STREET CRED IN ACADEMIA

Visions of Excellence garnering excellent reviews

Barbershop is increasingly being recognized in academia as a legitimate choral art form, and a leading journal has taken note with a glowing review.

The November 2013 Choral Journal, published by the American Choral Directors Association, devotes two pages to a very favorable discussion of Visions Of Excellence: A Dialogue with The Finest  Directors from the Barbershop Harmony Society. The reviewer praises the editor's approach:

Cerutti does not group the questions together through the use of overarching subject areas. This gives the book a warm, organic feel; something far less like a textbook and more like the sort of free-flowing exchange of ideas that commonly take place after hours at an ACDA Conference.

More tellingly, the review takes special note of the high relevance of barbershop directing to all choral forms:

Each type of choral music has something of tremendous value to offer the whole of the art form. As such, there is very little in Visions of Excellenc that is not immediately applicable to every choral conductor. Few among us would not benefit from on-going discussions of blend, rehearsal techniques, audition procedures, ensemble formations, or literature selection. Each of these issues is discussed throughout the text. Even those few questions that are genre-specific are not exclusionary. In Chapter 18, for instance, the question posed is, "What does barbershop chorus singing offer that you can't get in any other choral or quartet medium?" The answers by the interviewees fell generally into three categories: vertical tuning of chords, ensemble cohesiveness, and life-long avocational singing opportunities. Who in the profession can't identify with that?

• "What hotel is that chorus staying in?"   Oh, wait --MY HOTEL!

• "What hotel is hosting that open rehearsal?"   This one!

• "I'd probably go to that Harmony University class if it were in my hotel."   It is!

• "I need to take my children back to our hotel room."   No problem -- we're in the same building!

• "I like to hang out in the lobby singing, but there aren't many Barbershoppers at my hotel." Except for the 6,000 all staying at the MGM Grand.

• "I'd buy some CDs at the Harmony Marketplace, but I don't want to lug them around all day."  Your room is just an elevator ride away.

• "We have rehearsal at 2:00, so I'll miss the entire morning session."   Nope - your rehearsal room is just down the hall!

• "Honey, the two quartets you most wanted to see are singing fourth and twenty-seventh today. Why don't you go to the spa for a few hours? You'll feel relaxed, refreshed, and excited to see our friends on-stage!"   Easy -- it's just a few steps away, not a cab ride across town.

Many, but not all, of those who were invited have already responded. For those who got caught up in carving and devouring the Thanksgiving turkey, we are sending out one more invitation starting this week. The minute your invitation arrives, please stop everything you are doing, take 15 minutes, and complete the questionnaire.

A big part of the questionnaire asks you to identify any current and usable skills you have. This will be your only opportunity to get it on record that you are an award-winning Broadway dancer, who is a licensed contractor, has a degree in psychiatry and sells insurance on weekends. So please, don't be modest. Tell us everything, and we will faithfully record your achievements.

And don't forget, this is your best opportunity to tell the president and the CEO what you like, don't like, and/or would like to see changed. Of course, you will have the opportunity to enlist in the Society's volunteer army; volunteer squads, platoons and companies are being formed right now. Anyone concerned about membership?  Well, we have a squadron ready to deploy in a couple key areas, and we could use some more help. Got something you think needs to be done? Just let us know, and we will make sure we have that on our tactical radar.

The way to enlist and be part of the solution is to fill out your questionnaire. Have you looked in your mailbox today? It might already be there. If you have not been contacted yet and want to help, simply pick up your mouse and dial the Commander at mtjack@cox.net.

By the way, approximately 1,500 members cannot be reached based on the personal information in the Society's database. Chapter presidents and secretaries, your mission, and we hope you choose to accept it, is to ask your chapter members to get their personal information up to date.