I know John Hayden wants each member to
continue to improve his singing skills and obviously, the rehearsal
content has always been directed toward that goal. With guidance
from John and from Dave Lasley, Greg Koenigs and Bob
Kerdus, we can make each warm-up period an educational and
enjoyable experience, not to be thought of as drudgery or
tedium.
Improvement of the skill of the chorus as a whole
depends on each member making the effort to practice and study
outside the weekly rehearsal period. We have a culture in our
chapter which values performance at a high caliber. We can improve
that caliber if each member undertakes a commitment to accurately
learn the words and music for songs we are planning to perform; and
to refresh old songs in which we’ve invested our learning effort
earlier. This would naturally lead to a greater repertoire for the
chorus.
Another area which, in my opinion, a member can
improve his skills is by attendance at the international contests.
Since this year’s contest will be in Indianapolis, I hope that many
members will decide to spend part of their vacation enjoying the
best of barbershop singing. You get a chance to interact with fellow
barbershoppers from around the country and the world, learn more
about the top chapters and quartets, and supporting the collegiate
quartets. One of my favorite activities at past Internationals has
been to attend the meetings of the prior year’s gold medalist chorus
to hear about their music programs and training methods. And this
year we will have the opportunity to support Buzz Brown as a
member of the New Tradition Chorus (Northbrook, Ill.
chapter).
When we appear in public, we want to impress our
audience positively. We have always done this but we will need to
continue to strive to keep our performance as a whole at a high
level, whether it is performance involvement, having a uniform that
is complete and in good order, or singing the song correctly with
proper emotion. Doing that will entertain our audiences and raise
our stature in the view of the community.
We should be looking for opportunities to contribute
to the community’s good by volunteering our performance skills to
help with charitable endeavors. And we need to have opportunities to
add paid performances so our program can thrive. Participation in
appropriate entertainment