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For Best view use F11 key
For additional photos scroll down to the bottom and select other page numbers.
Overview
The IHB lodgings and competition was at Indianapolis Indiana Clarion Hotel Waterfront
IHB performed Friday November 13th 2009 afternoon at several different schools.
After the school performances many members meet and sing pickup quartets in the hotel hallways.
Friday night official pickup quartets are assigned and a half hour to rehearse their one assigned song and then compete.
Finalists are announced the same night to compete Saturday night.
Saturday evening was the show at the Indianapolis Chrispus Attucks High School
Saturday after the show around midnight back at the hotel was the pickup quartet finals.
by Mike O'Donnell
After brigaders performed at 6 high schools and assisted living facilities in the afternoon, 33 quartets then competed that Friday evening Nov 13th. 11 songs were available to compete with although Lazy Bones was optional to use due to it's difficulty. The 33 quartets were assigned 1 of the 10 songs and given 30 minutes to rehearse it and come up with any presentation elements (usually visual) they wished to use. BTW the 10 songs were: I Can't Give You Anything But Love, I Told Them All About You, My Honey's Lovin' Arms, The Way You Look Tonight, Put Your head On My Shoulders, Grundy county Auction (Sold), Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams, You Make Me Feel So Young, Naughty Angeline, and Good Luck Charm. Great songs. There weren't any bad quartets and the scoring reflected as much (the scores are not revealed). Our four guys from Grand Rapids Chapter Michigan were well prepared and confident (there were several other Pioneer District members present as well as other districts). They also were lucky to draw three other guys who came well prepared as well. One of the funniest moments of the contest happened in Robert Ryan's quartet when the bari "lost it" and started laughing at something which had been said or happened off to his right. In order to continue he had to turn his back to the crowd and face Robert (during a tender moment in the song so appeared to be serenading Robert). The two of them (especially Robert) handled it well but the audience went crazy.
Saturday morning we have a business meeting. The first and second year attendees meet separately (at 9 am!) to prepare two songs to be sung for everyone. There were about 30 of them and they probably could have won a district contest in a heartbeat! This group included all 4 of the GR guys!
I was asked to give an accounting of our Grand Rapids Chapter's Great Lakes Invitational show last May when we presented the 2007 IHB show along with 26 IHB guys and 5 GLC guys who came back to sing with us. Duane Henry said to everyone there that with one exception (his barbershop trip to Russia) the Grand Rapids show was the highlight of his barbershop career. BTW, his quartet just won the Cardinal District contest! I had guys come up to me and tell me what a great time they had and how well they were treated and accepted into the group. I also had guys come up and ask: "WHEN IS GRAND RAPIDS GOING TO DO ANOTHER HARMONY BRIGADE SHOW?"
It was also announced Dr Greg Lyne (director of Voices in Harmony) has asked if there would be enough interest in the Brigades to take a Brigade chorus to Russia in 2011 (August)! If we can get the MHB up and running that could include us as well. Estimated cost: $11,000 per couple.
Saturday afternoon we met for a chorus rehearsal to run through the songs for the evening show. It's mostly to get used to how the different directors want things done since everyone already knows the songs. I was assigned My Honey's Lovin' Arms and I wish you could experience the rush of standing in front of 125 guys while they sing the dickens out of a song they all know! The Saturday night show was even better as everyone brought their "A" game. Ev Nau, certified Presentation judge and Harmony Foundation guru, was one of the judges and he watched the show from the front row. He was the first guy on his feet at the end and took me aside to say what a GREAT show it was.
The Saturday evening IHB chorus and quartet show was held at Indianapolis Chrispus Attucks High School.
After the show then the Saturday night Finals were held past midnight. After the Top 3 quartets were presented their certificates they sang - LAZY BONES. Pizza was delivered for everyone's consumption and the singing continued well into the morning. Personally, I hit the sack at 1:30 since I was driving back alone!
I've volunteered to be the coordinator for forming the Michigan HB. I hope to go to Leadership Academy (COTS) in January 2010 to make a presentation. I'm also going to the North Carolina HB meeting the third weekend of January as a "starter" rep. 180 guys will be at NCHB.
Charlie Rose (the guy who started the first Brigade) has promised us 50 guys from other Brigades will participate in our first Brigade "if" we can get 50 to commit from Michigan!
If you would like to help with setting up the Michigan HB, please let me know. Alan Coombs, tenor in Harmony Transfer) has volunteered but we can use lots of help!
Pioneers at IHB
by Michael Baribeau
What's the Brigade like? Ever seen footage of some crazy convention like for comic books, etc? These are hardcore barbershoppers who come from all over the country to sing in quartets all weekend long! You have to be vouched for but if you have proven your commitment in your chapter you can probably find a sponsor.
Pioneer District Grand Rapids Chapter members myself, Mike O'Donnell, Robert & Patrick Ryan, and Doug Weaver (sorry if I missed anyone) left Michigan in the morning (11/13/09) for Indiana Indianapolis for the weekend to compete and perform with the the Indiana Harmony Brigade of the Extreme Quartetting Harmony Brigade. We memorized their new 11 songs for this year and will each sing one at random to compete in pickup quartets for prelims tonight with 33 other quartets, and also perform all the songs as a chorus for a concert Saturday (after only about an hour of rehearsal time together), then the quartet finals Saturday night. Many Pioneer members are also members of IHB.
Mike O'Donnell thanked the IHB on behalf of the Grand Rapids Chapter for the 26 of them that came to sing with us at our Great Lakes Invitational show May 2009. Mike had also got the story into the Harmonizer, he was the one who took the GLC shirt orders, plus it was his brainchild and he wrangled up the Brigaders to sing with us! He is highly respected judge in the Society and is a regular judge at the IHB. At this brigade rally he scored 33 quartets at Prelims and 12 more performances at Finals. He directed the IHB chorus in one of the songs at the Saturday auditorium performance, really energizing the chorus and earning a solid surge of applause. Not to mention he sponsored all of us GR guys who sing with the IHB now. His quartet Harmony Transfer won as Pioneer District 2009 Senior Champs. Plus Mike O'Donnell has also been both VP and President of our own Pioneer District too! Now he has recently agreed to take up the cause of starting a brigade in Michigan! Mike, count me in on a Michigan Harmony Brigade spot, I'll sing with you anytime!
Of the 5 of us from the GR Chapter who were attending, myself, Patrick Ryan, his dad Robert, and Doug Weaver, each in different quartets, will be moving on to Finals tomorrow. We made the top 10 out of 33 quartets.
The show we did in the Indiana Harmony Brigade chorus rocked! We performed Saturday night in a large auditorium with a very enthusiastic crowd and had several quartets including a charming young Sweet Adeline quartet and even Moxxy from our own Pioneer District.
Unlike Prelim there was no 30min rehearsal with your quartet at Finals. We would walk up on stage draw a song from a jar and sing it right there, and that's why they call it Extreme Quartetting! Although out of 33 quartets we were in the top 10, none of us GR members made the top 3. Any regrets soon faded as we would snowball down the hallways hooking up with guys to sing until VERY late into the evening. How late? After we got back from the show to the convention center we didn't finish Finals till sometime after midnight, and THEN we started singing in the halls!
2009 Nov 13th IHB High School sing-out schedule
by Terry Silke
(no photos available)
Thanks to the efforts of Steve King of Greenwood, who set up our schedule this year, and to Kurt Vogel, who has prepared a 'script' for us to use at the various schools. Three scripts have been developed to accommodate the varying times made available by the school. The route currently planned should allow each stop to have a 40 minute presentation; however, we have been surprised in the past and only had a limited time.
Introductions by Terry Silke will explain how the Brigade quartet contest works and will allow the students to randomly select a quartet to sing for them as a “Pickup Quartet”. Barbershop History & Demo Kurt Vogel. HX Presentation by Colin Craig. Chorus 4 to 5 songs.
Our goal for the school visitations is two fold. We want to leave the students and the music educator with a positive impression of Barbershop music and to plant the seed for future participation in this great hobby. Secondly, we wish to invite these students to join us for an outstanding performance on Saturday night. Who knows, maybe some of them will bring there parents or friends as paying guests.
To accomplish these goals, we should strive to be as professional as possible. Not only are we representing the IHB, we are representing the Barbershop Harmony Society. Remember the BHS code of ethics and youth guidelines. Specifically remember that we are not there to recruit and should not make comments in that vane. Dress casual but neat and pressed. Wearing your casual chorus shirt is preferable. Do not wear your Brigade shirt. Save that for Saturday’s performance.
8:00 AM Decatur Central High School, 5251 Kentucky Ave, HS Director Drew Childs, aprox 1 mile S of I-465 on Kentucky Ave (also Ind 67)
9:30 Mooresville High School (if we can split the group) 550 N. Indiana Ave, Mooresville, IN 46158
10:00 AM Lutheran High School 5555 S. Arlington Ave, HS Director Patrick Winningham
11:15 AM Roncalli High School 3300 Prague Rd, HS Director Trevor Fanning
1:45 PM Manual High School 2405 Madison Ave, HS Director Spencer Lloyd
3:00 Robin Run Retirement Center 5334 W. 62nd St, Indianapolis, IN 46268
The last visit is the Robin Run Retirement Center at 3:00. They have been very supportive and are sending 24 members to our show.
"Brigade is a invitational for good quartet-level singers that provides a high-quality, eXtreme Quartetting weekend for men who are vocally capable, committed to learning the arrangements and who are prepared to enjoy thrilling success in rally activities. Participants expect charts that are of championship caliber and somewhat challenging which would be beyond the ability of less experienced men. It’s an event for ambitious quartetters looking for a challenge, and is not a chorus-oriented event." -Duane Henry
Extreme Quartetting is the concept of learning your music on your own till it's competition ready and then performing then in a chorus show, singing in impromptu pickup quartets, and competing in random member drawn pickup quartets with little or no rehearsal time together.
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