What a great Convention we’ve just had. Full of events and activities. The fact that everything seemed to run so smoothly was wholly due to our hard-working band of volunteers. I gave lots of accolades at the Convention to these people, but I want to put it in writing again.

A big thank you to the leader of the local team, Warren Lewis, and members of Sydney Harmony, Hills Harmony and Penrith Harmony, Jerry Harris, Alex Richards, Richard Wadick, Dick Bushell, Ros Bushell, David Farley, Tony Sykes, Guy Gibson, Phillip Powell and Mal Woods.

And a second big thank you to the BHA team, VP Events, Dan Millgate (overall management), Trevor Bruger – Treasurer (Finances & Contracts), Dan Beckitt - VP Marketing & Development (Marketing & Advertising), Kieran O’Dea - VP Youth Development (Deke Sharon workshop), Andrew Howson - VP Music (Harmony College), Alex Morris – AGBJ Chairman (Contests, Judges, & Judge’s School coordination), Paul Adams (Membership Awards), and Trevor Rootes – Secretary (Deke Sharon workshop).

Putting on a Convention like we did in Sydney is a huge effort, and it wouldn’t have been possible to do that without the help of many other volunteers, too numerous to mention individually. Thank you all. You made a difference.

Congratulations to our competitors. Without you we wouldn’t have an event like this. While there are medal and trophy winners, it is the contribution of every competitor that makes a successful Convention, so thank you all. All results are listed on the BHA website.

We now look forward to the holiday season with several fund-raising opportunities singing Christmas Carols generally available, and then a break in January to plan for 2018.

Coming up we have the BHA AGM in December and there will be some Motions necessary to change our BHA Constitution to bring it into line with new legislative requirements. There are also changes afoot to the National Council. I recently informed the BHA National Council of my intention not to re-contest the position of President at the end of this year. Of my 30 years membership of BHA (and AAMBS) I have been on the National Council in one capacity or another (e.g. VP Music, VP Events, President) for around 15 years – half my membership, with the four most recent years as President. I have been honoured to work alongside many others dedicated to developing BHA to the point where we now have a strong international profile, we are relevant to our modern and evolving society, and we “move with the times”. Thank you all for your support over the years.

I do encourage everyone to consider nominating for some sort of leadership position, whether it be in your quartet, your Club, your region, or on the National Council. Our organisations won’t run without volunteers, and they all need you! Keep Australia (and the whole world) singing!

Ian Mulholland

BHA President