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Webcast replay showcases best barbershop on the planet
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Cleveland Heights Barbershoppers
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Admittedly prone to superlatives, your trusty correspondent used up several bushels of kudos and clapped his hands raw watching the contests and shows at last week's Midwinter Convention at Long Beach.
Would the twenty exciting youth choruses in the Festival have been enough? Certainly. And the estimable seniors quartets contest? No doubt. But then we started heaping on medalist after medalist quartet, and things went a bit off the hook. Time and time again, the audience leapt to its feet in the middle of sets, so delighted were they with the range of styles and superlative performances.
Capping off the Friday show with the Masters Of Harmony, and the Saturday show with the Westminster Chorus --pure genius! When the 600-some youth singers joined Westminster for a finale, the entire room floated away in a cloud of barber-joy.
Admittedly, no replay could possibly match the electricity of actually being present those nights, but you might want to hold onto a groundwire while watching, lest you be electrocuted.
Details: www.midwinterwebcast.com Time is running out - view now!
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Mountain West Voices
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Provo chorus honored in Youth Chorus Festival
Mountain West Voices of Provo, Utah, was honored with a superior rating and audience favorite award at the seventh annual International Youth Chorus Festival for men's youth barbershop choruses.
The 28-man chorus, a new Society chapter based at Brigham Young University, was among the 20 high school and college men's choruses from across the continent performing in the festival. Mountain West Voices sang a varied set, including Irving Berlin's "Always," a stirring performance of "How Great Thou Art," and a rollicking performance of "You Can Fly" and other favorites from "Peter Pan." Their performance reflected the festival's wide range of music offered in the barbershop style, ranging from barbershop standards like "Aura Lee/Love Me Tender" to contemporary hits such as Michael Buble's "Still Haven't Met You Yet" to art music such as "Lux Arumque."
In addition to providing ranking and evaluation at various age plateaus, the Festival honored choruses in a number of unique ways:
"Around the World" Award East Coast Sound
Youngest Chorus On Stage
Frequency
Top Chorus from a Single High School
Chandler High School Men's Choir
Top Chorus from a Single University
Cal. State Fullerton Titan Men's Choir
Plateau A Award
Ontario Youth A Cappella (O YA) Chorus
Plateau AA Award
52eighty
Plateau AAA Award
The Recruits
Audience Favorite
Mountain West Voices
The yearly event has been underwritten by Harmony Foundation International to the tune of nearly $1 million over the past seven years. This funding enables young men of any demographic to participate in an experience not matched anywhere else in the world. "Our underwriters are men and women who understand the transformative power of music," says Harmony Foundation CEO Clarke Caldwell. "Over and over, we see these young singers tap into something deep and personal; they connect to a world of people who create something meaningful and beautiful and affirming."
Twelve choruses have already signed up for the 2015 event in New Orleans, a sure sign of the continuing growth of the program.
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| Faces 4 Radio named seniors champs
Defending silver medalists Faces 4 Radio from the Mid-Atlantic District bested 29 competitors to capture the gold last week in the 2014 International Seniors Quartet Contest.
Singing "It All Depends On You" and "It's You," the quartet pushed past a tight field that included St. Croix Crossing, Velvet Frogs, Youth Reclamation Project, and Take Note in the medals. The quartet represents the Bryn Mawr, Harrisburg, Reading, and Hamilton, N.J. Chapters. Members of the quartet are: Bob Bristow (T), Brad Brooks (L), Mark Sanders (Br), and Jeff Winik (Bs). Get scoresheets at www.barbershopconvention.com/longbeach
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NEXT EVENT: MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, NOON
Master Facebook with Harmony U Online
Facebook For Dummies
Monday, February 10, noon Central
Becca Grimmer, Social Media Maven
Looking to get your chorus or quartet into the Social Media game, but don't know the first thing about achieving this goal? This is the class for you! In this hour, we will cover the basic process of setting up a Facebook page for your group, plus : How to post a status, picture or video, how to update your profile picture and cover photo, "liking" other pages, and more!
Basic Music Theory - 2nd Edition
Thursday, February 13, noon Central
Adam Scott, Editor of Music Publications
That's How Rhythm Was Born - "How is music organized?" "How long do I hold that note?" "What is syncopation? Meter?" We'll talk about rhythm and the duration or timing of music. Using barbershop examples and even a clip from an international quartet champ, we'll delve a little deeper into this essential element of music notation and musicianship.
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TWEET AND SHARE THESE PIX!
Midwinter comes to life in photos
If you were there as a singer or audience member, you know just how great the stage looked, and how vibrant the performers were.
Share these enthusiastic faces to you heart's delight on Facebook, Twitter, etc.
GET THE PIX NOW (and keep checking back: more are being added all the time.)
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MUSIC FOR MEN? COULD BE BARBERSHOP!
Sinfonia offers $5,000 prize for original composition
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia is proud to announce its 2014 Composition Contest. Featuring TTBB works with optional piano accompaniment, the contest continues a long tradition of direct musical support by the Fraternity. The contest is open to any American citizen, and the Fraternity encourages all interested composers to enter.
The contest is being judged by three members of the Fraternity, each a prominent figure in American music: Samuel Adler, Carlisle Floyd, and Keith Lockhart. Phi Mu Alpha is honored to have these men bring their expertise to this prestigious competition.
The winning entrant will receive a $5,000 grand prize, a premiere of the winning work at the Fraternity's 2015 National Convention, and a publishing contract. Deadline for competition entries is July 1, 2014. For complete contest details, visit www.sinfonia.org/compositioncontest
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New Board members elected, installed
At its Midwinter meeting, the Society Board elected Doug Brown of to fill a vacancy created by David Calland's resignation to embark on a new career at Harmony Foundation. Doug was installed alongside Skipp Kropp and Dick Powell, who were elected at last summer's meeting, and Randy Loos, who was elected in November to fill the one-year vacancy from Joe Cerutti's move to the Society staff.
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DO THE RIGHT THING - 2014 FORMS AVAILABLE
Staging a show? Thank the composers who make it possible 
We sing to share joy, and occasionally to raise some funds to keep our chapters viable. Songwriters compose to satisfy an artistic urge, to share their thoughts with the world, and sometimes to put bread on the table for their families.
These intersect at the ASCAP performance license you need to file for your shows. Yes, there is a straight line connecting your chorus selling out an auditorium and the just compensation due a composer for his intellectual property.
The ASCAP form for 2014 has been posted on our website for your immediate use, and you'll find the 2013 edition for catching up, plus the BMI-SESAC form, and the SOCAN form for Canadian chapters.
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SONG OF THE WEEK
Time travel is our specialty- Good Old Days only 
We reminisce about them, we yearn for them, and heaven knows, we love to sing about them. Could there be barbershop without the good old days?
Bring Back The Good Old Days is a perfect vehicle for a medley, as witnessed by covers by The Four Rascals, The Dealer's Choice, The Boston Common, Main Street, and many, many others. Substitute in your own favorite public domain numbers!
They Wrote 'Em In The Good Old Days from the minds of Gene and Iris Cokeroft, is irresistibly catchy. Listen: you're already humming "Toe.Tap.Rhyth. Mm." Admit it. A great easy-beat number for any show package. Learning CDs and sheet music are available at www.harmonymarketplace.com |
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