September 26, 2013  
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YOU HAD TO BE THERE - OR HERE ON YOUTUBE
Saturday Spectacular highlights now online
Maybe you've heard about it already--how 6,000 people in Toronto cried and clapped and cheered as a young man transformed by barbershop music and culture stood on the stage with a gold medal around his neck and sang in a quartet. How the entire history of the Society was celebrated as a springboard to our future, how heroes and fellow travellers light the way to a much broader vision of our Society.
Now you can see it! The Saturday Spectacular highlights are now online. Watch the video now, and share it with your friends. This is why breathlessly, every week, we help you see and believe that what's ahead is even grander than what's happened thus far.
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Society Status Report:
Five Things you MUST know
Usually in the Fall, we feel as if we're beginning to wrap up a year, but nine months into 2013, it feels as if we're just getting started! More and more, we're seeing chapters and districts "looking out the window" and making an impact on their communities and young singers. In our 75th Anniversary year, we are more powerfully leveraged than ever before to change lives. We have the strength of 23, 000 members and an expanding global network of affiliates. We have the tools, the will and the passion to tell our stories -- as individual Barbershoppers and as a Society -- to a world aching for the joy we bring in song.Together, we are making the music that's making a difference.
You can read the full bulletin online, but here are Five Things You MUST Know 1. Harmony University headed to Nashville HU 2013 featured a week of instruction and tag-singing with Ringmasters, creating an unforgettable week of fun for the Next Generation Chorus and everyone they met. Two choruses attended as groups for personalized instruction and coaching. Next summer, the school expands radically in its new home at Belmont University in the heart of Nashville. 2. International Youth Chorus Festival for 2014 We've never seen this level of early excitement -- 14 choruses signed up already! (see full HOD bulletin for complete list, highlight your own district's rep.) Midwinter convention in Long Beach will unbelievable with these young singers bringing a hot, fresh sound to barbershop. 3. Harmony Foundation smashes through challenge grant A $75, 000 challenge grant brought $93,000 in responses of new Presidents Council and Ambassadors of Song donors. This in turn inspired a group of donors to create a new 75th anniversary challenge of an additional $75,000 in matching funds. Speak with your district Harmony Foundation representative to become part of our biggest year ever. 4. Judging updates The board approved the score variance review process recommended by the C&J committee. The board approved a score of 73 for Collegiate Prelim qualifiers for the 2014 International Collegiate Quartet Contest, to be held in Las Vegas. 5. Saturday Spectacular lights up Toronto convention Our Events and Marketing teams have worked hard to evolve the week-long international convention beyond solely contests and shows. (See related story this issue.)
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MORE WAYS TO SING & HAVE FUN AT MIDWINTER
Report to Long Beach for Harmony Platoon
When Mid-Winter comes to the Far Western District next January, guys who love to quartet will have the opportunity to experience a new convention event: HARMONY PLATOON.
Here's how Platoon works. Two months prior to the convention, register at www.HarmonyPlatoon.org to get high- quality learning tracks and music to five songs we'll be singing in Long Beach. Starting a day before the "official" convention opening, singers will participate in two "random draw" contests and a "Dance Card", enabling them to sing with all others not on their same part. "Self-selected" quartets emerge from this activity and participate in another fun contest.
Here are the great songs you'll be singing: "Hello, My Baby!" (David Harrington); "It's Only A Paper Moon" (Clay Hine); "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter" (Jim Kahlke); "Just In Time" (Dave Briner); "Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans" (BHS).
Check out the Harmony Platoon website and see what fun you'll have: www.HarmonyPlatoon.org
Hurry, because the deadline to give you time to learn the songs is November 1.
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 SONG OF THE WEEK Look who else is celebrating a 75th Anniversary
Last week, the Wizard of Oz was re-released in IMAX 3D theaters. (Imagine those flying monkeys at building sizes--scary!)
The iconic Academy-Award winning song "Over the Rainbow" became one of the most recognizable melodies of all time. This setting by Ed Waesche and sung by Second Edition is a wonderful signature song for your ensemble.
You'll also want to explore these Wizard of Oz medleys by Kevin Keller and by the legendary Lloyd Steinkamp.
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STILL ROOM FOR TWO MORE CHORUSES
Harmony University adds Chorus College for 2014
The complete barbershop education experience will be completed next summer, when a new Chorus College curriculum is offered for the first time.
For years, we've made it possible for individuals and quartets to get the finest vocal instruction and performance coaching. At last, we're making it possible for a chorus of any size to get a full, immersive week of education as an ensemble, with the world's top coaches and clinicians.
"The focus is on the Complete Chorus Experience," says Mike O'Neill, Harmony University Director. "This stretches beyond a coaching retreat weekend, to include repertoire development, performance packaging, chapter leadership and director development."
Choruses enrolled in Chorus College will receive
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Daily chorus coaching and vocal instruction from a pod of coaches
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Group discount - $50/man off the the regular tuition rate
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Recorded coaching sessions to take home at the end of the week
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Marketing materials created during the week for the chapter to take home (like this great video! http://www.harmonymarketplace.com/987654.) Walk away with a real plan for the future growth of your chorus!
Four choruses will be accepted for Chorus College 2014; two have already made commitments. Discuss with your chapter board and begin the exploration now!
For further details, contact moneill@barbershop.org
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 World Mixed Championships to be sponsored by BinG!
BinG! (Barbershop in Germany) has announced its World Mixed Championships, to be held March 7-9, 2014 in Dortmund.
Mixed barbershop opens exciting new opportunities and perspectives to barbershop as a modern, living style of music. It promotes barbershop and makes it even more interesting to singers of all age groups.
In the event that a country (e.g. U.S. and Canada) has no representative at the World Mixed, their contest slot will be available for a "wild card".
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Quartets from nations without mixed contests have to apply for a Wild Card with a video for preliminary judging. The wild card application form on the BinG! website must be sent in by the applying quartets by October 1, 2013.
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FUNDS FOR QUALIFIED EVENTS
Youth Grant Application Process updated
The Barbershop Harmony Society is committed to providing funding for eligible Youth In Harmony events in 2014. In order to help you bring exciting opportunities to the young people in your community who love to sing, all BHS-sponsored youth workshops and camps are required to submit a grant application form. You'll find the forms and complete instructions on the web at www.barbershop.org/youth
The submission deadline is November 1, 2013 and notifications of award will be sent by December 15, 2013.
To assist in the application process, the Barbershop Harmony Society will conduct a grant application webinar on Sunday, October 6, 2013 at 7:00 pm (Eastern.) Additional information on the webinar can be obtained by emailing Joe Cerutti at jcerutti@barbershop.org .
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DEPT. OF GAGS & MEMES
Neither a gag nor a meme, just something fun to hear, which might remind you of Roger Blackburn's Barbershop In Brass albums of the 1980s.
 | | From The First Hello - Guitarbershop |
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 Database offline during software upgrade
A major upgrade to the membership database systems at Harmony Hall will require suspending access to ebiz.barbershop.org for several days. The scheduled outage will commence at 11:59 pm on Friday, October 4, and will continue through next weekend, with service to be restored by Monday, October 7 at 8:00 am.
During this time, member records will be locked, and new memberships, renewals and quartet registration/renewals may be delayed. Chapter and district secretaries nearing fall contests are advised to download and check all rosters now in anticipation of last-minute renewals for contest eligibility.
Merchandise and music orders may still be placed at www.harmonymarketplace.com, but expect some delays in billing and shipping as the expected backlog of orders is entered.
This is the first major service interruption of our eBiz platform since Aptify went live in 2007, and we hope to accomplish this quickly and accurately to ensure a smooth transition to a more powerful platform to better serve our members and customers. Your patience is appreciated.
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Nominations open for Society Board --
apply by October 12, 2013
Candidates for this Society Board Member position are asked to complete an application form, which can be found on the Society's blog at www.barbershophq.com/?p=2174
While the committee is always looking for capable men, here are some specific skill sets at least one of which is important in a successful candidate:
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Capable and experienced to work at the strategic level as a CEO/CFO
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Experience in the area of global finance at the CFO level of a medium or large organization
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Global strategic marketing experience with recent experience in social media and technology integration experience
Anyone agreeing to be a candidate must be willing to attend regular meetings as detailed in the application package.
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