At our annual General Assembly, the choir took stock of the past season and elected a new board of committed volunteers to lead us to Various Voices in June.
I know, I know, it’s only (just!) October but doesn’t the September rentrée always feel like the start of a new year to you? Maybe it’s just drilled into us from 10+ years of basic education, or maybe it just feels like a new start when, after sea-salt and suncream summer holidays, the trees launch their AW collection of gentle yellows, auburns and mauves.
In any case, a new year for Sing Out is marked by the start of a new season every September. This time, we’re kicking off our eighth season which will take us through new repertoire, choreo and performances a-plenty all the way to Various Voices in June. We cannot contain our excitement!
A new year always brings change and our choir is no exception.
A new Board
As a registered non-profit association, we are legally required to hold an annual General Assembly to approve the past season’s accounts and grant discharge the board… but it’s not just a boring formality! The AG is a natural pause for thought in Sing Out’s busy calendar; an opportunity to remember who we are and what we’re here for and to turn around and look down the mountain at all we have achieved and overcome.
As has become the standard procedure at Sing Out, we split into language groups for the following presentations:
- Season seven activity report
- Seven eight activity plan
- End of season seven (anonymous) survey results
- Season seven accounts
- Season eight budget
- Update on preparations for Various Voices 2026
We then came together for a plenary voting session. The AG notably marked the end of three board members’ two-year term of office. The choir offered heartfelt thanks to season 7 President Kit Sainsbury, Joy Team Creative link Danielle Lyle and Treasurer Sheila Gijsens for the dedication they have demonstrated over the past 24 months and all the time they have poured into strengthening our community.
These departures left four vacancies available for the GA to fill. After the outgoing president shared a few words about what he felt made the candidates ideal to lead the choir, Marina Belotti, Alessandra Callegari, Anne Rensma and Antonino Tabone were all elected unanimously. With another year left for season eight President Robbie Blake as well as Alex Sartoretti and Matt Small, the growing Sing Out ship has a strong team of seven at its helm. The new Board is diverse in terms of gender identity and sexual orientation as well as in professional background, age, mother tongue and country of origin.
Joy Teams
Following the formalities, the choirs’ volunteer groups were presented: Joy Teams working on issues related to strategy, creative aspects, external communication, community building and choreography as well as a brand new fundraising team that will support the Board in securing public-sector financial support for our activities. This moment not only offered an opportunity for our new members to hear about what each team does before they decide to join one, but also allowed us to present the coloured lanyards we use to show who does what in the choir (different colours for each Joy Team, board members, trust persons and the external professionals that work with us)
There was also a particularly special moment during the presentations. Rather than a brief oral presentation, the choreography team decided to show a video they had made with the message that, in fact, everyone is part of the choreo team. It showed moments when the team first devised the movements we would perform on stage, rehearsals where the choir first learnt and practised the moves as a group, as well as clips from our fabulous Queeroes show. This was a timely reminder for not-so-new members to look back and acknowledge all work put in to build the show last season – but above all, to see playing out in front of us how worth it those tiring rehearsals all were!
With the I’s dotted and the T’s crossed, it’s time to get back to the music! And we can’t wait to see what this season has in store.