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HQ VISITORS: WE MEET THE NICEST PEOPLE
Gentlemen of the College visit Harmony Hall
Our prime location in downtown Nashville means many folks want to drop in for a visit. (See recent guests on the YouTube Channel.) Last week, the Gentlemen of the College from William and Mary treated our staff to a brief performance, then enjoyed a coaching session with Harmony University Director Donny Rose.
Know a school or pro group heading our way? Send them by Harmony Hall for some hospitality, harmony, and a tag or two in the ringingest lobby in Music City.
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 Sing in 1,344 quartets in a single weekend!
The Harmony Brigade movement means more singing with more people in more combinations. Imagine a group of 25 singers, with a relatively standard distribution of voice parts: 8 basses, 6 baris, 7 leads and 4 (exhausted) tenors. Not counting singers who manage multiple parts, that's a whopping 1,344 distinct combinations! If you spent six minutes in each combination, you could work through them all in 134 hours. (No breaks to eat, drink or wash hands -- this is BAWBERSHOP HAWMONY TIME!)
Test your endurance -- test your memory -- at these upcoming Brigades: www.harmonybrigade.org
The movement is growing internationally, too; an inaugural European Harmony Brigade weekend is slated for May 1-3 in Berlin. Details: www.europeanharmonybrigade.org
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| BARBERSHOP + COUNTRY = HIT!
"Forever and Ever, Amen"
Barbershop is all genres and all styles. Don't believe us? "Fum, Fum, Fum" and "Fun, Fun, Fun" are right next to each other in alphabetical order. Seriously.
Our first country chart of the year is a tune from Grammy winner Randy Travis. "Forever and Ever, Amen" is simple, heartfelt, charming, and a bona fide monster hit, winning the Grammy for Best Country & Western Song and an Academy of Country Music award for Song of the Year in 1987. Kevin Keller's arrangement is great for Valentines, weddings, anniversaries, Mother's Day -- anytime you want to floor them with emotion. Our learning tracks are by After Hours tenor Tim Beutel, and are available in a quartet kit that includes four licensed copies of sheet music, a learning CD and permissions for four CD copies.
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| | Randy Travis - Forever And Ever, Amen (Official Video) |
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 Pittsburgh Platoonists, Assemble!
The Harmony Platoon at Pittsburgh is similar to the Brigade experience, but set amidst the fun of the international convention.
Learn four great charts (moderate difficulty -- get your game on!) from top arrangers, from learning tracks by the best teachers, then get ready to sing with other well-prepared singers.
For $25, you get:
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Access to learning tracks for all 5 songs
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More quartet singing than you've ever done at a convention.
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A quality quartet challenge that is exciting, fun, and memorable.
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New friends from all over North America who worked hard just to sing with YOU!
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Official color-coded Harmony Platoon Lanyard to locate other Platoon singers ALL WEEK.
Get full details and sign up now!
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IF YOU PICK IT, YOU'LL BUY IT
Marketplace poll takes guesswork out of merchandising
As part of an evolving merchandising strategy, our team is working hard to offer more new items more frequently, so that you'll always find something interesting in the Harmony Marketplace. Everyone buys CDs. Everyone buys music. Still, every time we offer new products, we cross our fingers. Some items will be spectacular successes, some will flop completely.
Help us bring you great stuff! We want to know what new items you would like to see carried in the Harmony Marketplace. Take our poll or email us your ideas.
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DEPT. OF GAGS & MEMES
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| | Somehow it looks good on vocal pedagogue Steve Scott |
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Foster classics revived - by singers YOU choose
The Barbershop Harmony Society is celebrating America's first great commercial songwriter with a special new collection of his greatest works.
Foster's legacy is greater than simply singable songs. As the Center for American Music notes,
Rather than writing nostalgically for an old South (it was, after all, the present day for him), or trivializing the hardships of slavery, Foster sought to humanize the characters in his songs, to have them care for one another, and to convey a sense that all people--regardless of their ethnic identities or social and economic class--share the same longings and needs for family and home.
"The Stephen Foster Songbook" will contain newly commissioned arrangements and a few familiar favorite charts. Two of these new arrangements will be debuted at the Saturday Night Spectacular in Pittsburgh, by a fantasy quartet you assemble. Yep-pick each voice for the ultimate fantasy quartet, and we'll make it happen. PLUS: Everyone attending the convention will receive music and learning tracks in advance so they can participate in the debut performance of one of the songs led by a director you select.
Voting ends on APRIL 15, so make your picks now! www.surveymonkey.com/s/stevenfosterfantasyquartet
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Grant applications accepted through April 30
Chapters and districts have begin submitting applications. Find out how you can get financial underwriting for your outreach efforts: applications, instructions, templates, and training webinars are online at www.barbershop.org/grants
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The Board of Directors of the Barbershop Harmony Society has openings for two Members-at-Large for three-year terms beginning in January 2016.
These openings will be filled by election of the Board at its meeting at the International Convention in Pittsburgh, June 28-30, 2015. Please click here to apply. Note that the deadline for applying is April 6, 2015.
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