MIDWINTER: THE BARBERSHOPPIEST BARBERSHOP YOU'LL EVER BARBERSHOP
Fill your ears with Main Street and a forty-voice chorus
For the vast majority of listeners, the equation is simple:
Barbershop = The Music Man
This applies at all age levels, so it's no surprise that when International Quartet Medalist Main Street wanted to collaborate with noted Sweet Adeline Lori Lyford's Treblemakers high school girls' chorus, the beloved "Lida Rose/Dream Of Now" counterpoint came to mind. Sweet doesn't begin to describe it!
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DO AS THEY DO, NOT AS WE SAY
Sing the songs we're teaching the teachers to sing
Next month, the Barbershop Harmony Society will have a major presence at the national convention of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA,) including a showcase featuring Crossroads and The Fairfield Four gospel quartet. It's a big deal: thousands of educators from elementary educators to college professors come looking for what's new, what's hot, and for the beat of the music around the globe. The Society will also host a music reading session packed with the best in barbershop publications. Want to see what they will take back to classrooms across the continent?
Some old, some new, some borrowed, some blue, right? And don't look down your nose on "Coney Island." The video of the Port City Sound singing "Under the Boardwalk" has sprung up to nearly 3 million views already. There's something for everyone here, from the very easy to "Shadrach," which on a scale from 1-5 is likely a 7.5.
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OLD SCHOOL MUSIC MODEL
Vinyl is on its way
Treasures are wending their way to your (pretty big) mailboxes: the limited-edition 2014 Top Ten Quartet LPs have shipped from Harmony Hall.
There's still time to get yours! Specially mastered for play on your home Hi-Fi, this album is pressed on audiophile-grade premium 180-gram vinyl for superior sound and durability. Cue it up on your turntable, slip on your good headphones (not those tinny little earbuds) and hear barbershop from the front row.
Remember, this album release offers tracks unavailable on CD or DVD. Check out these exclusive tracks:
Side A
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Musical Island Boys - I Just Can't Wait To Be King
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Lemon Squeezy - Pass Me the Jazz
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Instant Classic - Til I Hear You Sing
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TNS - Hooray for Love
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Main Street - Pretty Baby
Side B
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Forefront - Ring a Ding Ding
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Throwback - Two of a Kind (*Also on 2014 CD)
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The Crush - You Took Advantage Of Me
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A Mighty Wind - Hallelujah I Love Her So
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Lunch Break - Part of Your World
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NEW SCHOOL MUSIC MODEL
2014 contest tracks released on iTunes and Amazon Digital Music
Shopping for barbershop music is quick and easy on two of the world's largest distributors: Apple's iTunes and Amazon's Digital Music store. You are just a few clicks away from our most recent championship performances: Releases from prior years will be added in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.
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LOOK WHO'S VISITING HARMONY HALL
Lumineer, barbershop groupie, tag singer Neyla Pekarek drops in
Before she was part of the Grammy Award-nominated act The Lumineers, Neyla Pekarek was a babysitter. A pretty standard obscurity-to-fame story, perhaps, but one family she tended was the children of her high school choir teacher, Darin Drown (Sound of the Rockies, Storm Front.) While Drown was on stage, Neyla was falling in love with barbershop from the Barbertots room at conventions. She now sings with the Harborlites Chorus of Sweet Adelines International, and with her quartet, Swoon.
Neyla was in Nashville this week for a recording session, and dropped by Harmony Hall to geek out on her idols' photo on the wall.
And she managed to knock some chords with the guys.
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Harmony University registration now online
 HU 2015 will give our 700 students full immersion in barbershop education over an entire week. We offer classes in a wide variety of subjects, each geared to improve your understanding of the Barbershop vocal and performance style. Our goal is to provide multiple techniques and personal contact to help you grow as a musician, singer, performer, leader, and teacher.
Harmony University is made up of 5 separate colleges, with course offerings in these areas:
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Directors College - for current and aspiring directors
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Music Educators College - for teachers hoping to learn about barbershop harmony and culture
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Harmony College - for barbershop singers hoping to learn more about our craft
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Leadership College - for Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) chapter and district leaders
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Performing Arts College - made up of existing choruses and quartets, Next Generation Chorus, and Young Women In Harmony Chorus
Because HU is becoming so popular, each college within Harmony University has a limited capacity and will close when full. We do this to ensure we can serve the broadest group of attendees and support all colleges equally. Last year we were at capacity by the spring, and all indications are that we will sell out again in 2015.
View the course catalog and register now.
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Pittsburgh offers family fun
See all these great things we've bragged on for 2014 Las Vegas and 2015 New Orleans Midwinter Convention? We're doing all of them--AND MORE--in Pittsburgh this summer.
But Pittsburgh has something no one else has, something that will delight several generations raised on TV (but PBS--the classy stuff, dontcha know.)
 | | Children's show host, or chapter secretary? Or both? |
Add this to the family activity list for Pittsburgh - A visit to Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood! We don't think that Fred Rogers was a Barbershopper, but it's probably just because nobody asked him.
Featuring select artifacts from the popular children's show, the new display marks the first time these items are on long-term view. Highlights from the installation include the entryway and living room set that Mister Rogers walked through to begin each show; King Friday XIII's Castle; the residence of Henrietta Pussycat and X The Owl, and more... (And who'd like to take the over/under on quartet references to Mr. Rogers next summer?) |
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NOT JUST FOR COLLEGE ANYMORE
CBQC now open for registration
Despite its name, the CBQC welcomes all quartet men up to age 25 to compete in the annual event. This year, quartets may enter at division and district contests (see list of sites and dates), or by submitting a video of a live performance. Full details and registration form are at barbershop.org/youth-zone/collegiate-quartet-competition.html
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