Looking Back on Harmonizer Activity at Harmony College East, June 2009

Looking Back on Harmonizer Activity at Harmony College East, June 2009

(This message is prepared for your review if you were there, for your information if you had to miss, and as a historical record of the great things going on each week with the Alexandria Harmonizer Chapter members. —Ye Ed.)

Here is a wrap up of Harmonizer activity at the Harmony College East (HCE) event in Salisbury, MD, June 18-21, 2009. The weekend also included the Mid Atlantic District Youth Camp. (We are part of the Mid Atlantic District – one of 16 in the Society. As a sub part of that district, we are part of the Southern Division.)

Harmony College East gets it name from the Society-wide Harmony University that used to be called Harmony College. And because the M-AD weekend school has always been darn near as good as HU, they just added the “EAST” to the name. It is a weekend of coaching for quartets and choruses who sign up; and a weekend of classes for any member who registers or director or coach or judge who registers. The faculty is huge and is brought in from all over the nation to provide education, coaching and training for our district’s ensembles.

Our own Gary Plaag, who is M-AD president now, and his staff conducted the weekend school. Bill Colosimo is music vp for M-AD. The deans for the school were Ron Knickerbocker and Scott Ward.

This report was prepared by Terry Jordan, Alan Wile, Bob Eckman from our chapter, and Jere Richardson, district vp for the southern division.

Thursday, June 18, 2009. With Alan Wile behind the wheel and Bob, Terry, and Jere on board, we headed off to HCE at Salisbury University in Salisbury Maryland. After arrival and checking in to our dorm rooms it was time to go out for supper. We stopped at an Italian place and it was very good. Then it was back to campus for the Thursday evening short courses such as tag singing, quartetting as a business or sight singing. Afterwards we hung out in the staff/faculty lounge until after midnight.

Friday, June 19, 2009. Breakfast was in the campus dinning hall – which is not your average state school eatery. It was a really a huge room with many stations of food at each meal.

For class time, you chose either half day sessions or all day sessions for individuals. A sample of some of the classes you could take include emceeing, Tune It or Die!, marketing your quartet or chorus, or a beginning arranging class.

Choruses and quartets were in coaching sessions all day Friday and Saturday with two to four coaching sessions each day from different coaches. The youth quartets, boys and girls, were also being coached all day on Friday and Saturday. Lunch and supper each day in the dinning hall was really something – ask anyone of our guys about this eating experience.

Friday evening’s show featured performances by some of the men’s quartets, some of the youth quartets, and the chorus that was coached on Friday. Then it was time to relax; sing around the campus open spaces, in the rooms, in the lounge. Or for some it was time for bed.

Saturday, June 20, 2009. Breakfast, class or coaching, lunch, class or coaching, supper, and then another even better show Saturday evening with the rest of the men’s quartets, the rest of the youth quartets, the choruses that were coached on Saturday, and SURPRISE, BIG TIME, CRUNCH TIME, FULL TILT and OLD SCHOOL quaretets. (These quartets are all headed to the International quartet contest in Anaheim and were given top level coaching in preparation for that contest.) Plus, the “boys” chorus, the “girls” chorus and the combined youth chorus. And then more singing and relaxing. The Harmony Heritage Singers, our friends in the neighboring Mount Vernon Chapter and directed by Bob Wachter and Chris Buechler, attend HCE about every third year and they host an afterglow. The youth also have their own special afterglow in their dorm

Youth: Joe Cerutti was in charge of the HCE youth program throughout the entire weekend as the M-A District Vice President for Youth in Harmony. This year there were 50 youth involved in the weekend including seven girls quartets, four boys quartets. The faculty coaches for the youth included several Harmonizers.

Alan Wile and Howard Fetterolf (two of our past district presidents) kept busy both days from the start of breakfast until the end of supper hours selling “opportunity tickets.” Saturday evening near the end of the show tickets were drawn to win various opportunity prizes, the # 1 being a paid registration for HCE next year. The $1500 earned this year was used to support the Youth Camp program.

Sunday, June 21, 2009. Get up, check out, stop somewhere for breakfast, and hit the road for home. Most of the attendees were home by noon Father’s Day.

This year we counted 38 Harmonizers and former Harmonizers, and three Harmonizer family members also. Those we saw:
Nick Aiuto Jerry Kindred
Martin Banks Mike Louque
Chris Buechler Lou Manfre
Eddie Cazenas Bob Mattes
Joe Cerutti Bruce Minnick
Tony Colosimo Howard Nestlerode
Bob Eckman Rob Nutt
Mike Everard Gary Plaag
Darryl Flinn JT Price
Pete Frank Joe Sawyer
Scipio Garling Jim Stockton
Paul Greiner Rick Taylor
Ryan Griffith Bob Wachter
Paul Grimes Eric Wallen
Chuck Harner Mike Wallen
Bob Hirsh Steve White
Keith Jones Alan Wile
Terry Jordan Glenn Williamson
Mike Kelly Bob Wilson
And Nancy Banks, Tony Colosimo’s dad Bill, and Craig Odell’s daughter Erin.

Until next time – editorjack!