

in the region of £280 per person and Vienna £340. 

This Budapest information is for the 2006 festival. 

If you want to look at the event web sites see 

www.mwsfestivals.com/cikk.php?athoz=bp05adv/bp 

05adv.htm and www.choircontact.com/vienna.shtml. 

project through some very hard times with family 

problems, and we as a club owe him a great debt of 

gratitude. He is truly a leader with vision. 

I must also not forget Irene Starkie, Shirley 

Thatcher and Irene's two young neighbours that all 

lent a hand in the registration room. 

However, we could have had the best team in the 

world but we would have not achieved the success 

without our Rhiannon. Her commitment, very hard 

work, long hours, enthusiasm to make this work, 

and her ability to connect with the group is what has 

made it. We, TVC, have total faith and love her 

dearly, but, I think we are about to have to start 

learning that about another 120ish also are starting 

to feel the same way. Many many many thanks Rhi. 

There have been some challenges along the way, we 

knew there would be, but what a magnificent 

achievement. We thought we would get about 60/70 

on the first night, but to have 135 turn up was 

astounding. On the basis that we wanted to 

encourage people to come out and sing this has 

been a complete success. My personal goal was to 

get at least 12 men to join up to TVC and stay with 

us. The jury is still out on this. Thank you all for 

making this such a successful event. 

Now, I will be holding a breakfast meeting on 

Saturday 1st April at my place to discuss the early 

planning for LtS 2, starting Jan 9th 2007, any 

volunteers? 

I attended the BABS AGM over the weekend 

accompanied by Ed Deacon. We both felt we'd had 

an interesting day with much to report but that will 

have to wait until next month. 

GRAHAM STARKIE 

Editor 

*********************************** 

ANDY PEARCE 

Learn to Sing Project Manager 

Editor's Note - Andy sent me the above article for 

last month's Tag Rag but I overlooked it. His perfect 

timing was screwed up by my inefficiency! 

*********************************** 

LEARN TO SING 

Back in about late June last year we had a meeting 

in the Wokingham Town Hall to discuss what we 

wanted to do and how we were likely to be able to 

make Learn to Sing happen. I was "encouraged" to 

take on this challenge to run the project. I knew we 

would have a very good team with Richard Leathem 

on marketing, Graham Starkie on admin and Jim 

Downing on teaching. Can I thank you all for your 

great efforts, drive and enthusiasm. Lawrence 

McNulty needs a special mention with his efforts to 

get us the exposure we have had in the media. This 

was fantastic, don't leave town, we need you. 

Peter Cookson has been a tower of strength and 

ideas. He has worked tirelessly for the club on this 

LEARN TO SING PLAUDITS 

Hi Graham, 

Just wanted to say a big thank you to yourself and 

everyone else who has helped to organise the 'Learn 

to Sing' course. Having been involved in organising 

a few musical things myself, I know just how much 

hard work and planning is required to make these 

things happen - something on that scale must have 

been challenging. 

From my first enquiry to last night's final concert it 

was brilliantly organised - so much attention to 

detail to make sure we got the best from the course. 

I also want to compliment everybody on the 

friendliness and helpfulness - especially that first 

Page - 4 



night, arriving not knowing anyone and being given 

a warm and genuine welcome - people talking to us 

while we waited, wondering what we had let 

ourselves in for! 

Please pass on my thanks to everyone involved, 

especially Rhiannnon who made it such fun each 

week. You all did a brilliant job. 

Best wishes 

Phil 

*************** 

Hi Graham 

We thoroughly enjoyed last night's practice and 

very much appreciate the effort that has gone into 

this course. 

I have one question. For next week's "performance" 

do you have any suggestions as to what we should 

wear? 

Thanks. 

Simon Norris 

Anita Norris 

Colin West 

*********************************** 

EMAIL TO THE EDITOR 

Dear Graham, 

The Bee Hive Lodge No 2809 

On behalf of The Worshipful Master of the Bee 

Hive Lodge and the members who attended our 

Ladies Festival at the Marsham Court Hotel, 

Bournemouth on the 11 th March I thank you all for 

providing an interlude of harmonic entertainment 

during the event. The members attending had no 

idea that you were going to sing for us and they 

were enthralled to hear 40 + voices singing in such 

union. I for one thought it superb and it made me 

wish I was able to be part of something like that, 

alas my musical attributes are limited. 

Page - 5 

On a lighter note it was also good to join a few of 

your stalwarts in the bar afterwards, that is until we 

gave up at about 03:00, well done you guys. 

Thank you Graham for showing me your box of 

electronic wizardry, for explaining how it all worked, 

and why. 

It was great to meet you all and very interesting to 

see how things work in the world of Barbershop 

Harmony. The word ‘harmony’ is a very good 

word and in the context of Barbershop singing 

means musical concord. We, as Freemasons, believe 

that ‘harmony’ is a foundation of our institution, 

meaning togetherness. So we do have a little 

something in common. 

I wish you all the very best in the competitions you 

enter and feel that your opposition will have their 

work cut out to meet your ‘togetherness’. 

Many regards 

Bob Wood 

*********************************** 

QUARTET CAPERS 

Take Four are planning to enter the BABS National 

Prelims later this year and, as part of our build up, 

decided that we needed to experience singing in a 

pressured environment with someone judging us 

and looking out for the faults etc. 

So we entered the Woodley Festival of Music and 

Arts, and last Saturday ( March 4 th ) sang to about a 

couple of dozen people in a small room in The 

Oakwood Centre, Woodley, one of whom was a 

very highly qualified adjudicator (strings of 

qualifications after her name!) 

We were in the penultimate class, - “Vocal group – 

Open”, and at 9.45 pm sang two songs, an upbeat 

and a ballad, as quartets tend to do in BABS 

contests. We then sat back to await the judgement. 

We didn’t have to wait very long, as we were the 

only group in that class!!. 

We were delighted with the verdict, very, very 

positive and complimentary, especially in the upbeat, 

and there were sufficient constructive comments to 

enable us to know how to improve our performance 

in the ballad. The comments which gave us the 

greatest pleasure perhaps were that we “had style” 

and “were convincing”. 

Having mentioned that we were the only entrant in 

that class, it is no surprise that we came first in our 

class. However a verdict of Highly Commended, 

with 87 marks, was more than sufficient 



compensation for our efforts over the preceding 

weeks. From subsequent conversations with the 

organiser we discovered that tops marks in the 

various classes rarely go above 90, so again we 

think it was a good result. 

We certainly believed that we achieved something 

from entering this festival, and, being a local festival, 

we feel that it is something in which other quartets, 

and indeed the Chorus itself, might like to 

participate. A different, i.e. non barbershop, 

viewpoint of technical ability and performance must 

surely be a help in preparation for competition. 

MERVYN CLARK 

On behalf of Geraint, Andy and Graham 

*********************************** 

BARBERSHOP BABES 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO 

MARCH HARES 

Rod Adams 

Syd Boyd 

George Colquhoun 

Paul Gordon 

Don Jeffery 

Phil Stewart 

Andy Wheeler 

*********************************** 

GET ME THERE! 

Mike Ayres dutifully completed his route details 

into the Getmethere.co.uk web site and received a 

plan with 142 discrete steps. The first 111 took him 

from Shepperton Middlesex to Portsmouth to board 

the ferry to Cherberg. The 112th got him boarding 

the Cherberg-Poole ferry and then on to the 

Marsham Court at step 142! 

I don't know what Mike had been drinking that 

evening but I'm afraid I couldn't reproduce the 

result. There should be enough clarity in the map to 

show the detail. Needless to say that Mike effected 

the journey without the aid of a ferry company! 

Page - 6 

*********************************** 

SELECTED WEEKLY NOTICES 

HARMONY EXPRESS (21st Feb) 

As a final bonus for having been on the Learn to 

Sing course I'm arranging to send the LtS students a 

complimentary copy of Harmony Express. I'm 

providing Laurie Whittle pre-printed labels for the 

mailing. The next issue is imminent and apparently 

features our escapades with Prague, Ant & Dec an 

the LEARNtoSING. The plan at the moment is for 

the students to receive two copies but BABS may 

have second thoughts about that when they know the 

numbers involved. 

TWYFORD ADVERTISER & RADIO 

BERKSHIRE (28th Feb) 

Lawrence McNulty has had two hits with the media 

in the last week. In Friday's Twyford Advertiser 

(sister of the Maidenhead Advertiser) there was a 

photograph of the full LtS chorus and a report on 

our success. You may have noticed that Victoria 

Vaughan the Twyford correspondent missed her 

appearance at the rehearsal but she phoned me on 

the Wednesday for the quote. On Monday morning 

an ad hoc quartet of Julian, Jim, Colin and Geraint. 

sang with Andrew Peach on his morning show. The 

reports are that it went down very well, they sang a 

whole performance of HELLO MARY LOU on air. 

LtS DVDs (28th Feb) 

Both the video and audio recordings we took last 

week were successfull and now Rod has the 

unenviable task of putting them together into a 



composite that will be sent by post to the LtS 

students that ordered them. If any Club member 

would like one make your need known to Rod 

ASAP. The cost is £3 - a bargain! 

THE LtS AFTERMATH (28th Feb) 

We are now putting the finishing touches to what 

must surely be the most successful venture we have 

had for some time. Most of the music has been 

returned which is a relief. A few Certificates that 

weren't collected on the night have been dispatched 

in the post and I've sent the address labels to Laurie 

Whittle to get the Harmony Expresses to the 

students. There were over sixty Feedback 

Questionnaires returned; they make interesting 

reading. Most are full of praise for the way we had 

organised the event and there are a few pointers to 

things that could be done differently next time. 

Rhiannon comes out with nothing but high praise. 

Our task now is to have a successful induction 

programme for those members that have decided to 

give the Thames Valley Chorus a try. Let's make 

them all welcome and give them the greatest 

encouragement. 

FROM RHIANNON (14th Mar) 

Hi guys!!! What a great weekend we’ve just had!! I 

know that things are coming together because I’m 

beginning to sing the songs in my sleep!! I’m 

pleased that we’ve begun to get through the key 

changes and can now consolidate on that excellent 

work we did over the weekend. 

We are so lucky that Michele has chosen to work 

with us! The innovative approach to the up-tempo 

initiated by Richard and then taken forward by John, 

Alex and Mike is being developed into a fantastic 

theatrical performance. 

I was very moved by your performance of the ballad 

in our last session on Sunday. The singing quality, 

by comparison to previous weekends that I’ve 

attended, was the best that I’ve heard so heartiest 

congratulations! 

I will be requesting that you review the song 

sections over the coming weeks between rehearsals. 

We all need to be completely familiar with the music 

if we are to do it justice. Remember light and bright 

are the buzz words! Start by looking at the first three 

pages of TOP HAT (up to bar 58) and Bars 18 – 28 

in IF I GIVE ("Shall I catch.." to start of key 

change). 

Many thanks for a great Away Weekend and my 

personal thanks to everyone that made it an 

outstanding success. Loads of love, 

AWAY WEEKEND (14th Mar) 

Thank you for making the weekend a great success. 

Our thanks must surely go to the Section Leaders 

and Rhiannon for creating a great learning 

environment. We all know now that the key changes 

in both songs are not only possible but are 

completely repeatable. Well done everyone. Our 

sincere thanks must also go to Michele for sharing 

her expertise with us on the Sunday. Wasn't it 

exciting to be involved in such creativity? I'm 

confident that we'll have the strongest package yet to 

take to Harrogate. Our thanks are also due to Alan 

Hill for volunteering to point and shoot his video 

camera. If we need to make a back reference we now 

have the record, however I suspect that we won't be 

doing too much of that since the learning sessions 

were so good. 

The Saturday dinner turned the evening into a 

special event that was topped off by the opportunity 

to sing at the Beehive Lodge's Ladies dinner. We 

made a lot of friends there. I was particularly 

impressed with the walking entrance singing DO 

YOU HEAR. 

The Sunday buffet didn't go as well as I'd planned 

and I've already had discussion with the hotel about 

the disappointment. 

I was pleased with the way my recording equipment 

performed. There is good news about that 

microphone that fell over - it doesn't appear to have 

suffered unduly and still works. 

Please make sure you thank David Colver and Chris 

Schrier for taking the risers down to Bournemouth. 

They did a good job. I found that hook that's been 

missing from the 4th step safety rope for the last 

few weeks. 

TOP HAT SCORE CHANGES (14th Mar) 

KEY CHANGE - Please note that the bass note has 

been changed to Bnat from F# on the syllable Be of 

Because in bar 59. This doubling with the Lead note 

should make the key change easier to sing. 

Rhiannon 

Page - 7 



Please mark it up on your music. The chord is a B7 

without a 5th -Lead and Basses on the root, Tenors 

on the third and Bari's on flat 7. 

WALTZ & STOMP - Mark your music to remind 

you that we go into Waltz time (3/4) at the key 

change in bar 76 for 4 bars on the lyric "smooth 

sailin' 'cause I'm trimmin' my sails." Then at the next 

key change in bar 84 we go into a stomp that takes 

us into the next key change at bar 92. We should be 

back in tempo at bar 94. 

DO DO DO's - The lyric for the harmony parts is 

replaced with Do Do's when the front row are doing 

their 'Chaining' in bars 68 to 71. 

*********************************** 

HAPPENSTANCE 

Some of you will know that in addition to TVC, I 

also sing with Capital Chorus (West London 

Barbershop Harmony Club). Strangely enough, a 

couple of Capital Chorus singouts have had a 

Reading connection. 

Last year we did a singout at a retirement home in 

Wembley - a rather nice, well appointed home with 

predominantly Jewish and Portuguese residents. 

The singout started in the same way many 

retirement home singouts do. There was no room 

for risers and as we started to sing, a stream of 

residents joined the audience, assisted by the carers. 

There was a capacity audience in the residents' 

lounge. We did the first few songs, the last of 

which was Gospel Medley, which finished at 

volume 5 (on a scale of 1 to 5). As the MD 

introduced the next song, he was stopped in his 

tracks by a voice penetrating the air. It was a lady in 

a wheelchair in the front row complaining that we 

were singing much too loudly, and demanding to 

know if this was absolutely necessary! The MD 

assured her that we were taking the pace down a bit 

for the next song and he was sure she would enjoy 

The Beatle's, 'Something'. After a suitably tender 

rendition, our complainant waited for the applause to 

fade, and before the MD could say anything further, 

she exclaimed 'Sounds about the same to me!'. This 

was said in a tone of voice that suggested it was 

done under her breath, but she nevertheless 

delivered it at a volume that allowed the whole room 

to hear. The lady was being quite serious, but all the 

residents laughed and having made light of it, we 

managed to complete our set without further 

comment. I was tail end Charlie as we left the 'stage' 

but before I could leave the lounge, I was aware of a 

lady resident making her way down from further 

back in the room, and it was clear she wanted me to 

wait, which of course I did. She told me how much 

she enjoyed our performance and that it reminded 

Page - 8 

her very much of her dear brother who had passed 

away some years ago. He used to sing barbershop 

and she hadn't heard it sung for years. I asked 

where her brother used to sing, and she said that it 

was near Reading. The lady's name is Sylvia 

Dubovski and her brother was called Wally, known 

to everyone as Wally 'D'. It was, of course, TVC (or 

The Berkshire Barbershoppers as they were known 

then) that he used sing with - perhaps you knew 

him? I said I would pass on her regards to the 

chorus, and that there was a good chance some of 

the long-standing members would remember Wally. 

The second connection between Capital Chorus and 

TVC happened last week when Capital Chorus did a 

singout for a Masonic lodge. After the 

performance, we had a drink in the bar with some of 

the guests. One young chap and his wife were very 

interested in the chorus and remembered a previous 

singout we had done for the lodge a year or two 

ago. The young lady was particularly taken with the 

barbershop sound. As the conversation progressed, 

she quite out of the blue asked us if we had seen the 

end of the Ant and Dec show at Christmas, when the 

choir tried to out-sing Robbie Williams. A couple 

of us said 'yes' and she launched into fulsome praise 

of the item and declared it to be the best thing she 

had seen on TV for as long as she could remember. 

The couple have saved the recording and apparently 

no-one visits their house without being shown the 

clip. She clearly knew the piece backwards and 

enthusiastically recited some of the phrases '...he 

wants it white, not red not green...' and '...rat ta ta 

tat...'. etc. Of all the positive feedback I had from 

friends and relatives on our performance, none 

matched the unbridled praise lavished on it by this 

lady. You can imagine her face when I said that I 

was one of the singers! I very nearly had to sign an 

autograph. She couldn't wait to go home and play 

the recording again to see if she could recognise 

me! " 

Regards 

SIMON LAIGHT 

*********************************** 


ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIP NEWS 


Here we go again playmates, but a little bit delayed 

this time due to the date of our AWAY WEEKEND 

clashing with our usual publication time. Still.... 

better late than never... innit? 

And it is with great regret and sadness that I have to 

start this month with news of the departure of two 

old and loved friends. First, alphabetically speaking, 

I would like to extend our deepest sympathy to 

Bruce Beer, his Mum and all his family on the death 

of ERIC BEER who died of a heart attack recently. 

Eric had been an A.M. for many years and always 

said he got far more news about Bruce by reading 

Bruce's highly entertaining articles in Tag Rag. 

Eric, himself, was quite a humourist in his own way 

and I shall miss his letters. We had the great 

pleasure of seeing Bruce again when he paid a visit 

to us on Club night recently whilst over in the old 

country for his Dad's funeral. 

The other old friend we have lost is JOHN CLARK 

who has also passed away after a long period of 

failing health. John wasn't an A.M, but was 

accorded Honorary Membership status in 

recognition of the hard work he did for the Club. 

His funeral was attended by several members of this 

Club and there are reports about him in February's 

Tag Rag. 

I also have to report the loss of another old friend in 

PETER MUMFORD but not in quite such a final 

way as Eric and John. Peter has been an A.M. for 

many years since he left us to travel south; but he 

feels that he has sort of lost touch with us over the 

years and has resigned his Associate Membership. 

We are sorry to lose you after all this time Peter, 

and I do thank you for your support and friendship 

in the past. All the very best to you and we will 

hope to see you, fleetingly, at future conventions. 

Well, I'm glad to say that is all the sad news I have 

for you and so you will be pleased to know I have 

Page - 9 

received letters and cheques from two of our well 

loved friends, so it's "thank you" time once again. 

First to you, PIP GRIFFITHS. It looks as if we 

may have done slightly better than you in the 

recruitment stakes as, as the time of writing, we 

seem to have about a dozen or so more very keen 

singers who come along regularly on Tuesdays. 

Several have already passed the audition stage and 

are now full-blown members. Lots of the ladies 

who attended our "Learn to Sing" course are at 

present being looked after by Tony and Wendy 

Searle in the hope that they too will be bitten by that 

old Barbershop bug and can be handed over to the 

Barberettes. By the way, did you see the "Barbs" 

on their brief appearance on Meridian News? It all 

helps to spread the word. All the best to you Pip 

and give a big hug to Maureen for me. 

And lastly this time, my lovelies, a nice newsy letter 

from big DAVE HEIGHWAY. Many thanks, Dave, 

and what a super trip you and Mary have had "down 

under". I'm not a bit surprised that the MD of 

'Wanakepella' wanted you to stay Dave; bass voices 

like yours are few and far between and we were all 

sorry to lose you from our bass section - could still 

make room for you on the back row!!! By the way 

we are doing a singout down your way on the 31st 

March at Sparsholt College for the Caravan Club. 

Perhaps you and Mary could creep in at the back. 

Love to you both. 

And that is it for March playmates. Spring is here 

and this beastly NW wind won't last for ever. 

T.T.F.N. 

RON COLLIS 

F.O.T.C. 

*********************************** 

ASSOCIATE MEMBERS' LETTERS 

26th February 2006 

Dear Ron, 

I really have no excuse for causing you the trouble 

of putting pen to paper to remind me that my A.M. 

subs are due. However, since you raised the subject, 

I can tell you that the seasons here are all haywire at 

the moment. My 'Reading Tree' came into bloom in 

December, together with the first snowdrops and 

although they are still with us the tree looks very 

bare and dejected right now. 

It's amazing how popular the 'Learn to Sing" 

courses are. Like you we were overwhelmed by the 

response. Indeed we had to split the ladies into two 

courses as we simply didn't have enough risers for 

all of them in one. I do hope you are more 

successful than we have been in retaining the men. 

We only kept 5 out of about 60. Still, 2 were Baris 

and one is a very good young Tenor and when the 



chorus sang at the BIC recently for an International 

Holiday Exhibition, all five joined us on the risers 

which pleased us enormously. 

Yesterday our local Community Association held a 

music marathon in aid of Cancer Research and my 

sextet were listed as "The Barbershop Boys" which 

we found amusing as our average age is 70!! We 

did two 15 minute spots which went down very well 

as a contrast with Songs from the Shows and 

classical music. My, the musical talent down here is 

extraordinary. 

I'd better think of Irene's pinkies and stop waffling 

on. So thank you for reminding me that the subs are 

still at £12. I can't believe they haven't changed, they 

are such good value. 

Yours in harmony, 

Phil Griffiths 

************** 

5 March 2006 

Dear Ron, 

Apologies for not being in touch before but Mary 

and I have just returned from a three-month trip to 

Australia and New Zealand. We spent two weeks 

with old friends who emigrated 40 years ago to 

Melbourne, Australia, and the rest of the time with 

our daughter Amanda, husband and two 

grandchildren who live in Wanaka, New Zealand. It 

has been wonderful to be with them. The trip was 

fantastic - marvellous to see everyone especially 

Amanda and Leithen, three and a half, and Isla, 

almost two - lots of fun. One of the highlights was 

that I did a tandem paraglide 3,000 feet above Lake 

Wanaka (South Island) - fabulous views but also a 

bit hair raising! Our Amanda sings with a singing 

group "Wanakapella'. Mary and I went along on 

her rehearsal evening. I joined them - Mary 

watched. The Musical director, Anna, wanted me to 

stay! 

Hope that you and Stella are keeping as well as 

possible. Enclosed is my cheque for Associate 

Member subs. Mary and I both enjoy receiving Tag 

Rag. Please give our very best wishes to all the folk 

we know in the Club. Hope to see you this year. 

Take care, Regards, 

Dave Heighway 

*********** 

28th February 2006 

Dear Ron, 

How the year rushes by - sorry to have missed the 

end of 2005 for A.M. subs. 

However, it is now 11 years since I joined TVC for 

just a few months and I get an increasing feeling of 

Page - 10 

not knowing who is who these days, as people move 

on, and similarly "they" have no idea who I am. As 

I am more settled in job and family in Portsmouth 

now, it seems less likely I shall find myself in the 

Reading area again. 

So what I am saying is although I retain some fond 

memories of RBHC, I no longer feel Associate 

Membership is for me and I wish to withdraw from 

subscribing to Tag Rag, excellent though it is as 

your Club magazine. 

My best wishes to all on and, less fortunately 

perhaps, off the risers and I will no doubt see you in 

Harrogate, soon. 

Yours in Harmony 

Peter Mumford 

*********************************** 

CORRESPONCENCE 

Letter received from The Chelsea Pensioners' 

Appeal dated 24 February 2006 

Dear Mr Mills, 

Thank you so much for the kind donation of £405 

to our Appeal, raised through the centrefold of your 

Christmas issue of Tag Rag. This was a most 

generous gesture and greatly exceeded your 

expectations of raising £200, indicated by the Editor, 

Graham Starkie, in his dealings with us. I would be 

most grateful if you could extend our thanks to all 

members of the Club. 

I hope you will feel that your money will be well 

spent on our exciting and much needed 

development. This will see the construction of a 

new Infirmary (Care home) by the end of 2007 and 

the modernisation of the long Wards (sheltered 

accommodation), which will start on completion of 

the Infirmary project. 

As you may have read, the demolition of the old 

Infirmary is now complete and the tender process 

will shortly begin to appoint the contractors for the 

new build by April. 

We have now raised just over £9.6 million and have 

received pledges for a further £6.1 million. The 

challenge of securing the remainder of the £35 

million target by 31 March 2008 remains a key 

fixture, so the pressure to deliver remains constant. 

Once again many thanks for your support which is 

very much appreciated. 

Yours sincerely, 

Roy Ratezz 

********************************** 



Newtown Ringers (1978 BABS Champion 

Quartet) 

Choruses of Chelmsford Star Harmony and 

Saffron Sound. 

Compare - Russell Green 

15 Years Ago March 1991 

HISTORICAL NOTES 


3 rd 'The Singin’ ‘n’ Swingin’ Show'. With the 

Thames Valley Chorus was One Jump Ahead (Big 

Band) 

9 th Daytimers at Age Concern Luncheon, 

Renaissance Hotel 

14 th Daytimers at Age Concern Day Centre, 

Woodley 

17 th Full Chorus at Oratory Prep School, 

Pangbourne for Senior Citizens show 

26 th Daytimers at Spencers Wood 

During the month there was a visit to the club by 

Neil Watkins to put the Chorus through ‘My Baby 

Just Cares For Me’ which he arranged for TVC. 

Also a visit from Russ Young, Director of 

Performing Arts, SPEBSQSA from Phoenix, 

Arizona. 


16 th Full Chorus Brock Barracks Reading for the 

Royal Signals Association dinner 

30 th Full Chorus County High School for Girls, 

Chelmsford. Concert to raise funds for 

Nickelodeon to attend the International 

convention at Salt Lake City. Taking part were: 

Nickelodeon (1995 Southern Counties Quartet 

Champions) 

Fever Pitch (1995 LABBS Quartet Champions) 

Thames Valley Chorus (1995 BABS Chorus 

Silver Medallists) 

Cambridge Chord Company (1994 BABS 

Chorus Silver Medallists) 

9 th RBHC Show Wilde Theatre, Bracknell 

“They Don’t Write Songs Like That Anymore” 

Appearing were: 

Thames Valley Chorus 

Reading Barberettes 

Thames Wind Concert Band 

Talk Of The Town (1991 BABS Quartet 

Champions) 

MC - Colin Thatcher 

26 th Full Chorus Coronation Hall, Woodley, for 

Arthritic Care 


19 th Full Chorus at Community Centre, Grove Road, 

Emmer Green. We had two spots at an “Old 

Persons Concert” sponsored by Caversham Rotary 

Club. The Mayor of Reading was in the audience. 

23 rd Full Chorus at Woodley Festival of Music and 

Dance. 


17 th At the RBHC AGM the following were elected: 

Chairman - Alan Hill 

Secretary - John Carter 

Treasurer - Bill Harper 

Committee Members- Cyril Duckworth, Ken 

Hopper, Pete Powell 

Barbershopper Of The Year - Graham Lawrence 

21 st BABS Quartet Prelims, Birmingham 

Partners In Time (Dick Coles, Pete Powell, Ian 

Douglas, Dave Heighway) was in 8 th position out of 

26 entrants. The winning quartet was Regency Pride 

(Crawley & Brighton) 

During the month the chorus was at Sindlesham. 

The location and date is not recorded but it was on a 

Wednesday and must have been at a home for the 

aged as we were thanked by the Matron. 

Partners In Time sang for three nights at the 

Hexagon’s “Old Time Music Hall”. 

BABS changed its name from the British 

Association of Barbershoppers to the British 

Association of Barbershop Singers. 

Page - 11 




Ken Heath was re-elected as Chairman of RBHC 

for the second time. Colin Carter was voted the first 

Barbershopper Of The Year. 

27 th RBHC’s very first show at the Alfred Sutton 

Girls School, Reading. The chorus, then known as 

the Berkshire Barbershoppers had four spots in the 

program. The current BABS champion quartet ‘Five 

Bridge Four’ from Wearside had two spots. The 

Barberettes made their debut as a chorus and their 

quartet the ‘Minor Birds’ also sang. Two club 

quartets, the ‘Barrytones’ (then bronze medallists) 

and ‘Four No Trumps’ each had a spot. Members 

of the quartets were: 

Minor Birds (Kim Derrig, Kay Derrig, Janet 

Holland, Daph Powell) 

Barrytones (Barry Nowell, Nick Carter, Colin 

Carter, Bob Watkin) 

Four No Trumps (Ken Hopper, Ron Beal, Ron 

Collis, Pete Powell) 

The group that founded RBHC, the ‘Minor 

Chords’, performed a piece entitled “How It All 

Started” A mixed quartet sang a couple of 

barbershop songs and there was half-a-dozen other 

items including sketches and musical acts thrown in 

for good measure, quite a variety show. Tickets were 

priced at 75p with 50p for children and OAP’s. 

Regards 

HAYDN ADAMS 

*********************************** 

LONG TIME NO WRITE!!!!! 

Well hi y’all from over here where the VM are now 

gearing up seriously for International. 

The last missive I sent to Starkers’ organ was way 

way back in November, and there have been some 

major happenings since then, more personal than 

VM. 

Before I go into the happenings of the Beer family 

and the Vocal Majority, I must say how sad I was to 

hear about Ken Smyth – what a character and what a 

Lead. I was also pleased to see that Phillip is going 

back to Director’s college again – I presume he 

trained one arm at the first time round and is now 

going for advanced training - the second arm this 

time! Also, many congrats to Rhi for being BOTY – 

well deserved from what I can see over here. And 

before I forget, a very happy Christmas to all in 

RBHC – I totally forgot to send a message at the 

correct time – blame SWMBO’s health, the trip to 

New Zealand, and learning stuff for the VM 

Christmas show. Given time I am sure I could think 

up a whole host of other excuses to hide the fact I 

just plain forgot! 

Page - 12 

Anyway, what has been happening to the Beer clan I 

hear you shout. First, SWMBO had her final 

chemotherapy session on December the 19th then 

we flew to New Zealand on the 20 th for Christmas, 

New Year, and the birth of our grand daughter, 

Jasmine Mair Beer. It was great basking in the sun 

on Christmas Day and having a beach picnic on 

Boxing Day. It was pretty warm down there – not 

the searing heat of Dallas, but still lots of sun and 

very warm. 

My daughter in law was due to pop on January 5 th , 

because her previous 2 children (she was a widow 

when David met her) were early, we expected 

something to happen anytime after New Year’s day. 

However, this child definitely had a mind of her 

own, and no matter what Lucy did (including going 

on an off road trip in their 4 x 4 with a very nervous 

dad-to-be) she hung on in there. The 5 th came and 

went, so did the 6 th , then finally on the 7 th she 

eventually put in an appearance. She was worth 

waiting for (of course!) she is a beautiful child with 

a sunny disposition and is now smiling and 

chuckling a lot so I am told. I was quite looking 

forward to baby-sitting, but it is a long way to go 

just so David & Lucy can have a night out. 

Anyway, we arrived back mid January, and 

SWMBO went for her checkup scans, to be 

pronounced clear of all cancer!!! Yehaaaaw say I!!! 

Since she stopped chemo it has been fascinating 

watching her hair grow back – it is growing quickly 

and you can see a change each day. We anticipate 

her throwing her rugs away in a couple of weeks 

and becoming au naturelle as they say in Italy. She 

has returned to bossing me around something 

chronic again, so I know she is well on the way to a 

full recovery. 

So, as soon as she had been declared a cancer free 

zone SWMBO thought “what can I do next to 

upset the equilibrium of the Dallas Beers?” and 

promptly fell off a chair – crack – she broke her 

right wrist. She really must learn to take more water 

with it! So not only did she have a new weapon to 

beat me with (her cast) but I had to cut up food, 

write cards, cook, and do all the many other things 

she does that I didn’t always realize. She had the 

cast off 2 days ago, and so I am sure she is already 

looking around for something new to do! 

We then come to a very sad event not just for the 

family, but residents and singers of the Wyre Piddle 

and Pershore areas. As you know, my father – Eric 

– had a heart attack and was taken to hospital. We 

were told on Saturday that he was sitting up in bed, 

talking, and looking OK, so as I was due to do my 

first paid teaching gig in Atlanta that week, we 



planned to return on the following Friday for a 

couple of weeks to take mum to and from hospital 

and generally be about the place until he recovered. 

On the Monday morning, about an hour after I 

started teaching Project Management, the phone 

vibrated in my pocket – I thought it was quite a 

pleasant sensation until I realized what it might 

mean. I took the call, and yes it was from the UK 

saying I had better get over there pretty quick, dad 

was not expected to last much more than 12 hours. 

Due to some excellent help from American Airlines, 

my bags and I were booked from Atlanta through 

Dallas to Gatwick on the first available plane. I 

arrived in Dallas, met SWMBO at the departure 

gate, then 15 minutes later we were on our way to 

London. 

British Rail is not the swiftest form of transport, but 

we eventually got to Reading where I picked up a 

hire car, and shot up to Pershore – the fastest trip 

yet, believe me. We got to his bedside some 22 

hours after having the phone call, and he slipped 

away peacefully about 45 minutes after we arrived. 

We like to think he waited for us before going. 

As you might expect, I was in charge of funeral 

arrangements, so it was going to be a real 

“barbershopper’s” funeral. Dad loved the Vocal 

Majority, and was so proud that I had become a 

member, so I invited the whole of the VM (on CD of 

course) to the funeral. The coffin and family entered 

to “Sweet hour of prayer”, then after the eulogy, we 

had “You raise me up” from our latest CD, and a 

track that dad loved, then after the sermon we had 

the VM’s “Lord’s Prayer” - not a dry eye in the 

house. After the final prayers, Pershore BHC sang 

an emotional “Let There Be Peace”, then we left the 

church to the VM’s “I’ll Walk With God”. I know 

dad would have loved it, and everybody I spoke to 

afterwards said what a wonderful “heartfelt” service 

it had been, and several asked where they could buy 

the CDs! As a matter of interest, we knew there 

would be a lot of people there, and that the 70 seater 

local church might be full, but we were not prepared 

for the 152 that actually turned up. They were 

standing anywhere there was a few square inches 

and even sitting in front of the alter - he went out to 

a full house with not even any standing room left – 

he would have loved it. 

One thing that confirms what a class act the VM are 

was the number of emails and cards we received 

from them, including both Jim and Greg Clancy, 

expressing sympathy for the family. Dad was well 

known in the VM – they seemed to like him a lot 

and he was made to feel very welcome every time he 

visited. I am proud to say that he and my mother 

saw me win two of my three gold medals, and had a 

Page - 13 

great time with us during all the celebrations 

afterwards. 

Anyway, moving on, every cloud has a silver lining, 

and RBHC was mine. I was able to pay y’all a visit 

the night before we returned, and it was great to see 

so many old faces I remember so well – and of 

course you can’t look much older than Les Hearn! I 

was delighted that Dick Coles’ time of arrival lived 

up to my expectation – some things never change. I 

was astounded when I heard about the results of 

your Learn To Sing programme – many 

congratulations. 

I was made to feel very welcome, which was much 

appreciated, but on reflection this may well have 

been due to the fact I was leaving the Country the 

next day! I am glad to say I had the opportunity to 

meet several new faces (out of the amazing number 

of new people in RBHC) as well. I was sorry to 

miss seeing Rhi, but I saw the impressive results of 

her away weekend with you in form of the new 

choreography. 

So, at the unholy hour of 4.00 the next morning I 

was awoken to start the trek back to Dallas. This is 

the reason I couldn’t come to the afterglow and have 

a chat with you after the rehearsal – I apologize if it 

seemed that I just disappeared but I am bad enough 

on a normal morning, let alone one starting so early. 

We arrived back on Wednesday, and of course I 

went to the VM rehearsal the next evening, where we 

too are learning new choreography for our 

competition up-tune in July. What a break from 

normal – having music and choreog early enough to 

hopefully learn it before we hit the competition 

stage. Trouble is that we may well peak too early 

now!! 

We had a good set of Christmas shows (5 

altogether) and we had a great time. The usual 

format for a VM Christmas show is that for the first 

half we wear some sort of costume relevant to the 

theme of the show. This time it was various types of 

Christmas toys, soldiers, stuffed toys, superman, bat 

man, and even a couple of jack-in-the-boxes etc. and 

I was an elf with green and red striped rugby socks, 

long shorts, a stupid hat, and shoes with bells on!! 

The second half is more traditional – normal tuxes 

and singing carols. 

FYI, the current youngest member of the VM was 

twelve when he joined, and had his thirteenth 

birthday a few weeks ago – he is obviously made of 

“the right stuff” because he turned up for a singout 

on the night of his 13 th birthday. He is not only the 

current youngest member of the chorus, but is also 

the first 3 rd generation VMer – his father who joined 



at about the same age as his son, still sings with us 

and both are now in the front row. 

What can I tell you about the VM competition 

package for Indy? Well one song is a ballad and one 

is an up-tune. The David Wright up tune is 

“something else” as they say over here. Yes it is 

fast, and yes it has lots of words, but the 

choreography is quite a new departure. The front 

row just does not stop at all, leaping about all over 

the place like demented zebedees (they asked me to 

join them in the front row but I thought I had better 

leave it to the youngsters). Even we riser fodder are 

doing something most of the time (maybe I should 

re-phrase that – we are working on presentation 

every second of the performance, it is just that we 

also have a lot of choreog to do). I am impressed 

with it I must say, or at least I will be when I can 

remember it all and am able to do it without thinking 

of the next move! 

The ballad is a typical Jim Clancy arrangement – 

makes the hair on the back of your neck stand to 

attention, even those with not much left. 

Talking about Indy, if anyone from RBHC is going 

to International, please let me know – it would be 

great to meet up - just drop me an email on 

bb@apollopmc.com. 

Well after such a turbulent last few months I could 

do with a nice peaceful time, punctuated only by the 

demands of the VM – I wonder if this will be 

possible? 

Right well, I have taken up enough of your time 

droning on about me and mine, all the very best to 

you all and it was great watching you work so hard 

when I was there. 

Cheers, 

BRUCE BEER 

*********************************** 

SUPPORTERS 

Thank you for thinking about my "pinkies" Pip. 

Really there is so little typing for me with the 

production of Tag Rag you needn't worry. 

I was concerned to hear of Christine Callaghan's 

illness whilst on holiday in Goa, and hope she is 

making progress towards a full recovery. 

I was sorry to miss Bruce's visit to Club recently. 

We were glad to hear that Judith has been given the 

all clear. Graham and I have been thinking of you 

and your family lots recently. I am sure Eric was 

waiting for you to turn up, Bruce, as the same thing 

happened with my mother, and Graham's. They 

waited to see all their family before leaving us. 

It was wonderful to hear that Sue Rackham is out of 

hospital and making a steady recovery from her 

recent kidney problems. I bet Windsor is pleased to 

have her back home after such a prolonged stay in 

hospital. 

I must share a comment made to me by an 83 year 

old (coming on 21!) neighbour and friend of my 

sister in Lytham. Apparently she loves to hear all 

the stories of TVC's travels, and has decided that 

next time she "comes this way" she is going to 

marry a Barbershop singer as they enjoy themselves 

so much, i.e. Prague, Robbie Williams, Harrogate, 

etc. etc. This lady, Margaret, has beaten massive 

cancer problems and has booked a holiday in Paris 

and shortly after she is off to the Norwegian Fjords! 

Have a good Easter break, 

Luv 'n' hugs as always, 

IRENE 

*********************************** 

Page - 14 


FESTIVAL INFORMATION 

International Advent Singing Festival 

6th ADVENT & CHRISTMAS SONGS 

FESTIVAL BUDAPEST, HUNGARY 

DECEMBER 1 - 3, 2006 


Day 2 - Evening concert at a church in Budapest - 

40 minutes / choir 

Day 3 - Gala concert at Matthias Church - 5 

minutes / choir 

All the rehearsal arrangements according to the 

concerts. 

Dear Friends of Music, 

Thank you for showing interest in our festival. 

Hereby we would like to inform you about the 6th 

International Choir Festival in Budapest. Our goal is 

to let choirs from all over the world have the 

opportunity to come and see the capital of Hungary 

and meet other choirs from many different 

countries. 

Choirs will sing Advent songs and Christmas 

Carols in the most beautiful churches of Budapest. 

This capital city is one of the cultural centers of 

Central Europe. The Advent & Christmas Songs 

Festival will add a remarkable musical event to the 

vigorous cultural life of the city. 

We look forward to hearing you sing at the 6th 

Advent & Christmas Songs Festival 2006! 

DAY 1 - FRIDAY DEC 1, 2006 

Arriving in Budapest. 

Afternoon official opening of the festival. 

Get Together Concert. 

All choirs introduce themselves with some songs 

and some words. (approx. 10 minutes of each 

choir) 

DAY 2 - SATURDAY DEC 2, 2006 

Afternoon rehearsal for the Gala concert at the 

Matthias Church. 

Evening concerts at various churches in 

Budapest. (approx. 40 minutes of each choir) 

DAY 3 - SUNDAY DEC 3, 2006 

Evening Gala concert at the Matthias Church. 

Short performance of each participants (approx. 

5 minutes) 

Grand Finale. 

Common songs: 

Kodály Z. arr.: Advent Song (Veni, veni 

Emmanuel) 

Kodály Z.: Evening Song 

Fanz Gruber/David Willcocks: Silent Night 

Closing the festival. 

Farewell party. Dinner and live music. 

GIFTDVD about the highlights of the festival to 

each participant choir. 

GALA DINNER Dinner 3 (welcome drink, 3- 

course menu, soft drink or mineral water, coffee) 

Hungarian folklore show, live music and dance. 

SUPPLEMENTARY 

HOTEL / PERSON / 3 NIGHTS 

Triple room Double room Single room 

2 STAR HOTEL EUR 42 EUR 45 EUR 69 

3 STAR HOTEL EUR 57 EUR 60 EUR 99 

COACH 

MEALS 

CITY TOUR 

GUIDE 

EXTENSION OF STAY 

EXTRA CONCERT ARRANGEMENTS 

You can book above services through TM Resor / 

MWS Festivals. Please ask for our best rates! 

To apply, please fill in the application form 

and enclose the following: 

- Brief description of the choir and the conductor 

- Photo and cassette / CD 

- Repertoire of own choice of the choir 

Closing date:September 15, 2006 

Confirmation: Your application will be confirm by 

e-mail or mail. With the confirmation we enclose a 

pro forma invoice including deposit EUR 40 per 

person. 

Final payment: October 31, 2006 

Cancellation: Cancellation must be forwarded in 

writing. 

Rates: Net rates are calculated and they are given in 

EURO. All taxes are included. All rates are group 

rates, available from minimum 15 persons. 

PRICE PER PERSON FROM EUR 130 (incl. all 

taxes) 

The price includes 

CONCERTS Day 1 - Get Together Concert. 

Informal introducing concert - 10 minutes / choir 

Page - 15 


VIENNA (Same dates as Budapest) 


Austria's historic capital, Vienna, is a 

magnificent former Imperial capital city on the 

Danube with grand streets, broad boulevards 

and beautiful palaces which will overwhelm 

you with their elegance and charm... 

"As in previous years, the tasks given to the guest 

choirs will be a performance in the historical setting 

of the Vienna City Chamber, the accompaniment of 

a mass or church service in one of our many famous 

churches and a performance in one of the many old 

peoples homes in Vienna." 

Dr Bernhard Denscher 

Director of the Department of Culture 

City of Vienna 

The Festival 

In this home of the famous composer Strauss, the 

waltz and the Vienna Boy's Choir, you and your 

choir will find a city providing a rich performance 

backdrop of baroque art and architecture. Your choir 

will have the opportunity to perform their own 

selection of songs, perhaps a medley reflecting the 

culture from your country, at a number of beautiful 

venues. Your choir may perform in up to four 

different locations but if your choir only wishes to 

perform on one occasion we at Choir Contact 

International would be happy to arrange this on 

your behalf. 

Whilst here, you and your choir will be taken on a 

tour of the most important sights of Vienna. View 

magnificent palaces like the baroque Belvedere 

Palace and the incomparable Schönbrunn Palace. 

Visit the Old Town in the centre with its opera 

house, imperial Hofburg and St Stephen's 

Cathedral. Our half day city tour will give your 

choir a taste of the grandeur Vienna exudes. 

During the festival, the Viennese Tourist Board 

will be delighted to greet your choir during lunch, to 

thank you for participating in the festival, adding to 

the occasion of Advent in the preparation for 

Christmas. 

On two evenings Choir Contact International 

will be delighted to organise dinner for you. One 

evening will be spent at the Wienerwald* 

restaurant whilst on another evening you will dine at 

Heurigen restaurant. On the final evening a farewell 

reception (including light refreshments) will take 

place in Vienna's magnificent Town Hall affording 

all participating choirs an opportunity to mix, share 

stories of their stay and finish the festival by singing 

a rousing rendition of Beethoven's 'Song of Joy' 

in their own language. It is a unique experience 

Page - 16 

which many choirs have cited as the hightlight of 

their visit to Vienna. 

In our advent singing festival your choir will have 

the opportunity to perform your own selection of 

songs at a number of beautiful venues. Your choir 

may perform in up to four different locations but if 

your choir only wishes to perform on one occasion 

we would be happy to arrange this on your behalf. 

In our advent singing festival your choir will have 

the opportunity to perform your own selection of 

songs at a number of beautiful venues. Your choir 

may perform in up to four different locations but if 

your choir only wishes to perform on one occasion 

we would be happy to arrange this on your behalf. 

The Following concert options are available to 

Choirs; 

1) Performance in Festival Hall at the Town Hall of 

Vienna. Concerts take place on Friday, Saturday and 

Sunday afternoons. Your performance length is 30 

minutes. 

2) Performance in a senior citizens home. During 

Advent many of Vienna’s senior citizens homes’ 

organise an ‘Advent Get-Together’ where choirs 

have the opportunity to sing for approx 45 minutes. 

This option is only available on Friday afternoons. 

3) Performance during a mass/church service. 

Choirs have the opportunity to sing in one of 

Vienna’s many churches. 5-6 songs are requested 

and they have to match the church’s Liturgy. 

4) Performance in “Outdoor Christmas Market” in 

front of the Schonbrunne Castle. The stage is set in 

the middle of the Christmas markets and the 

concerts should last approx 20-25 minutes 

FESTIVAL PROGRAMME 

Thursday 

* Arrive in Vienna. Enjoy dinner at a 

Wienerwald Restaurant 

Friday 

* After breakfast half day guided sightseeingtour 

of Vienna: St. Stephen's Cathedral, 

Ringstraße, Hundertwasser's apartment 

complex, Belvedere Castle, Opera, Votiv 

Church, University, Burg Theater, Town 

Hall, Parliament, Law Courts, Hofburg. 

* After your city tour, you will enjoy lunch at 

restaurant Rathauskeller at the invitation of 

the city of Vienna. 

* In the afternoon optional performance at a 

senior citizens home. 

Saturday 



* Morning at leisure. Enjoy a stroll through the 

Kärntner Straße, the excellent shopping area 

with its elegant shops. 

* In the afternoon performances by choirs in the 

Festival Hall of the Town Hall. 

* In the evening, excursion to Gumpoldskirchen, 

a scenic old village with 800 years of histor 

* Dinner at a typical wine tavern. Sunday After 

breakfast optional performance at one of the 

churches of Vienna during a mass or service. 

* Optional visit to Schönbrunn Castle or 

excursion to Mödling, Mayerling and 

Heiligenkreuz or option to sing at Christmas 

Market 

* In the evening all participating choirs gather at 

the Town Hall. Official closing ceremony, 

distribution of certificates, finally all choirs 

sing Ode to Joy together while enjoying 

canapés and sparkling wine. 

Sunday 

* After breakfast at the hotel, choirs depart. 

*********************************** 

Editorial Note: 

Internet Scams and Fiddles information and The 

Barbershoppers Internet Directory have been 

removed this month to make space for more 

important information. They'll be back again next 

month space permitting. Thank you. 

*********************************** 

Thanks to Haydn Adams, Mike Ayres, Bruce Beer, 

Mervyn Clark, Ron Collis, Peter Cookson, Simon 

Laight, Andy Pearce and Irene for supplying copy. 

Editor 

Graham Starkie 

29 Kibblewhite Crescent 

Twyford 

READING RG10 9AX 

ENGLAND 

Tel/Ans/Fax 0118 934 5214 

Email starkie@btinternet.com 

27 March 2006 

Copy deadlines: 

11th April for 18th distribution 

9th May for 16th distribution 

13th June for 20th distribution 

*********************************** 

TAG RAG is published by the Reading Barbershop 

Harmony Club for the benefit of Members, 

Associates and anyone else who is fortunate or 

otherwise to come into contact with us. The opinions 

expressed in these pages are not necessarily the 

official Club view. 

Advertisement lineage will be accepted and printed 

free of charge in TAG RAG (subject to editorial 

discretion). Display advertising is available in 

exchange for a donation to club funds as agreed 

between the sponsor and the editor before the 

Page - 17 

publication date. Please note that advertisements will 

be carried for two months only and then will be 

dropped (at the editor’s discretion) unless requested 

otherwise. 

Objectives of the RBHC - To encourage the singing 

and enjoyment of Barbershop Harmony in both 

Chorus and Quartet form. It is a non profit making 

organisation and shall support such worthy 

charitable causes as the Executive Committee think 

fit. (paraphrase of Club rule number 2) 

Contacts - The Club’s Thames Valley Chorus 

rehearse on every Tuesday (with few exceptions) at 

the Piggott School Wargrave near Twyford Reading 

from 7.45pm until 10.30pm. All visitors are 

welcome. See website www.rbhc.org.uk for 

directions. 

SECURITY NOTICE The best place to park your 

car at the Piggott School is in the main car park at 

the side of the school; this area is under constant 

surveillance by four CCTV cameras. The camera over 

the front door only looks at the main entrance to 

record movements coming off the road. 

*********************************** 

CLUB EXECUTIVE 

Peter Cookson 01635 528316 

Chairman 

peter_j_cookson@btopenworld.com 

Barry Howard 0118 942 8400 

Membership bjhanddjh@aol.com 

Julian Charman 01491 872300 

Music 

jjcharman@aol.com 

Andy Pearce 0118 973 2364 

Administration andrew.pearce33@btinternet.com 

Lawrence McNulty 0118 978 7161 

Marketing & PRO lawrence@mcnultyfamily.co.uk 

Alex Russell 01635 40855 

Finance 

6 Bartlemy Road, Newbury 

RG14 6JX 

Rod Adams 0118 934 4515 

Musical Events Rod.Adams@wham-bam.net 

Other Roles: 

Rhiannon Owens-Hall 01352 780825 

Chorus Director rhiannonhall@babs-education.info 

Ken Mills 0118 978 0031 

Treasurer heatherken@waitrose.com 

FATHER OF THE CHORUS and 

Associate Member Coordinator 

Ron Collis 10 Langley Hill Close Tilehurst 

READING RG3 4EJ 

Tel 0118 941 6081 

*********************************** 


RBHC's 


50 

CLUB 

Are you part of the 

action? 

Why not join in the Club's monthly draws to 

win you some pocket money and provide a 

regular income to Club funds. 

Shares are £2 each 

payable by Standing Order. 

Contact Mike McKeown next Tuesday (or 

0118 988 2530) to join. 

•Newly built modern kennels• 

•Large exercise runs • Heated sleeping areas• 

•DOGS WALKED DAILY• 

•Very competitive rates - incl. of food • 

•Heating, vet, insurance and VAT.• 

•Dog training - Obedience and Agility• 

Call in and see us anytime - opposite Waingels 

School Woodley 

0118 969 0834 

0118 969 4898 

Proprietor D. W. Jeffery 

Regular listening to recorded material improves your 

awareness of the barbershop style and will help you to 

work-smarter with your singing. 

Barbershop Recordings 

Resource Library 

DO YOU need your kitchen or bathroom refitted, or some 

tailor-made shelves to improve your living room? Call 

MAURICE SCOTT 

on 0118 934 1965 

Get your home protected with a ‘wire-less’ security 

system. Speak to Scotty now for details. 

Any sort of household jobs, large or small undertaken. 

I’m fit, fast and flexible, experienced in carpentry, tiling, 

plumbing, brickwork, etc. and thoroughly reliable 

References available. 

Save yourself the cost (and trouble) of getting your own 

recordings by borrowing other members through Andy 

Wheeler's Lending Library Service. Look for the Library 

List on the notice board for current titles. 

Borrowing requests should be made either by email or a 

personal note that should include name of item required 

and a reply address. Speak to Andy on Rehearsal night or 

at andy.wheeler@sportscentre.org.uk. Andy will 

coordinate the loan and put the lender in touch with the 

borrower to complete the deal. 

A charge of £1 per item loaned per week is payable to 

Andy. The money will go into Club funds and Andy will 

review the need to purchase recorded material on behalf of 

the library. 

Page - 18 


NEW MEMBER PHOTO GALLERY 

Photographs by David Colver 


Aaron Petersen 

Chris Brown 

David Powell 

James Porter 

Rob Robson 

Payam Gammage 

Stephen Jessop 

Page - 19 

Please support our Tag Rag advertisers


THE REMAINING DAYS OF 

MARCH 2006 


29 30 31 

26 27 28 

Rehearsal Full Chorus 

Caravan Club 

International - 

Sparsholt 

College 

Winchester 

April 2006 Calendar is on page 2 

A LOOK AHEAD TO 

MAY 2006 

March 



May 


1 2 

Rehearsal 

3 4 5 6 

7 8 9 

Rehearsal 

TAG RAG 

COPY 

DEADLINE 

14 15 16 

Rehearsal 

TAG RAG 

DISTRIBUTION 

21 

BABS 

Convention 

Harrogate 

Day 3 of 3 

10 11 12 

Daytimers+ 

Fawley Court 

Henley 

17 18 19 

BABS 

Convention 

Harrogate 

Day 1 of 3 

22 23 

Rehearsal 

24 25 26 27 

28 29 30 

Rehearsal 

31 

May 


13 

20 

BABS 

Convention 

Harrogate 

Day 2 of 3 

Page - 20 

Please support our Tag Rag advertisers

march 2006 - Thames Valley Chorus

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