Dare To Dream

Illawarra Mercury

Thursday June 6, 2002

By TIM AYLING

Rightly or wrongly, the humble barbershop has traditionally been a men-only domain, where gents gather to relax and discuss the day's matters free of female interjection.

But more than 33,000 women worldwide regularly make a cappella barbershop singing all their own as members of Sweet Adelines, an international organisation of women dedicated to promoting the singing form through education and performance.

The seventh biannual Australian regional convention, Dare to Dream, will be held this weekend at Wollongong Entertainment Centre. It will be the first time it has been held outside an Australian capital city - thanks, in no small part, to the efforts of Sweet Adelines' local representatives, Wollongong Harmony Chorus.

The group had been bidding since 1998 to win the right to host the convention, which Wollongong City Council is expecting to inject hundreds of thousands of dollars into the city.

``We've all worked very hard and learned very quickly, and our hope is to consolidate our Australian second place that we earned in Perth two years ago," Wollongong Harmony Chorus's Jill Vickery said.

A cappella is an American vocal tradition, dating back to the 19th century. Traditionally comprising a quartet of singers, it refers to a four-part harmony with the melody set in the second-lowest voice.

A cappella came to prominence during minstrel shows and later, vaudeville acts in the mid-1800s United States. The ``barbershop" style was first associated with southern black quartets of the 1870s.

The Australian chorus and quartet which take overall first place at the Southern Cross regional convention will travel to the United States in 2003 to compete at the Sweet Adeline International Championship.

``The champion chorus in Perth represented Australia in Portland last October and finished in the middle of the field, which was a pretty good effort. The international competition is very, very exciting," Vickery said.

``The judges coming out are all from the (United) States, and they go through an eight-year program of judging, so they certainly know their stuff.

``They're all top coaches as well and they're certainly our top VIPs for the weekend. Three of them are coming to this country for the first time so it's all very good for Australia and the region too."

Sweet Adelines Australian Convention 2002: Dare to Dream is on at Wollongong Entertainment Centre from June 7-10. The convention's Showcase of Champions, featuring Australia's top female barbershop choruses and quartets, is on Sunday night from 8pm.