New chapter for chorus and director
Effective at the end of July, Harmony Hawks chorus director John Hayden will be ending his 30-year tenure with us and begin his duties directing the Metro Mix chorus. John began directing the chorus at age 20, then the youngest director in the society.
In his letter to the chorus John wrote:
In response, Cliff Newman, president of the chorus wrote;
July 22, 2020
To the members of the Harmony Hawks Barbershop Chorus
Yesterday, the Board of Directors of your chorus received a letter of resignation from our director, John Hayden. We are sorry to see John go after his many years of service to our chapter. We wish him all the best in the future and hope he continues to enjoy the barbershop style of singing.
We will be having a ZOOM all chapter chorus meeting at 7:00 PM on August 6 to discuss this and allow everyone’s comments.
We will be having a farewell party for John in the near future, either in person or on line. We will very soon be starting the process of selecting his successor.
Reception plans underway
Planning is underway for a reception to honor John Hayden for his 30-years of service to the Harmony Hawks.
Zoom rehearsals this week
Continuing this week we will be revisiting vocal techniques and vocal exercises/warm ups. We’ll then concentrate on one song. Here is the schedule for the upcoming weeks.
- July 21: I Believe and Beautiful Savior
- July 28: Rep review
Here are the links for each night.
BHS, Harmony Foundation split
If you follow the news from the Barbershop Harmony Society, you are probably aware that they are ending their ties with the Barbershop Harmony Foundation Here is an excerpt from the recent email from BHS. A timeline of communication between the Foundation and the Society can be found here:
Dear Members and Friends of the Barbershop Harmony Society,We want to thank you for your past generosity and support of the Barbershop Harmony Society through gifts made to Harmony Foundation International. As many of you know, there has recently been a growing misalignment between BHS and HFI. The events and announcements of the past few weeks have kindled numerous public discussions about the current state of the relationship. We think you ought to know how this has come about and where we stand today.
The Harmony Hawks Board will be discussing the implications of this split at our next meeting If you have any thoughts on this please share them with a board member.
Small group singing encouraged
From board member Al Huneke:
Have you been missing singing barbershop tunes in a group? I sure have, but I am getting an occasional “fix”. I am a member of the chapter quartet Profound Sound. We have gotten together outdoors to rehearse a few times. While we feel pretty rusty, we have gotten some positive feedback from a few people walking by!
With that in mind, I recommend that everyone in the chorus consider participating in some sort of small group. That could be a quartet, or something larger. If the thought of being the only singer of a particular part is intimidating, consider doubling up with someone. That is especially useful for leads and basses, which we have more of.
From my personal experience, beginning to sing in a quartet was a scary endeavor. I had never “soloed” before (except in an airplane) and it was intimidating. However, learning to blend (still learning), learning how loud to sing (pretty darn loud) and learning to match vowels and ring the occasional chord were all great steps forward for me in terms of BBS singing—or any kind of singing.
You can even sing along to learning tracks. If you are missing a part, play that one. If you’re a little shy about singing a part, same thing. Use your imagination in terms of the possible combinations. I am sure if a partial quartet can be put together, someone from an established quartet would be happy to fill in a missing part.
If you have any inclination to participate, let me know sometime in the next few weeks and I will try to help form some groups. Remember, we will be outdoors and well separated. If you take advantage of the direction of the breeze, masks are not needed (for a small group). All I need is your name, part (or parts) you could sing and your email.
Contact me with questions or ideas.
Al Huneke, [email protected], 319-550-4930.
Guidelines for safe quartet rehearsals
Profound Sound, Timeless, and Forget Me Notes are resuming rehearsal following these guidelines:
- Meet only when all member feel healthy
- Practice outside, spaced six feet apart in a straight line
- Consider using learning tracks to fill in missing parts