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Our mission: To enhance lives by performing with excellence and encouraging singing within our community.
THE BEAT From the Greater Indianapolis Chapter, Barbershop Harmony Society
Winner, 2011 PROBE International Bulletin Contest
August 2013 Volume 44, Issue 8
Dreams come true for Circle City Sound Article by Jerry Troxel, Editor of The BEAT
The magic of Pinocchio spilled from the stage, through the judge’s pit and into the audience at the International Chorus Fi-nals at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Friday, July 5. Circle City Sound appeared as inhabitants of a 1890’s Italian village and set the tone with our inspirational ballad, “When You Wish Upon a Star.” Our uptune, “I’ve Got No Strings,” be-gan with Gepetto (Steve McCullough) showing off the puppet he had just finished, and, with some magic from Jiminy Cricket (Keith Leavell), the puppet became a real boy (in this case a Reen boy, played by Dominic Reen). The audience spontaneously applauded the “magic” as Pinocchio (Dominic) came to life, and rewarded us with a standing ovation as the song completed.
Thanks to the vision of director Garry Texeira and coach Theresa Weatherbee, and to our coaches, Brent Graham, Aaron Dale, Scott Kitzmiller, Linda Rowand and Jean and Brian Barford, we were the “buzz” of the first chorus ses-sion, finishing second to Westminster in that session and earning a seventh-place finish overall.
We are also very proud of our fellow chorus members who competed in the quartet contests—Instant Classic (CCS mem-bers David Zimmerman, Theo Hicks and Kyle Kitzmiller), finishing 16th in the regular contest, and Phase IV (Patrick McAlexander), finishing 20th in the collegiate contest. More contest information is available in Patrick’s article, starting on page 7 of this issue of The BEAT.
Page 2 August 2013 THE BEAT
THE BEAT
Jerry E. Troxel, Editor Member, PROBE (Public Relations
Officers and Bulletin Editors)
129 Yorkshire Blvd. E Indianapolis, IN 46229
317 891-1634 [email protected]
The BEAT is published monthly by the
Greater Indianapolis, Indiana, Chapter
of the Barbershop
Harmony Society,
a proud member of
the Cardinal District.
Chapter Leadership 2013
President Skipp Kropp
VP Chapter Development Steve Cline
VP Music & Performance Duane Henry
VP PR & Marketing Larry Anthony
VP Operations Jeff Boyd
Secretary Bruce Bellen
Treasurer Paul Gabriel
Board Members at Large Scott Beverley,
David Fouts, Scott Wiederoder
Immediate Past President Gary Garitson
Director Garry Texeira
Assistant Directors Theo Hicks, David Zimmerman
Circle City Sound meets every
Monday at 7:00 p.m. Christ Lutheran Church
345 N. Kitley Ave. Indianapolis, Indiana 46219
Secure the future of Barbershop harmony through your generous gifts to the Harmony Foundation. Pro-
vide additional support to your chapter and district
with the Donor’s Choice option.
www.harmonyfoundation.org
“Hallelujah” is a song written by Canadian
singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, originally
released on his album Various Positions
(1984). It took a few years for “Hallelujah” to
emerge as a classic. Bob Dylan was one of
the first to recognize its brilliance, playing it at
a couple of shows in 1988. The song found
greater popular acclaim through a cover by
The Velvet Underground’s John Cale,
which later formed the basis for a cover by
Jeff Buckley.
The song is the subject of the book The Holy or the Broken: Leon-
ard Cohen, Jeff Buckley & the Unlikely Ascent of "Hallelujah" (2012)
by Alan Light. In a New York Times review of the book, Janet Maslin
praises the book and the song, noting that "Cohen spent years
struggling with his song ‘Hallelujah.’ . . . He wrote perhaps as many
as 80 verses before paring the song down.”
Many cover versions have been performed by many and various
singers, both in recordings and in concert, with over 300 versions
known. The song has been used in film and television soundtracks,
most notably the original Shrek movie, and it appears regularly in
televised talent contests like American Idol. It is often called one of
the greatest songs of all time.
The version of “Hallelujah” that we have just added to our holiday
repertoire is arranged by Jim Clancy. Clancy included the following
verse which commemorates Jesus’ birth:
In Bethlehem one starry night,
A child was born, a child of Light,
A miracle had happened, hallelujah!
The shepherds and the wise men came,
The world would never be the same,
The heavenly choir was singing “Hallelujah!”
The Songs We Sing:
“Hallelujah” —from Wikipedia
Leonard Cohen
Page 3 August 2013 THE BEAT
Calendar
of Events
CCS VLQ at
Indiana State Fair Sunday, August 18
Indiana State Fairgrounds Noon, 2:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m.
Penrod Arts Fair Saturday, Sept. 7
Indianapolis Museum of Art Booth—9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Performance—Noon
CD Recording Session Saturday, Sept. 14 The Lodge Studios
9:00 a.m.—4:00 p.m.
Cardinal District Fall
Convention and Contests Oct. 4-6
Ft. Wayne, Indiana
Election of 2014 Officers Monday, Oct. 14
At rehearsal
CCS Christmas Show Sunday, December 8
Arsenal Tech High School 3:00 p.m.
Performance for NECA Saturday, December 14
Sheraton Hotel, Fashion Mall 8:15 p.m.
For detailed information on all chapter performances check
our bi-weekly bulletin,
SOUND BYTES or go to:
www.circlecitysound.org and visit the
Members Only section
The deadline for the Sept. issue of The BEAT is Wednes-day, Aug. 28. Send articles to:
Strolling down memory lane A monthly look back at our chapter’s history
by Lew Gillespie, Chapter Historian
Five Years Ago (2008)
Member Joe Schmidt reviewed the 2008 Annual Show in the August 2008 edition of The Beat. “The most impressive aspect of this year’s show for me was the casting and perfor-mance of the characters.” Schmidt goes on to include his fondness for the new batch of songs presented to the audi-ence: “Good Luck Charm,” “Happy Together,” and “With a Little Help From My Friends.”
The chapter had two performances during August 2008: the
Tell City, Indiana, Sesquicentennial on August 2 and the Feast of Lanterns at Spades Park on the east side of Indy. The chorus was working on the contest songs for the Cardi-nal District fall convention, which would be held in Louisville, Kentucky at the Clarion Hotel on October 3-5.
Duane Henry introduced a new concept to the chapter called “Platoon.” This is a chapter event developed by Bob Clark of the Wilmington, North Carolina chapter. It is for men with limited experience in quartets and those who are newcomers, who are given a chance to sing in a quartet. It would be held on some night other than chapter rehearsal night. Quartets are formed by random draw from all entrants, and then are given 45 minutes to practice their songs. Prizes and pizza would be provided, and the cost would be $5.00 per man. (Material taken from The Beat, Vol.39, Issue 7, August 2008, Jerry Troxel, edi-tor).
Twenty Years Ago (1993)
On Friday, July 16, 1993, the chorus presented their Clowes Hall show package to 600 people on the grounds of the Hancock County Courthouse in Greenfield, Indiana. Three quartets performed on the stage: Two Generations, Just For Now, and a new quartet, Prescription for Harmony with lead Keith Leavell, bass Jim Beehler, tenor Glenn Hager, and baritone Dan Hopper. The cho-rus members wore their new red/blue vests and matching ties.
Upcoming events for the chapter were announced: September 11, 1993, sing at Penrod Festival; September 17, 1993, sing in Ellettsville, Indiana for the Monroe County Fall Festival; and September 18, 1993, perform for the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce at Crawfordsville, Indiana.
The contest for naming the chapter bulletin was coming to an end. The chapter members had five names to vote on: Indy-Notes, Clef-Notes, Inside-Indy, Indy-Skimmer, and Circle of Sound. The contest was started in December 1992, to select a new chapter bulletin name. The winning name was to be announced in the next chapter bulletin. (Notes taken from Circle of Sound, Vol. 24, No. 8, Au-gust 1993, Lew Gillespie, editor).
Lew Gillespie
The preferred cleaners of Circle City Sound
Page 4 August 2013 THE BEAT
50 Years of Harmonizing with Harry Article by Greg Roembke, photos submitted by Greg Roembke
After living with heart issues for many years and suffering a series of setbacks in recent months, Harry W. Roembke, Jr. passed away on June 17 at the age of 82. He leaves his wife of 63 years, six surviving children, 18 grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his son Scott.
Dad accomplished so much in his 82 years. He was a talented athlete, had the ability to sell anything to anyone and along the way raised a large and loving family. However, as family and friends look back on his life, the discus-sion invariably turns to his time as a barbershopper.
While singing in the church choir in Lafayette, Indiana, someone suggested that Dad might be interested in a group that got together on Tuesday nights to sing barber-shop songs. Everyone’s memory of that first practice is different. Mom remembers that Dad didn’t get home until about 2:00 in the morning. His children remember him dancing around the house singing some funny sounding songs. And Dad remembered it as a life changing experience.
Dad was born to be a barbershopper.
He had a good, solid lead voice and the ability to light up the stage with his smile. He put his salesmanship skills to good use “selling” the songs to anyone who would listen. As if he needed any further inspiration, a trip to the 1966 International Convention in Chicago, where he watched Louisville win gold, was all he needed.
The Lafayette chapter always seemed to have 18 to 20 members. This taught my father to appreciate everyone as being the most important person in the chapter. He would tell the story that one year Lafayette was preparing to sing in the district contest. They had worked on their music, polished their stage presence and even purchased new ties. Back then, you had to have at least 18 members to compete. Right before the contest, one of the members was called out of town, leaving Lafayette one short. There was a person who had attended several practices, but was unsure if he wanted to join. Before he knew what was happening, he was a member, had been fitted for an outfit and was told to stand in the back row and smile. Lafayette was able to compete, although Dad was always a little vague on where
they finished.
By 1974, the family was back in Indianapolis and it was a great time to be a barbershopper. Indianapolis was not only getting ready to host the 1975 International, but had qualified to compete as well. I joined Dad and we became members of the Speed Capital Chorus (as Circle City Sound was known then). We were part of that first Inter-national experience, and Dad would go on to sing on the International stage ten times.
The Indianapolis chapter had about six times as many members as Lafayette, but Dad never lost sight of how important each member was to the group. Dozens of peo-ple have shared stories with us that the first person they met when visiting the chapter was my father, who would tell them that they were in for the thrill of their life.
The soundtrack for growing up as a Roembke was definitely four-part harmony, and Dad made sure that everyone was included. All of the family events included singing, even if we were a few too many leads and were always short bass-es. Mom was very active in the chorus ladies group, and
she and Dad loved to attend the Inter-nationals even when Indianapolis was not competing. And before long, broth-ers Scott and Bradd joined Dad and
me in the chorus. So it’s not a real sur-prise that one of Dad’s favorite Interna-tional events was the Father-Son-Grandson Chorus.
At the Kansas City International in 2000, Dad was joined on stage for the first FSG Chorus by Scott and his son Chris. When Indianapolis hosted the 2006 International, Dad was joined in the FSG chorus by his sons Scott, Bradd and me, his grandson Chris, his Grand-son-in-law Dan, and Dan’s son Logan, giving him four generations of singers on stage. Returning to Kansas City in 2011, Dad asked Dan and me if we would again join in as part of the FSG Chorus. I think that he was as excited about that as he was competing in the chorus contest. The icing on the cake was when my daughter Kandra loaded
up her three children and drove over to Kansas City so Lo-gan could join us on stage to make sure that Dad would again have his four generations of singers.
When I returned to the chorus in 2010, it was obvious that
(Continued on page 5)
Harry’s first quartet. “The Impromp-
tunes”, Lafayette IN, 1968
From top to bottom
Gene Butterfield, Bob O’Brien, Harry
Roembke, Phil Fisher
Page 5 August 2013 THE BEAT
Dad was starting to have issues with his mobility and that standing for long periods of time and walking long distances affected him. What was also obvious was the support that he received from the chorus members. I remember going home and telling my wife that Dad had his own “posse.” George Houk, Don Brown and John Robinson were just a few of the many that were always there to help him on and off the risers. And to this day, I can’t figure out how John was always able to find a chair for Dad to sit in as we waited to go on stage no matter where we were.
Dad loved competing at the International level, except for the long walks that always seem to be part of getting to the
stage. In Kansas City, he was really having some difficulty as we walked what seemed a couple of miles. As we brought up the rear, I noticed that more and more people
were dropping back to join him on his walk, including our director, Garry Texeira. As Dad began to apologize for being a little slow, Garry told him that wasn’t a problem at all, and that he just wanted to be with Dad as we headed to the stage. Garry also noted that he was sure that we wouldn’t start singing until he said we were ready, so why not just enjoy the walk. As we took to the stage, he told my Dad that as long as he wanted to sing with the chorus, there would always be a place for him on the risers. Dad was so grateful for that level of support and often said that helped keep him motivated.
What we didn’t know was that would be the last time Dad sang on an In-ternational stage. The
chorus sat out of compe-tition in 2012, electing to focus on 2013’s Interna-tional. By the time of the District convention in Co-lumbus last fall, Dad was starting to really have problems with his mobili-ty. He worked hard to be part of our contest set, and we had a chair sitting off to the side in case he needed it. He really wanted to be part of one more In-ternational, and shared in the joy of the chorus when we qualified to go to Toronto. Unfortunately, that was the last time that he was able to sing with the chorus.
Shortly before the holidays, Dad started talking about how he didn’t think he was up to performing with the chorus at International. And while we could see that he was moving a little slower, we encouraged him to try and do what he could do. But it was obvious to him that he would not be able to join us, and he broke the news that he didn’t think he’d be able to sing in Toronto. He still planned on being there to cheer us on and also to celebrate his 50th year as member of the Society. But that wasn’t to be, either.
Early in 2013, Dad began a series of trips to the hospital as his health started to deteriorate. At first it was small, nag-ging issues, and they worked to adjust his medicines. As Dad would say, it seemed that he would take one step for-
ward and two back. Good news was followed by bad as he was in and out of the hospital several times. It soon be-came apparent that he was going to have a hard time even making the trip to Toronto. However, that didn’t stop him from being fully involved in the chorus’s preparation for International.
First thing every Tuesday, I would get a call from Dad want-ing to know how practice had gone. He wanted to know what we had worked on, who was missing, and then we
(Continued from page 4)
(Continued on page 6)
Father-Son-Grandson Chorus. Indianapolis, 2006
From right to left:
Harry, son Scott, grandson Chris, son Bradd, son Greg, grand-
son-in-law Dan, great grandson Logan
2012 Fall District Conven-
tion, Columbus, Indiana—
Greg and Dad before the con-
test
Father-Son-Grandson Chorus. Kansas City, 2011
From right to left:
Harry, great grandson Logan, son Greg, grandson-in-law
Dan, great grandson Corbin
Harry
Page 6 August 2013 THE BEAT
would talk through the stage package. He loved the music, the concept and repeatedly stated that this was some of the best stuff the chorus has ever done. Once the latest tracks were downloaded to the web site, we’d put them on his iPod so he could play them over and over. We became used to heading down the hall at the hospital and hearing him singing the contest songs.
Dad loved “When You Wish Upon a Star.” He felt that we sang it as well as anything we’d ever done in the past. He was excited for our chances in Toronto, yet that was tem-pered by knowing that, for the first time since 1975, he wasn’t going to be part of Indianapolis’s International per-formance. As we got closer to the contest, “Wish” became
the unofficial anthem for our family. As we were making plans for his memorial service, one of the first things we all agreed on was to ask the chorus to sing it at the Mass.
It was strange to take the stage in Toronto without Dad. For a number of us, it was the first time we’d sung in an International without him. The chorus had left a spot for him right next to me, insuring that I’d not be able to sing for a part of “Wish.” I also carried his 50-year name tag, and right before we took the stage, Garry gave me his quartet gold metal as well because he wanted Dad to be a champion. When the scores came out later that evening, I couldn’t help but think how thrilled Dad would have been with the results. I also had to chuckle as I thought of Scott telling him that it’s about time we were scored where we belonged!
Dad sang for 50 years in an organization that just celebrat-ed their 75th anniversary. He was fortunate enough to sing in ten Internationals, and dozens of District contests. He sang in quartets with his sons, son-in-law and many friends. He was recognized as the Chorus and District Bar-bershopper of the Year, and worked back stage at the Dis-
trict and International level. He made and kept friends from one end of the country to the other as a result of bar-bershopping. On more than one occasion he would tell us that the best thing about this hobby of ours was the peo-ple. And the days and weeks since we lost him have only reinforced what a big part of his life this really was.
By any standards, Dad led a full and successful life. He was the head of a large and loving family that contin-ues to grow and expand. Through his hard work, he
allowed seven chil-dren to fully enjoy childhood. Mom and he demon-strated the love and leadership that has served as a guide for us and for our children. And yet, to us it is unimaginable to think of Dad’s life without the barbershopping. We don’t think that anyone could have designed a hobby that suited him any better. The support and love that we have received through all of this has been unbelievable. We thank everyone for allow-ing Dad to participate in what he called a life changing ex-perience.
And we are grateful to that person in Lafayette who so many years ago suggested Dad might want to see what singing barbershop music was all about. Thanks to him, we were able to enjoy 50 years of Harmonizing with Harry.
(Continued from page 5)
2012 Fall District Convention, Colum-
bus, Ind.—Dad and Greg heading to
the stage together for the last time
Harry
Doing the traditional roll call of
Barbershoppers of the Year, 2012
—photo by Scott Hutchison
Taking care of business as Backstage
Manager for International 2006
—photo by Morrie Turner
On stage with Circle City Sound in
the International chorus contest,
Kansas City, 2011
—photo by Miller Photography
Page 7 August 2013 THE BEAT
What a convention!
What a contest! Article by Patrick McAlexander,
Photos from the BHS website
Wow! I’m still reeling from the barbershop high that I had all week in Toronto. The week was full of incredible con-tests, awesome tag singing, and of course great people from all over the world, all together to celebrate the Barber-shop Harmony Society’s 75th anniversary and to watch the best quartets and choruses in the world face off. It was a wonderful week, not just for barbershoppers from Southern California, Toronto, or the Cardinal District, but for all bar-bershoppers in attendance.
Harmony Foundation Collegiate Quartet Contest
The week started with the Collegiate Quartet Contest on Tuesday night. As has been the case the last few years, it was a fantastic con-test featuring some quartets who could hold their own against the big boys. First place went to The Newfan-gled Four (who all sing with The Westminster Cho-rus), whose impressive score of an 81.3 would’ve made the top 20 in the regu-lar contest. Tenor Joey Buss became the first Amer-
ican to win two collegiate gold medals (he previously won with The Vagrants in 2009).
Second place went to The Sunny Boys, from Florida. Three of them had previously medaled in the 2010 colle-giate contest with Spanglish, and the fourth was Nick Gordon, baritone of 2011 collegiate champs, Prestige. In third place for the second year in a row was The Con Men from Columbus, Ohio, who also went on to compete in the regular contest, place a respectable 30th, and win the Deal-er’s Choice Award, given to the highest-ranking new quartet in the contest. In fourth place was The New Edition – three of them had sung together in last year’s fourth place medalists, Dominant Prep. In fifth was Phantom Fifth from Texas, earning their first medal after two previous appearances in the collegiate contest.
Now for a bit of shameless self-promotion: my own quartet, Phase IV, placed 20th and improved our rank and score from prelims. A fun fact about us is that in Toronto we
became the first quartet to bring a guide dog onto the In-ternational stage (our lead is blind). The audience seemed to love it, and we had a great time.
International Chorus Finals
The chorus contest was intriguing this year. A month or two before International, Westminster (returning champi-ons and first place qualifiers) put out a video where they talked about one of their songs for the contest, “Soliloquy” from Carousel. In the video, director Justin Miller and other chorus members talked about the song’s message about accepting and embracing fatherhood and connected the song to some members’ own experiences starting fami-lies in recent years. A couple weeks later, the Toronto Northern Lights (seeded second going in) put out a re-sponse video, parodying many scenes from Westminster’s video, but talking about their “Vegetable Medley” instead. This video exchange set the tone for an exciting battle for the chorus championship, which I will get to later.
While this year will be remembered for the TNL/Westminster showdown, another important feature of this chorus contest was numerous choruses going off the deep end in pursuit of an “entertaining” package. Last year, the Salem Senate-Aires’ caveman package won the audience and the judges alike and earned the Senate-Aires (who had never been in the top ten before) a medal, in spite of being over 20 minutes long and featuring a lot of non-singing time.
This year, we saw the repercussions of Senate-Aires’ suc-cess. A few choruses tried the “mega-package” approach to their contest sets, and we ended up with a string of real-ly long, not-that-funny performances. Only a couple of these packages really worked. The Alliance, from Colum-
bus, Ohio, did a circus package that was highly entertaining without relying on punch lines, and they sang at a very high level. This resulted in their earning fifth place medals, the first medalist performance for them since 2004.
Alexandria Harmonizers and Sound of the Rockies, both perennial medalists, both offered refreshingly tradi-tional sets; even though the arrangements were still fairly modern, they stuck with the traditional barbershop formula, executed very well, and it earned them third and fourth
(Continued on page 8)
The Newfangled Four
2013 International Colle-
giate Quartet Champions
Page 8 August 2013 THE BEAT
place medals, respectively. Another refreshing perfor-mance came from THX (Total Harmony Xperience), a fairly young chorus from the Miami, Florida area. They basically stood on the risers and sang the snot out of two songs, and they were rewarded with an eighth place finish. Brothers in Harmony and Voices of Gotham both sang innovative arrangements of more modern songs and were rewarded for it – Brothers placed sixth, and Gotham placed eigth (tied with the aforementioned THX).
And, of course, there was Circle City Sound’s perfor-mance. We came prepared to give a great performance, and we executed extremely well! I’ve watched our perfor-mance on the webcast, and it was great. The ballad
sounded awesome, and the uptune was a HUGE hit with the audience! The crowd reaction when Pinocchio turned into a real boy was a highlight of the week for me. We had the audience, and we were rewarded for an awesome per-formance with a standing ovation and a seventh place fin-ish. Great work, guys!
Now, back to the epic battle for the gold. Westminster sang pretty early in the chorus contest, so people made sure to get there for what was sure to be an awesome per-formance. They started with an uptune (atypical for a Westminster set), a medley of “Happy Days Are Here Again,” “Get Happy,” and “Shakin’ the Blues Away.” It was a typical Westminster uptune, featuring their super clean sound and impressive choreography. But something was missing – it didn’t have the same fanfare as previous up-
tunes of theirs such as their “Mardi Gras March” from their 2010 championship performance. Then they started sing-ing “Soliloquy,” the song from the video. Those of you familiar with the song know that it’s very long, and I think their rendition lasted around nine minutes (though I didn’t check the time myself). It was a fantastic performance – sung very well, performed very well, and they definitely got into it emotionally towards the end. But something was missing that I couldn’t put my finger on. Whatever it was, I knew after their performance that they had left the door open. If the Northern Lights could bring the heat, they could pull off the upset.
Fast-forward a bit. Northern Lights got to sing last be-cause many of them were volunteers for the convention, since it was in their hometown. So the arena is the fullest
it had been all week, and it’s time for Northern Lights to hit the stage and try to earn their first International champion-ship. The lights go up, and we see a bunch of men dressed as vegetables on stage (with some also dressed as sunflow-ers, and the director dressed as a ladybug). Their first song was their “Vegetable Medley,” which told the story of a garden of vegetables whose animosity toward each other turns into harmony as they help pull a stick out of a rabbit’s side (ridiculous, I know, but it was awesome). The medley was filled with great vegetable puns such as “Lettuce enter-tains you,” “Taking carrot business,” and my personal fa-vorite, “This is the dawning of the age of asparagus.” Also,
one chorus member dressed as an onion would shed layers of onionskin while the chorus sang “Peelings” (parody of “Feelings”). What Westminster lacked in audience partici-pation, Northern Lights had. The audience was completely on board with TNL’s performance. This continued through their second song, which was more serious. In the intro, one line was “If a silly bunch of plants can change their circumstance, why can’t everyone? Why can’t you?” The intro fed into the Elvis Presley song “If I Can Dream.” It was an incredibly moving performance – they believed that song more than I’ve ever seen a chorus believe a song. They also did the best singing they’ve ever done as a cho-rus.
But there was still uncertainty as to who would win, since Westminster does everything at such a high level, even if their performance wasn’t as moving as Northern Lights’. So when the contest administrator announced that Westmin-ster had come in second, the audience erupted. The first people on their feet were the Westminster guys, who turned to the Northern Lights’ section in the arena and ap-plauded them (Isn’t this a great hobby!). Northern Lights won the contest by TWO points. It was very cool to see the Northern Lights win their first gold on their home turf.
International Quartet Contest
The pinnacle event of these conventions is the quartet con-test. This year’s contest did not disappoint, especially not for Cardinal District fans!
The battle for the gold was also tight in this contest. The favorites going in were Musical Island Boys from New Zealand, who had won silver in both 2011 and 2012. Mas-terpiece (Southern California) and A Mighty Wind (Atlanta), who both were bronze medalists the previous two years, were going in at second and third, respectively. Musical Island Boys and Masterpiece ended up being neck and neck in this contest, with Masterpiece edging out Musi-cal Island Boys in the first two rounds and Musical Island
(Continued from page 7)
(Continued on page 9)
Toronto
Toronto Northern Lights
2013 International Chorus Champions
Page 9 August 2013 THE BEAT
Boys winning the finals round. Though the Island Boys put up the highest scoring round of the contest in the finals, Masterpiece’s consistency ended up winning them the gold medal, and Musical Island Boys ended up in second. A Mighty Wind got a solid third place, while fourth place went to Main Street (all of them are Dapper Dans from Walt Disney World – they were fifth in both 2011 and 2012).
Fifth place was a little more wide open going into Toronto, as there were five or six groups that all potentially had a shot. But in Toronto, Forefront separated themselves from the pack and came out with fifth place medals. Their ballad in the finals round, “If You Love Me, Really Love Me,” was one of the songs to remember from this contest. Their medal is the first regular quartet medal the Cardinal District has won since Michigan Jake won in 2001. Sixth place went to The Crush, a quartet of four young guys who sing with Westminster, in their first top ten appear-ance. Seventh went to Throwback, whose lead is Sean Devine from OC Times. Eighth went to After Hours (who you might remember from when they competed in Cardinal prelims two years ago). This was a huge jump for them, as they had been 16th two years in a row, and they were one of the most talked about quartets in the contest.
For the second year in a row, ninth went to Via Voice (half of 2005 champs Realtime). The highlight from their per-formances was their parody of “It’s Still Rock ‘n’ Roll to Me” (their parody was “It’s All Barbershop to Me”), which poked fun at many of the more modern arrangements in barbershop while still staying well under the “umbrella.” Rounding out the top ten was Da Capo, who placed 15th last year. Overall, there were 13 guys in the top 10 who had never been there before, which is pretty awesome.
Forefront wasn’t the only Cardinal District quartet to have success in Toronto. CCS’s very own Instant Classic was one of the most talked about quartets of the week. All of their songs garnered huge ovations, and many people be-lieved they should’ve made the top ten. They ended up 16th, and their score improved more from last year than
any other quartet in the contest. I think it’s safe to say that they will be dangerous, moving forward!
I could keep talking forever about all of the great perfor-mances, great tagging, great fellowship… The list goes on and on. But I’ll spare you having to read all that, and I’ll just say this: Make sure to get your hands on copies of the DVDs from this contest when they come out. That way, you can watch these awesome performances again and again and again until next year!
(Continued from page 8)
Toronto
Instant Classic
—photo from our annual show, by Jack Shaffer
Masterpiece
2013 International Quartet Champions
CCS members on top of the world
Circle City Sound members Jerry Troxel
(left photo, 2nd from right) and Patrick
Stevens (far right) celebrated CCS’s sev-
enth place finish with a walk around the
outside of the restaurant level of Tornto’s
CN tower, 1,168 feet above street level.
Wow!
Page 10 August 2013 THE BEAT
Has anyone totally come down from the amazing per-
formance Circle City Sound put on in Toronto at In-
ternational competition? I do mean totally. Some of us
can say that we have recovered, and it may not give us
chills at the same extreme as the exact second we
found out the results, but it still gives us a spasm of
pride and achievement. We should have that feeling for
a long time to come. We did it, and the Society took
note of our achievement.
As most everyone knows, we were ranked 12th going in
to the competition. We have been to International a
few times and have placed a respectable 13th as our best
finish in recent years. Until recently, we were known but
not as a top ten finisher. Now, we have achieved that and
even better. We rose up to seventh! It really does not mat-
ter how many points separated us from the choruses be-
hind us or in front of us. We earned and were given sev-
enth place.
As I indicated in the
title, this happening
was the ultimate Public Relations experience.
The achievement will
have positive PR ef-
fects for us for a long
time. Every member
was involved in this
event, so everyone
gets accolades. Natu-
rally there were those
who had the distinct
honor of being on
stage in Toronto, but
there were members who served their time on the risers
working with the total group who for various reasons were
not able to make the trip. Those members contributed to
the sound and techniques which earned the seventh place
finish. They are already back with us to carry on the ban-
ner.
Once again, here is the recurring theme. The impact on
public relations was earned by everyone in the chorus. As I
have previously stated, there are many faces and inputs
into public relations. This International competition hap-
pened to be a very high profile activity which not only
earned a high level of respect from other members of the
Society but will also have an impact on our future custom-
ers, listeners, and future members. You all contributed to
this advertising achievement.
As Garry Texiera has often told us, that is the new norm.
He also has told us that be careful what you ask for...you
just might get it. We asked for it, we worked for it, we
earned it, and now we must maintain it. If we promote our-
selves as the seventh place chorus in the world, then we
must perform like that position each and every time we
perform. That is not only during public performances but
also during rehearsal. We have no idea who might be at-
tending our rehearsals. They could be a prospective new
member or someone coming to listen who will possibly hire
us. If they expect to hear a high quality chorus then it is
our responsibility to provide that experience.
While the Toronto placement was the ultimate PR experi-
ence, the effect can disappear quickly if we don't maintain
that level. The Ambassadors of Harmony, the Vocal Majority, Westminster and others get a mind set and
keep it going. We also now have that responsibility to main-
tain that mindset. We earned our placement and the chal-
lenge to constantly now be at that level each time. We all
can do it. We can accept no less than that level of effort
from all of us each and every time. Do you think you will
feel a bit of pride when you tell someone you are selling an
ad or tickets to when you state that we are a seventh-place
-in-the-world finalist? I would hope so.
So, are our public relations jobs easier? To some extent,
yes. We all still, however, have to take that first step to ask
someone about buying an ad or purchasing a show ticket.
We now will do it with more pride than we had before. In-
teresting, since we were all proud of our chorus prior to
Toronto. Now we are just a little more sure of our place as
quality performers. We have an excellent product and we
need to spread the word.
Yes, we accomplished the ultimate PR experience but we
have also established the new norm for CCS. Now we will
work for higher scores and more entertaining packages. It
is going to be fun and challenging. It will definitely be re-
warding, and we will achieve a new ultimate PR experience.
We will do it together and will undoubtedly have others to
experience it with us.
Let’s go, CCS! Let’s set a new ultimate experience!
Number 7 in the world = the ultimate PR experience!
Larry Anthony VP PR & MARKETING
“This International competition...will
also have an impact on our future
customers, listeners and members...”
Our new favorite number: 7
Page 11 August 2013 THE BEAT
Miranda likes to sing, and whenever she starts singing, her husband heads out-
side. Hurt and a little dejected, she asks him, “What’s wrong, dear? Don’t you
like my singing?”
“Of course, dear,” he replies, “I just want to make sure the neighbors know I’m not beating you.”
The road to the risers
With our Guest Night just passed (17 guests!), I thought I would lay out the process a new singing prospect goes through in becoming a new member of Circle City Sound. Every member of our chapter should play a role in mentoring a prospect through this process.
1. The guest signs in, receives a Guest Packet (take home) & a Guest Book of music (returns at end of rehearsal).
2. If guest has a sponsor, the sponsor is his “Buddy” and is responsible to work with him toward membership.
3. If the guest comes on his own, he is assigned a “Buddy” who is usually someone in his own voice part, and if he follows through and mentors him to the point of membership, the “Buddy” will be awarded the “Man of Note.”
4. On the guest’s first visit, the “Buddy” is responsible to introduce him to the Directors and get him voice tested by the Director or qualified mem-ber of the Music Team to de-termine what section he best
fits in. Then he should introduce the guest to his sec-tion leader and the Chapter President as well as other members as they approach.
5. At the guest’s third visit, he will be given the “Membership Packet” which contains the Membership Application and information about costs involved and what is expected of him as a member and what he can expect from the Chapter. The “Buddy” should do all he can to help him through this process and to address his concerns until he becomes completely involved in his membership. This can take several months, so don’t assume he can be on his own after he receives his membership certificate.
As you can see, the “Buddy” is a very key person in the success of developing a new member and retaining him. The “Buddy” should report to the Chapter Development VP throughout this process and relay any concerns, questions, etc., that the Prospect may have.
If you would like to be added to our list of available “Buddies,” please see me to sign up. Thanks!
Steve Cline VP CHAPTER DEVELOPMENT/
MEMBERSHIP
“The ‘Buddy’ is a very key person in the
success of developing a new member…”
Membership Statistics
Chapter members as of August 1, 2013: 109 Average member age: 55.3
Average years of service: 19.6 Number of active chorus members: 76 (70%)
8/2 Bob Brown III
8/3 Steve Grimes
8/5 Jim Pyle
8/7 Larry Tolle
8/13 Bob Boehmer
8/13 Duane Henry
8/18 John Weiss
8/21 Dan Grant
8/28 Patrick Stevens
8/31 Bill Campbell
August
Birthdays
