Like of lot of you, I’ve just come off back to back barbershop barnburners – the International Convention in Anaheim and Harmony University. And I’m overwhelmed at the number of young people who were at both! All over Anaheim, kids were singing, riding busses, skipping over cracks in the sidewalk, jamming with their Ipods, and doing all the things that good kids do. The energy in the hotels, at the contest venue, at the shows, in the restaurants, and on the street was simply unbelievable. Then – THEN – I went to St. Jo. WOW! I bet almost half of the 660 of us there were under 30. (And most of the staff was young, too!) No, I didn’t count them, but they were everywhere. And – same thing – energy, enthusiasm, round the clock tag singing – everything that youth hooked on barbershop can bring to the party.

Lots of good folk are working hard to discover the things we need to do to reverse our decades-old decline in membership. And, while I’ve always been convinced that we’ll succeed at this crucial task, I must now say that I’m suddenly more optimistic about the future that I have ever been before. As a consequence of the college quartet contests and our other youth outreach programs we are looking at a very bright future, indeed!

Barbershop lives! And THRIVES! Hallelujah!!!

Incidentally, our youth programs are largely funded by us – you and me – through Harmony Foundation and Sing Canada. Why not make a pledge now? Together we can insure the future of this great hobby. For more information, click on the names below.
Harmony Fundation
Sing Canada

I have been musing about the variety of music we hear on the International stage and how much of it is, well, not so good. I don’t mean it’s not performed well – of course it’s performed well, these are the best practitioners of our style in the world! I mean it’s not all the very best music. Seems that, in an effort to do something unique, many of our competitors find some obscure song no one’s done before and, after it’s arranged to the hilt, they sing it for us.

This put me in mind of an experience I had ‘way back in school. I was opining (I tend to do that) about how contemporary music – 20th C. stuff – just didn’t hold up against the “classics”. Didn’t have the musical depth and value of the earlier stuff. A musicologist professor of mine said, “Well, you must remember that you’re hearing almost all the music that’s being written now and the music you hear from earlier centuries is only the best of the best. Time has winnowed out the stuff of lesser quality.” When you think of it, that’s true about all music of all times. I have a 40s channel on my Sirius radio. All 40s all the time. And lots of it is pretty bad stuff. Once in a while a “classic” will pop up, but for every “I Thought About You”, there’s several lesser tunes that have faded from the scene. Same is true of the 50s hits I hear at Wendy’s or whatever. Just the best stuff survived.

So, consider that we’re pretty much hearing everything anyone wants to sing on the contest stage each year. And that the “good old songs” that we remember as great (Thank you, Old School) represent a small fraction of all the songs that were sung on the contest stage in the 50s, or 60s, or 70s, or…

Just a thought. Might help with your bloodpressure next July. I know it will with mine.

Paul Wietlisbach will lead the Society’s education and training programs as the new Director of Education. Having discovered barbershop harmony in 1971, Paul is a past member of four Society choruses and six quartets in four districts. Paul brings years of experience as an accomplished professional educator and creator of multimedia training programs.

“Paul’s past experience in the areas of training and education, as well his long history with the Society, makes him the ideal candidate for the new Director of Education position,” said Society CEO Ed Watson. Read the rest of this entry »

Check out these links:

• Jim Henry, director of 2009 International Chorus Champs the Ambassadors of Harmony, got interviewed on a morning TV news program about the recent championship. Vocal Spectrum also did a number of commercial cut-ins and cut-outs for the show (no Vocal Spectrum video available)
• A great feature on choir singing that includes Great Northern Union, on Minnesota Public Radio. (With images, text and audio)
• Suntones great Gene Cokeroft got a big article about his love affair with barbershop harmony in The Miami Herald. Includes video
• The Golden Crest Chorus of Avon, Ohio came up big to send students to the Singing Buckeye’s Harmony Camp
• Members of the Alexandria Harmonizers got political coverage when they suprised Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. Photos are here
• A Japanese YouTube site devoted to barbershop harmony
• The Perfect Gentlemen quartet appeared on Gene Simmons Family Jewels on Sunday, August 9 at 9:30 p.m. (Eastern)  and the next morning at 1:30 a.m. Watch here!

We’ve had several questions lately regarding American Harmony and the status of screenings. Below is a detailed description from one of the producers, Allan Webb, that is sure to answer most of the lingering questions out there.

For those that have already registered – thanks for your participation in helping spread barbershop harmony around your community!

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