2021 YEAR IN REVIEW!

JANUARY

Our 2020 "Carols In The Park" Special Edition video was still notching up (thousands of) Views
and attracting comments from across the globe! We even received letters and cards of thanks from
people who were so touched by our unique Outback Christmas, and Carols sung by
our wonderful choir in the most magical of locations.

Re-live that wonderful moment, forever captured in time HERE!

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With Covid continuing we again decided against commencing a new Whyalla Recording Scholarship
(2020 couldn't happen with Covid disruptions - we'd really hoped to be past that now but.....)
but instead continued our sponsorship of existing Winners Jaylee Daniels and Shakira Lea.
Much of January was spent finalising audio Mixes and Mastering of their new Original songs ready for release.

We also opened our studio to two young sisters who'd never stepped foot inside a studio before.
They did a stellar job laying down a very special song to be played at their Grandmother's funeral
- it was an emotional time for all involved, and we were proud to help them achieve this goal.

We commenced filming Jaylee's new Music Video to accompany her new Single (originally called "I Am Here" and
now renamed "Tonight") across three locations, with her sister (and Stormfront Alumni) Jenna also appearing.

Alison completed her VOCAL HEALTH FIRST AID course with the final exam taking place over
Zoom at midnight with her assessor in the UK! This qualification complements our already
Holistic Approach of working with the whole PERSON - not just the SINGER.

While we awaited the start of our 2021 tuition year we conducted meet and greet lessons
with some new students, as well as several Online sessions for out-of-town clients.

*****

FEBRUARY

February saw our first of many meetings with Samaritan College's Mrs Fitzgerald to help coordinate
the musical accompaniment for the College's production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat"
to stage at the Middleback Arts Centre in October.

We were excited to welcome students from Whyalla and Port Augusta back to lessons in-person,
as well as Online students from Adelaide and across SA - so many with a
great enthusiasm for learning, songwriting, exam preparation, auditioning and performing.

Final preparations to launch the Samaritan College Band Programme for 2021 were underway - with record numbers already
signed up it was apparent there would need to be THREE Primary Bands in 2021 in addition to the Secondary Band!

We were contacted by Liz at Espresso Cafe to provide a Saturday Morning "Pop-Up" concert in Whyalla's City Plaza
and a fantastic roster of past and present students excitedly signed up to sing and play - albeit under strict Covid limitations.

On Sunday February 21st we launched Jaylee's "Tonight" to the world, the song reaching a fantastic Number 3 on both
iTunes Australia and AMRAP charts, and achieving radio airplay globally - check out Jaylee at jayleedaniels.com

*****

MARCH

March opened with a visit to the studio from WRS alumni BREEZE Millard and we commenced filming for
Shakira Lea's new Single "Drowning" music video. PR began with an article in Whyalla News
and pre-release advertising on social media ready for the Single launch on March 14th.

Meanwhile Jaylee interviewed with UK Radio station "Belter Radio" via Skype to promote her
upcoming music video - and on March 14th "Drowning" was released at shakiraleamusic.com

Saturday 20th was again spent at the Whyalla Swimming Carnival fully sponsoring and operating
the PA System - and then Sunday 21st saw Jaylee's "Tonight" music video released - see it HERE!

Saturday 27th March saw the Stormfront Students SING! team make their controlled return to the stage after 15 months
idle due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The "City Plaza Pop-Up Performance" rocked from 10.00am-2.00pm - see it HERE!

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Our Event Committee for LIONS "Carols In The Park" began meeting & we once again confirmed
Gavin Chander as our Event's sound engineer, with a Staging Date of December 12th set.

We reiterated to LIONS that we were advising we should stage in 2021 with whatever
COVID-related restrictions were necessary come December - and LIONS fully agreed.

*****

APRIL

As April arrived we continued to meet with Mrs Fitz to work on the "Joseph" soundtrack.

Arrangements and Rehearsals began for our "Joseph" Ensemble Band, and Mrs. Fitz asked Ali for a
"top secret surprise favour" as part of the show. All would be revealed at the Theatre in October!

We were invited to stage a school holiday workshop for Memorial Oval Primary School "OSHC" -
a music-packed programme saw everyone have heaps of fun, get loud & involved - see it HERE!.

On 11th April Shakira's "Drowning" Music Video launched - see it HERE!

Work continued in-studio sponsoring emerging songwriter Joshua Paton to assist
with his Adelaide production of his brand new Original song "Choices".

*****

MAY & JUNE

In May Ali filmed her contribution for "Australia's Biggest Singalong" on SBS TV
- see if you can find her singing as part of the "Throw Your Arms Around Me" clip HERE!

We purchased a new Banjo to add to our studio collection of instruments,
and enrolled our AMEB Examination students for in-person exams this year
(after Covid necessitated video exams in 2020).

Another edition of our triennial "May I Play" Online Piano festival was produced by us, filming each of our
young keyboard students playing a favourite piece for display on our Student Community Page.
Well Done to all performers!

Despite everyone's hopes for more freedoms, South Australia began introducing hard borders and
mask mandates, casting more uncertainty over the possibility of future performances and travel.

In our 17th year as Stageshow Coordinators, on Monday May 24th our "Carols In The Park" Event Committee
met and voted to continue full steam ahead towards our 12th December staging with a September
meeting scheduled to "discuss & decide" the Covid management options we'd stage under this year.

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June saw "Australia's Biggest Singalong" aired on SBS.

Some school holiday patching, painting and new furnishings gave our rooms at The Centre
a freshen up ready for the second half of the year.

Band, Stormfront lessons and Online sessions were all puttering along nicely,
and the "Joseph" Band Ensemble now had most of Act 1 ready to go!

*****

JULY & AUGUST

Tuesday 13th July saw a full house attend & and rock out at Stormfront's second MOPS Music Workshop
hosted by Whyalla's Memorial Oval Primary School - see it HERE!.

A Vocal & performance Workshop for Edward John Eyre High School was also due to stage on Wednesday July 21
- but July 20 saw South Australia head into lockdown for 7 days after a cluster of the Delta variant emerged in Adelaide.

This really was a week we couldn't afford to lose but we tried to use the time effectively by producing a
"Lockdown Special" version of our Online Music Quiz, proven popular during Online Lessons in 2020.

Mark completed his Covid Marshal training ready for any potential performances, including "Carols In The Park" in December.

AMEB Exam students went into "Final Rehearsal mode" now with only weeks to go, and trial exams for our first-timers began.

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August continued with Band rehearsals, "Joseph" planning, and face-to-face Music Exam preparations as
AMEB confirmed they would attend our fully-sponsored in-person exams in Whyalla in 2021.

A very special invitation from Government House arrived, with the content embargoed until further notice.

We opened an Online Fundraising page for CMRI in-lieu of being ale to stage a "JAMM FOR GENES" concert again in 2021 due
to Covid - we sure hope to return to a live concert in 2022 and most such charities & community services are really hurting.

*****

SEPTEMBER

1st September found us at Middleback Arts Centre for soundchecks, rehearsals and the first of
two performances supporting Special Guest students Katie and Ciara as they took their turn in the
spotlight at the "Combined Primary School's Choir" Concert.

A number of our students were also in the choir, with some stepping up to the mic for a solo.

As well as Ciara and Katie's outstanding performances, we also proudly saw Stormfront alumni and
"Carols In The Park" dancer Chloe shine onstage with a beautiful dance piece.

We felt so grateful to have the chance to participate in The Arts during yet another year of uncertainty.

See our 2021 Choir experience HERE!

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After a great night at the MAC it was back to the Lutheran Church Hall to complete set-up
for AMEB Exams the next morning, kicking off at 9am sharp.

Covid restrictions meant many extra and extreme measures to ensure social distancing,
a strictly limited capacity, and sanitisation of all instruments and surfaces between Candidates.

All students presented their pieces beautifully to Examiner Paula Winter
who was very impressed with the organisation, venue and variety of talent displayed.

See photos and student results HERE!

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That night it was back to the MAC for the second "Choir" performance
- all singers, dancers and our fabulous students Ciara and Katie did a magnificent job once again!

September 3rd and the world was surprised by a brand new Single release from ABBA
- and "I Still Have Faith In You" promptly became our favourite song of 2021.

On Wednesday September 8th we were finally able to deliver our 100-minute Vocal Workshop to
students preparing for their upcoming music assessments at Whyalla's Edward John Eyre High School
- we're always absolutely thrilled to help young musicians in this way, see it HERE!

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September 17th saw our "Carols In The Park" Event Committee meet with LIONS bizarrely having -
entirely of their own accord, against our agreed plan, and with absolutely no consultation with us who run the Stageshow -
asked Cr Tamy Pond at Whyalla City Council to write and submit a Covid Management Plan for our event??

Neither Cr Pond nor Council have ever been involved in the running of our event, and
ridiculously LIONS told us "anyway it was too late now because nothing could be changed".

Council had already generously granted our committee funding to fence the Civic Park staging area - and upon us
reviewing & quickly identifying several key inaccuracies in the plans submitted to SA Health by CR Pond we argued strongly for,
and had carried the motion for our committee to meet the next week - as agreed previously, to submit the proper information to proceed.

At this motion being carried our Event Committee Chairman Graham Campbell chose to quit as Chairman,
and quit from our Event Committee, stating that "he had better things to do with his time"
and that "we (Stormfront) were wasting everybody's time".

At this time Stormfront had our Stageshow ready to stage with sound & new lights booked, and
our Committee had started approaching and receiving sponsorships. We had a fabulous Programme of new songs planned
alongside fresh arrangements of old favourites, and (as usual) had lyric videos & songbooks ready for our "Carols Community Choir".

Our Event Committee minus Graham voted to meet again in 10 days to submit new & correct
information to SA Health, and proceed on to staging on 12th December.

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Our talented student Dani began work on her exciting studio project, tracking main vocals and
phenomenal harmonies, with Mark hard at work Editing, Mixing and Mastering each track.

Meanwhile more Stormfront students headed to Adelaide for their performances at the Catholic Schools Music Festival
at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Jaylee popped up in the Whyalla News, Port Pirie student Minette performed at
her school's Open Night, and student Logan appeared in the Whyalla High production of "Charlie & the Chocolate Factory".

Congratulations to you all!

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Shockingly before our scheduled and agreed Monday September 27th "Carols In The Park" meeting -
both Whyalla LIONS Clubs met (separate to the Event Committee, without us, and against our advice) and passed
a motion to cancel the 2021 event "due to unchanged restrictions, and ongoing uncertainty"?

READ THE FULL LETTER WE RECEIVED FROM LIONS HERE.

LIONS then met with us on 27th September to wrap up planning for the now defunct 2021 event -
we stated that Stormfront may fully sponsor & stage some smaller "pop-up" "Carols In The Park" promotional choir appearances
at venues like Westland Shopping Centre leading into 25th December to keep our event alive in the community.

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AMEB Results arrived as we went to school holidays, and our final arrangements and edits for Samaritan's "Joseph"were underway.

OCTOBER

Our Con Brio Video Exam students were now getting ready to record their pieces,
while Mark continued work on Dani's recording project which was now in full swing.

Whyalla Special Education Centre informed us that unfortunately Covid restrictions meant they wouldn't be
staging their "Carols By Candlelight" - and as such our annually donated performance with the
"Carols Community Choir" wasn't to be. Together we agreed to hope for a "back to normal" 2022.

After a final meeting with Mrs Fitz, and having worked separately to the rest of the Cast all year, our "Joseph" Band Ensemble
was excited to join the final full-Cast rehearsal before moving to the MAC ready for production week.

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On October 11th Whyalla News printed Lions' official PR article titled "Covid Restrictions prompt Carols cancellation" -
stating that "A spokesman for Lions said that unfortunately the significant Covid restrictions which prevented the 2020 event from staging in Civic Park
remain unchanged in 2021" and that "Stageshow Coordinator Mark Tempany (Stormfront Productions) said
he was disappointed in the decision to cancel the show as the Stageshow team was ready to go under a Covid-Safe Plan".

"We were looking forward to seeing everyone in person on 12th December but we're now determined to make that happen in 2022" said Mark to-press.

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On October 20th the SOUTH AUSTRALIAN MUSIC AWARDS announced Alison as FINALIST in the "Best Music Educator" category.

Term 4, Week 2 with tickets now on-sale and selling out almost immediately, a huge week of bump-in, soundcheck, tech rehearsals
and walk-throughs found the "Joseph" Cast and Crew ready for Dress Rehearsal at the MAC.

Ali's cameo appearance was finally revealed - as the enigmatic Pharaoh (aka "THE KING!")
- an Elvis-like character who is just a bit too cool for school! What a blast to sing "Song Of The King"
onstage with the full cast, and then take a bow in costume as part of the Megamix finale!

After Dress Rehearsal and two amazing school shows, closing night for "Joseph and The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat" was here.

All too soon production week was done - after year-long preparations and rehearsals an enormous
- and enormously talented Cast & Crew staged an immensely colourful and professional show worthy of The West End!

Stormfront provided & sponsored all the show's Soundtrack Editing & Mastering, and Mark worked as the show's
on-stage Soundtrack Cue-er for the entire Theatre week. Huge thanks to the backstage crew, Mrs Fitz and Mrs Peat
for an awesome production, and of course to Kym and Isabella for their hard work in the Band Ensemble.

Well done to all Stormfront students who did a fabulous job as part of the Cast
- and in particular Ciara and Katie who simply shone as The Narrators.

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Many of our students who attend Sunrise Christan School were also in "production mode" as their school musical prepared to stage,
and we commenced lunchtime auditions for interested performers as we planned towards the inaugural "Samaritan Shines" event
- an evening of food, music and art displays designed to showcase Samaritan College and it's talented Music, Food and Arts students.

28th October saw us engaged by PlaygroupSA to provide a workshop for a group of
pre-school students - check out our sing-a-longs and some "shake, rattle and roll" HERE!

As October came to a close, the entertainment industry was saddened by the news of television icon Bert Newton's passing.
We watched the many tributes to Bert fondly as we remembered our own interaction with him when Alison performed on National television on
Channel 10's "Good Morning Australia", filmed in Melbourne. He was so generous with his time at the studio that day, and what always
struck us about Bert was his absolute kindness and humility - and that he never let his fame affect the things that matter most.

RIP Bert Newton.

See Alison and Bert on GMA HERE!

NOVEMBER

November began and quickly became a momentous month!

Covid once again prevented the staging of our annual entertainment programme for Whyalla's McHappy Day,
but we still supported Ronald McDonald House Charities by heading in store and buying a Big Mac!!

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Word of an apparent new "Whyalla Carols Night" on Sunday December 12th in Civic Park began to filter out,
and while none of the parties apparently involved in its staging had reached out to us in any fashion since LIONS
had made their cancellation announcement - Council began publicly referring to this new event as "The Carols" and a
"modified" event (suggesting it as a continuation of "Carols In The Park)?

We asked our LIONS Event Committee for comment and they replied aghast that they had no idea what this was, or "who was staging our event".

We personally received more than one direct comment that "LIONS and Stormfront have been removed from the event",
(this of course was a lie) and that "Council were running it themselves".

Importantly we have always made it known that "Carols In The Park" is not owned by the Whyalla City Council -
nor anyone else (including ourselves) - it belongs to the citizens of Whyalla, historically under the
stewardship of Service clubs as its guardians since it's inception in the 1940's.

When asked for comment about this new event by local media we reiterated these points, along with proof of
past comments from Council directly that they couldn't assist us with promotional support
across their own channels as "Carols isn't a Council event".

"Whyalla Music Association helping out the Whyalla Show Society Inc with
support from Whyalla City Council to bring Christmas cheer to this great city").

Clearly it does not add up that Cr Pond "was told by Lions they'd cancelled the event" but then
had taken over planning the event "after Lions asked her and the Whyalla Music Association to provide the entertainment".

Clearly someone somewhere has lied in a massive, malicious and appalling way.

Cr. Tamy Pond apologised in her next email for having not reached out to us before.

In 2005 we assumed coordination of a broken and rapidly failing event -
we turned it into the biggest free public concert event in Regional SA
AND have stood totally behind it for nearly 2 decades.

We fought for years Arrium's stated & obscene policy of being happy to commit (almost) limitless sponsorship dollars
on the condition this money was only spent on importing talent and services from outside Whyalla -
we ended with a 100% Whyalla-staged & casted spectacle where local contributers were paid for their work.

We encourage everyone to see our proud history of
"Carols In The Park" at www.whyallacarols.com

Perfect weather was the perfect backdrop for our combined Primary Schools Bands to get together and play as one for the first time -
and what a BIG band it was! This was followed by an entertaining programme of music and dance from students in Grade 3 to Year 12,
with our Secondary Band also performing live for the first time in 2021. The evening finished with Band student Dylan & Stormfront student Joshua
playing an awesome set of instrumentals - you can see more photos from an amazing night HERE!

After packing down & unloading the gear, we then packed the car ready to drive to Adelaide bright & early
the next morning, making our way to Government House for a very formal affair.

Every 2 years the Honour Roll publicly recognises in-perpetuity the vital contribution women make to the South Australian community,
showcasing tireless volunteers, quiet achievers, high profile role-models and inspiring women in their field.

Judged by a panel of National Music Industry experts the "SAMS" are South Australia's top professional Music Industry Awards and
a completely surprised Alison was named "BEST MUSIC EDUCATOR". Ali graciously accepted her trophy onstage thanking everyone
who had supported her since she won her first SAMI Award for her Debut Single release 22 years prior!

A flurry of media engagements presented themselves with Alison being interviewed on an Adelaide Podcast, ABC Radio, Magic FM,
Spencer Gulf 7 Nightly News and articles and photos appearing in the Whyalla News and Sunday Mail. Social Media congratulations have
continued to flow in, and a letter from Senator Rex Patrick capped off a significant 2 weeks of excitement.

Congratulations to ALL of our students for performing so beautifully -
you can see photos & results HERE!

November 29th Samaritan College hosted their 2021 annual Prize Night Ceremony at Middleback Arts Centre.
Stormfront Productions was pleased to continue our sponsorship of the "Outstanding Contribution To Music Performance" Award -
this year presented to Year 12 student Dylan Trenwith who performed a guitar piece on-stage as part of the ceremony.

We are extremely proud of our Samaritan College Band Programme and it's 2021 "Excellence" Award Winners -
each very deserving of recognition - and of Stormfront student Katie who again shone with her beautiful
vocals and stage presence during a feature performance, accompanied by Mark on guitar - see more HERE!

DECEMBER

December saw us presenting Participation Certificates to all Samaritan Band students with "pop-up" presentations
at each Primary campus for interested new students to ask questions. Thanks again to
Kym and Isabella, as well as students Jack, Saxon & Nick for their help!

We also moved to our new music rooms at both Primary Campuses ready for 2022, distributed
Band Reports, and updated our relevant PD courses & Child Safe Environments policies ready for 2022.

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As they say "the rest is history" and on 11/12/2005 Mark and Ali were married,
and decided to settle in, and dedicate themselves to music in Whyalla, SA.

In a beautiful coincidence that repeats nearly every year we were invited to perform for the
Iron Knob Community Christmas Celebration on December 11th 2021 - our 16th wedding anniversary!

What a way to celebrate, back where it all began! Thanks to the people of Iron Knob
for always making us feel so welcome - a fantastic night of true Christmas spirit was had by all!

A privilege to be asked, and honour to take the opportunity -
and HEY what was that surprise International Preview of a brand new song called "Lullaby"?!

Listen to Ali's episode of MONDAY MIXTAPE HERE!

Listen to "What Child Is This" HERE!

Stormfront Productions is immensely proud of the time, effort, sponsorship & dedication
we've given publicly and privately for the last 18 years to community, charities & so many individuals.

Let's all hope for a brighter, smoother and somewhat "back to normal" 2022!

We hope you all had a very MERRY CHRISTMAS -
and look forward to seeing EVERYONE in the New Year!

Kind Regards,
Mark, Alison and Gypsy!