By Ron Larson, Staff Writer
Director Alan Gordon was disappointed when the Masters of Harmony failed for the first time to win a medal in an international chorus contest. However, to help members put the Charlotte experience in better perspective, he wrote "...there is a tomorrow, and we don't even have to wait long to step into it. Every week needs to be a journey. There are so few people who get the blessing that we do to sharemusic at a high level with people we love. To the future!"
One of the reasons the Masters of Harmony's Charlotte contest set produced quick-standing ovations is the coaching skill of Tony De Rosa. Tony worked with the Masters in April 2022 and at the chorus retreat in Temecula in June. Although his chorus was also competing in Charlotte, Tony found time to help fine-tune the MOH contest set. During the Charlotte convention proceedings, the BHS acknowledged Tony's skill as a performer as well as his devotion to promoting barbershop music by inducting him, Joe Connelly and Tim Waurick into its Hall of Fame. Tony and Joe are the only barbershoppers to have won four quartet gold medals, and Tony is the youngest ever to win gold at age 19. Tony has also directed choruses for 27 years and is the musical director of The Dapper Dans of Disney World.
VP of Music and Performance Joe D'Amore explained how members will be provided with resources designed to help improve individual performance levels. A Quartet Initiative program headed by Kevin Perales has been launched to encourage members to join a quartet and receive materials and quartet training under the philosophy that quartet singers make more prepared chorus singers. Goals of the initiative include being able to sing in a quartet, compete in quartet contests and even sing in a quartet or VLQ on one of our upcoming shows.
A Music Learning and Improvement Program managed by Peter Burt provides music team leaders with better ways to track the learning progress of current repertoire. Singers are asked to upload songs or parts of songs recorded during rehearsals. The recordings are then randomly assigned to another singer of the same voice part for constructive analysis designed to make each member better preparedfor rehearsals and choral performances.
One of Director Alan Gordon's goals for the Masters of Harmony post-Charlotte era is for individual members to gain a better understanding of the mechanics of sound production so they can respond more quickly and accurately to his direction. Accordingly, MOH leadership reached out to Harmony University Director Steve Scott, known to be one of the best vocal coaches and teachers in the Barbershop Harmony Society for help. For five days between Wednesday, August 24 through Sunday, August 28, Steve worked with the entire chorus, sections of the chorus, and finally with groups of about four. Each member was asked to sing a small section of a song in front of Steve and Alan, an unnerving experience to say the least! After assessing what he heard, Steve gave each member specific exercises designed to improve his sound. Justin McQueen explains his experience thusly: "When you have that eye-opening epiphany that everything you know is wrong, it tends to put you in a lost yet hopeful state. It can help you find new ground and paths to explore. I find the whole experience to be enlightening, engaging and full of hope."
The following MOH members have been chosen to lead the Masters through the 2023 year:
President-Craig Hughes; Secretary-Maurice Freleaux; Treasurer-Bob Hartwig; VP-Chapter Development-Ronan Hill; VP-Marketing-Bart Halberstadt; VP-Music & Performance-Mark Travis; VP-Public Relations-Larry Icenogle; Board Members-at-Large-Hugh Brown, Skip Farrar, Seth Freed, Foster Howlett, Kenny Rios, Ed Schackman. Note: Joe D'Amore, serving as Immediate Past President, is an ex officio board member and was not subject to election.
For the first time since the fall of 2019, the Far Western District staged a Fall Convention, and nearly 600 attendees greeted its return with joyful enthusiasm. Bill Rosica has attended conventions and contests for over 50 years and he described the Fresno Convention as "...the most fun and upbeat event I have ever been a part of."
Although the Masters of Harmony did not compete as a chorus, MOH was well-represented in activities throughout the weekend. The judging panel included Brett Littlefield and Mark Hale, Kenny Rios MC'ed the quartet semifinals, and Bill Rosica MC'ed the quartet finals. The convention named past FWD President and MOH Emeritus John Krizek as its dedicatee.
The Quartet Initiative program led by Kevin Perales and superbly coached by former member Brian Philbin, who volunteered many hours to the program, began to bear fruit in Fresno. Six of the 33 competing quartets were from the Greater Los Angeles Chapter. That means about 30% of the current MOH membership competed in Fresno in the quartet contests! Whether or not any of the members continue to compete in a quartet, the coaching and experience they received should make them better chorus singers.