PHOTOS: JIM ERNSBERGER

How your chapter can start building a youth program

n February of this year, the Masters of our festival as the official young men’s to the increased awareness from choral Harmony held its fifth annual “Young choral event in its place. This repre- music educators that this event is tar- Men’s Barbershop Harmony Festival.” sents a major acceptance by the choral geted at those singers who really want More than 200 young men from senior music education community of the bar- to work hard at producing a high-qual- and junior high schools throughout the bershop style as a viable musical art ity musical product. About 16 music greater area attended the form. educators accompanied their singers to festival. This unique musical event con- All of the festival participants were the all-day event. Several more choral sisted of a morning and afternoon clinic given sheet music and part-predomi- directors were unable to participate all and rehearsal, followed by an evening nant learning tapes for six songs about day, but joined us for the evening per- public performance with the Masters of four weeks prior to the event. The young formance. Harmony and several guest quartets, in- men eagerly learned the music on their At the end of the show, the entire Icluding Men-so Forte from Cal Poly own, and they were all very prepared audience rose to their feet and demon- University in San Luis Obispo; with notes and words. In the weeks lead- strated their approval and appreciation OC Times; and Hi-FidelityHi-Fidelity. ing up to the festival, many of the cho- for the gift of music that we shared with The event was enthusiastically co- ral music teachers were impressed with those young men. We heard music edu- sponsored and supported by the South- how quickly and easily their singers were cators say this was the finest musical ern Vocal As- learning the music. Not surprisingly, we experience their singers ever had. Par- Mark Freedkin sociation, a professional found that the young men actually en- ents and teachers reported that the boys is Youth Chairman with the organization of choral joyed singing , and that continued singing all the way home that music teachers. For the the fellowship and camaraderie that night, and that several new quartets second year, the SCVA comes from singing barbershop had a have been formed at many of the leadership decided to positive effect on the young men. schools. abandon its traditional This year’s event had the largest num- Our festival has become recognized “Young Men’s Clinic” ber of singers ever, and the overall qual- as one of the top Youth In Harmony which had been poorly ity and musicianship of the singers were programs throughout the Barbershop attended, and embraced significantly better. This is primarily due Harmony Society. As a result of our

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Hz200511P_0.pmd 40 1/25/2006, 10:53 AM successful efforts and contributions, a similar set of Young Women In Harmony festivals sponsored by local chapters of Sweet Adelines International (Regions 11 and 21) are already being planned for early 2006, including a Los Angeles area festival with the Harborlites Chorus, the 2004-2005 International Chorus Champion. The Mas- ters of Harmony and the Harborlites are proud to be leaders in the cause of encouraging choral music education in our schools and our communities.

Our Formula For Success Success playbook It has taken many years of planning and experience to refine our Where Orange County, California festival format, but we learned some very important lessons about Players Masters of Harmony, Men-so Forte, how to organize and conduct a massive choral festival. First, recog- OC Times, Hi-Fidelity nize that we didn’t just decide one day to do this and it all magically Clinicians Mark Freedkin, Rick Spencer happened. It’s also important to realize that the needs of choral Singers 240 high school singers music educators in your area may be different from those in South- Fans Hundreds of audience members ern California, so be sure to discuss and evaluate your plans with the Big moment Combined chorus of 240 kids plus music teachers before you embark on anything as ambitious as our 120 Masters of Harmony plus quar- festival format. In our case, a one-day format was preferred to an tets. A show stopper! entire weekend.

1. Identify a date that does not con- tire musical program. You never the event to select, order and dis- flict with other school activities, know when a last-minute cancella- tribute sheet music. Check with the such as semester breaks, final exams, tion may occur, so it’s better to be choral music teachers to see if part- choral music educator conventions over-prepared. dominant learning tapes or CDs and festivals, major holidays, college 4. Arrange for one or two high-qual- would be helpful. entrance testing dates, proms, etc. ity quartets to serve as section lead- 6. Arrange for a sufficient number of 2. Select a venue that is centrally lo- ers, coaches and role models adult chaperones to help with lo- cated and that has a stage that is throughout the day, as well as per- gistics and chaperoning. A ratio of large enough to accommodate the form on the evening show. If pos- one adult for every 10 students is a number of singers. The venue should sible, these quartets should be com- good starting number, but confirm have separate rooms available for sec- prised of younger adults, so they can that number with the choral music tion rehearsals and meals. more readily relate to the young teachers. (We invite our entire cho- 3. Arrange for several guest directors men. However, quality is more im- rus to serve; about a third of them and clinicians, rather than relying portant than youth. actually do.) on only one person to run the en- 5. Allow plenty of time in advance of 7. Send all materials and communi- cations to the choral music teacher—not directly to the stu- dents. This helps to keep the music teacher informed and involved, and reduces the number of separate pack- ages of materials that you need to send. 8. Provide an opportunity to meet separately with the choral music teachers, to help educate them about the style and allow them to share some of their experiences with their colleagues. Also provide them with an opportunity to get involved with some aspect of the festival, rather than just having them pas- sively observing all day. We teach two simple songs in four-part har- mony (such as “Sweet Rosie O’Grady” and “In the Good Old

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Hz200511P_0.pmd 41 1/25/2006, 10:53 AM ing a youth program with your local schools:

1. Find out which schools in your area have a choral music program by call- ing the school office. Then find out when they will have their next con- cert, and attend it. At the end of the concert, find the choral music teacher, introduce yourself as a mem- ber of the local Barbershop Har- mony Chapter, and tell him or her how much you enjoyed the concert. A few days later, send a check for whatever your chapter can afford to the choral music teacher with a Summer Time”) to the adult choral with the audience (especially the cover letter (on Society stationery) directors and have them perform for young men), rather than just per- indicating that you attended their the students (often to much hilar- forming for them. In our case, the recent concert, that you appreciate ity). Masters of Harmony also performed all the good work he or she does to 9. It is important to keep the men fo- a set, and then all performers re- promote choral music education, cused on the business of the day, turned to the stage for a finale. We and that they are to use the enclosed and confine them to the rehearsal sang Joe Liles’ arrangement of “Fun donation for anything they need. and performance area. Be sure to In Just One Lifetime,” with the They should be encouraged to call provide on-site lunch and dinner, young men singing the first chorus if there is anything else they might rather than allowing the young men and the MOH singing the second need in the future. Be sure to in- to find their own meals. In our case, verse. We also included “I Have A clude your name and phone num- we arranged for 650 roast beef sand- Song To Sing” sung by the guest ber. wiches from a local Arby’s restau- quartets, and then all performers 2. Invite a local school ensemble to rant, chips and soft drinks for lunch, (more than 300 singers) sang to- perform on your chapter’s annual and 75 large pepperoni pizzas and gether at the same time. show, and allow them to sell as many soft drinks for dinner. 12. While the young men are returning tickets as they can, with them keep- 10. If possible, arrange for some kind to the stage, be sure to acknowl- ing all of the proceeds. This helps of uniform for the evening public edge the choral music teachers for them with their fund-raising, and performance. We asked the students all their hard work and sharing the brings the fathers, uncles and grand- to bring a long-sleeved white shirt gift of music with our sons and fathers of the students to see your (tuxedo shirt if possible), black trou- daughters. In addition, be sure to show—what a great vehicle for re- sers, black socks and black shoes. thank the parents for encouraging cruiting new members! As a side We provided them with red or blue their sons to participate in choral benefit, it also helps you to fill the bow ties and cummerbunds, which music. auditorium for your show. had to be returned at the end of the 3. Send one or more men from your evening show. In preparation for dis- But what if my chapter is just chapter to COTS and attend the tributing those items, we bagged getting started? Youth Activities classclass. bow ties and cummerbunds based on Obviously, a festival like ours is not 4. Sponsor one or more young men the number of singers from each something that you can just jump into who wish to attend a Harmony Ex- school and had one representative without first laying a solid foundation. plosion Camp, and offer to help from each school (such as a teacher It can take several years to develop and them with transportation or any- or parent) be responsible for distrib- nurture the relationships with choral thing else they might need. uting and collecting those items music teachers. In addition, many chap- 5. Sponsor a choral music teacher to before and after the performance. ters may not have the resources and attend Harmony University or any We also made it clear that the range of musical talent needed to sup- of the regional weekend schools. school would be billed for any miss- port such a large endeavor. Whatever you do, be patient. It can ing items. In all cases, it’s vitally important to take a long time to build credibility and 11. For the evening performance, have identify the needs of the choral music a relationship with the choral music the young men perform first, so teacher, and match those needs with teachers. Keep in mind that your ef- they can watch the rest of the show what your chapter has to offer. It is not forts must appear be anything but al- from the seats in the auditorium. about getting their students to sing bar- truistic (“it’s all about the students”), Then have each adult quartet per- bershop (at least, not immediately). and that there are no strings attached form a 20-30 minute set. Encour- Here are some simple steps that you to your willingness to support their age the guest quartets to interact and your chapter can do to begin build- music program. ■

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