summer.

That is when the group Chorale Dynamics is scheduled to represent the Island at the World General Conference Session of the Seventh-Day Adventists Church in Utrecht, Holland.

The group has become the first to represent Bermuda at an event that attracts up to 100,000 people from 180 countries.

And member Mr. Ralph Richardson said the group was shocked when they learned in January that they had won out over hundreds of other diverse groups who applied to perform at the prominent event.

"We sent them a CD about this time last year,'' he recalled. "We were told don't get your hopes up.'' Having learned of the honour, founding member Mrs. Gayle Newton-Taylor said: "It represents that we have been recognised, definitely in the States, as being musically competitive. Our music ranks with other top groups.

"The quality of our group is heads and tails above some others.'' Noting that the group has been around for some 11 years and has recorded a bestseller CD called "Sing Praises'', Mrs. Newton-Taylor said: "We've made a name for ourselves in Bermuda already.'' The group has performed for many of the Island's charities, church concerts, at City Hall, and they have been a featured group at Willowbank Guest House in Somerset.

So now they are setting their sites on Holland and London, where they have also been invited to perform.

In addition to performing in the prime spot -- closing the World General Conference Session on July 8 -- the group has been asked to sing at other civic functions for the government of Holland.

And during the weekend following the conference, the singers will make their debut in London.

While honoured by the invitations, group members note that they have less than six months to raise $30,000 to cover travel expenses of at least 15 people.

And its honorary manager Mr. Larry Pitcher said he has been busy soliciting funds from various companies and individuals.

Group members, who all hold full-time professional jobs, will also carry out their own fund-raising activities.

Members of the group include musical director, pianist and manager Mrs.

Newton-Taylor, who is a management consultant for Wilson Associates; alto singer and founding member Mrs. Sonia Annette Simmons, who is the account/office manager at Wilson Associates; alto singer and founding member Mrs. Leeann Edith Darrell, who is a Government home resource aid; and tenor Ms Julene Darrell, who is studying early childhood and elementary education at Shelby State Community College.

Other group members are former United Bermuda Party adopted candidate for Sandys North and Bermuda Fire and Marine claims adjuster Mr. Ralph Richardson, who is a tenor and trumpet player; secretary Registrar of Companies Mrs. Sonia Dawn Anderson, who sings alto; and keyboard player Mr. Marvin Claxton Pitcher, who directs his own choir of 70 students representing 16 countries.

Singing soprano in the group are probation officer Mrs. Leslie Denise Christopher-Stevens, Bermuda Institute teacher Mrs. Audrey Ann Irby, Community Health Services employee Mrs. Lucy Jean Vernita Douglas, teacher Mrs. Joan Louise Wright Simons, and homemaker Mrs. Jacquelyn Wilson. Bermuda Institute teacher Mrs. Cynthia Geraldine Tucker and Mrs. Coreen Vermae Mapp-Macnorton sing alto.

Computer analyst Mr. Steven Roy Easton, who sang and acted in productions such as "Mama I Wanna Sing'' and "Rainbow World'', has also been singing with Chorale Dynamics for four months.

The newest member of the group is Conyers, Dill & Pearman's network administrator, Mr. Terrence Owen Dean, who is also a member of the Bermuda Regiment, plays the trombone, and is a percussionist.

SPREADING THE WORD -- That is what local gospel group Chorale Dynamics plans to do when it performs in Europe this summer.