Advisory Board Meeting Ramps Up Excitement  
for 2013!

Members of the Nashville Singers governing and advisory boards gathered at Nero's Grill on September 27 for a session of brainstorming and the exploration of collaborative opportunities. The mission-critical priorities identified at this face to face meeting and the previous teleconference are membership and fund development. Kudos to advisers Sarah Beatty with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee, Professional arranger and composer Don Hart, Tom Ventress with Ventress Design Works, Lynn D. McGill with The McGill Financial Ensemble, and Dr. Gary Wilson, with Lipscomb University, and governing board members present included Sloan Yarborough, Doug Morrison, Tim Mullican, Bryan Patrick, and Todd Wilson. We are so blessed to have so many talented people helping to support our mission.

The men of Nashville Singers traveled north to Goodlettsville last Tuesday evening to sing with the members of the Men of Harmony Chorus. Each chorus performed a few songs on their own, then came together to rehearsed two Jim Clancy arrangements, The Lord's Prayer and The Secret of Christmas. The evening also included a pickup quartet contest with members of each ensemble and some tasty treats. Nashville Singers is grateful for the great relationship we have nurtured with this great bunch of guys and look forward to further opportunities to make music together.

Nashville Singers enjoyed a visit from Music City Chorus tenor singer Josh Moore several weeks ago. We had a great time singing some of our Christmas rerpertoire with him. Our fun was magnified four time when Josh brought his quartet 7th & Broadway to our meeting a few weeks ago. The quartet is based in Tennessee and Alabama. The singers include: Josh Moore -  tenor, Clifford Hinson - lead, George Reynolds - baritone, and Marco Gonzalez on bass. This talented foursome treated us to a performance of the four contest songs they competed with this past weekend in Tunica, Mississippi.    

Carrie Hobbs Guiden has twenty years of experience working with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Indiana, Arizona and Tennessee through chapters of The Arc in these states.  Her areas of concentration have included employment, secondary transition, positive behavior supports, person-centered planning, habilitation, advocacy and systems change.   Currently she is Executive Director for The Arc Tennessee.  Carrie's education background includes a B.A. in Sociology from Indiana University, an M.S. in Special Education from IUPUI, and a Graduate Certificate in Non-Profit Management from Indiana University.

Carrie participates in a variety of boards, advisory councils and committees related to people with disabilities including President of Guardianship and Trust Corporation; and Regional Representative on the board for the National Conference on Executives of The Arc; is a member of the Autism Summit Team, the Community Advisory Council for Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, the Next Steps at Vanderbilt Advisory Council, the Developmental Disabilities Policy and Planning Council, Tennessee Allies in Self-Advocacy, Post-Secondary Education Taskforce, and The Arc Chapter Excellence Advisory Group; and a member and/or chairperson of a variety of committees including the TASA Development Committee, the Next Steps at Vanderbilt Outreach Committee, the NCE Membership Committee, and others.  

As Nashville Singers is a member of the Donelson-Hermitage Chamber of Commerce, I do my best to attend as many of their monthly member luncheons as I can. The networking opportunities are fabulous. At the August meeting, I met Dr. Rick Parrent, Director, Office of Career Placement, Cooperative Education, & Service Learning at Volunteer State Community College. After finding out what we do, he invited Nashville Singers to exhibit at a career fair/networking event which was held at Vol State earlier this week.  

Tim Mullican and Rodney Turner staffed the Nashville Singers booth, played some recordings of Nashville Singers, passed out fliers about our concert and membership opportunities, and gathered contacts for our mailing list. Rodney was interviewed by the campus radio station, WVCP and got to talk about Nashville Singers, our music, and our programs. 

Within an hour of packing up the booth one of the students they encountered "liked" us on Facebook and requested an audition. Mission accomplished!

Nashville Singers is grateful to Tim and Rodney for making this come together and to Vol State for the invitation and their hospitality. 

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December 6 - Abbreviated rehearsal/annual membership meeting/election of 2013 leaders/President's "State of the Union" address (7:00pm to 10:00pm) at Whitworth Memorial Baptist Church 

December 8 - PRIVATE Holiday performance at Lifepoint Church in Smyrna. Chorus call at 6:00pm. Costume TBD. Significant others welcome. 

December 20 - Abbreviated rehearsal/holiday party/unveiling of 2013 music  (7:00pm to 10:00pm) at Whitworth Memorial Baptist Church 

December 27 - No rehearsal