One of the perks of singing in Surrey Harmony is the calibre of coaching that comes through our rehearsal doors. This September, with the competition in Houston looming fast, it was the turn of Jim Arns to work his magic on the Surrey Harmony sound.
Jim Arns is the Master Director of five times International Champions Melodeers Chorus. They are tipped for a possible 6th Gold in Houston in October. Some of our members were just a little star struck when he walked through our doors.
The coaching weekend kicked off with a Friday night rehearsal, and Jim wasted no time getting stuck into “Honey’s Loving Arms”, our competition uptune; injecting character and passion into every word and helping us find the soul in the story. Then it was home for an early night – a full day of coaching awaited the chorus the next day.
Saturday flew by; more work on the uptune, followed by some fine-tuning of the ballad, “If you love me (let it happen)” followed by lunch and a recap on everything we’d worked on so far.
On Sunday morning we re-capped everything we had learned once again, going through the whole performance package several times. 11.30 came all too quickly, the weekend had been an intense ride through the Barbershop art form, led by a man who is not only the top of his class, but hilarious with it.
Jim Arns, thank you for all your hard work… we look forward to your next visit with much ‘Ha-ppiness’!
Jim will be back again in March, to coach us ahead of the Region 31 2012 competition in Birmingham. Watch this space to find out how you could be on the risers in time for his next visit!
