the orange spiel page 1 august 2016 - big orange...

The Orange Spiel August 2016

Volume 36 Issue 8 August 2016 We meet at 7:30 most Thursdays at Shepherd of the Woods, 7860 Southside Blvd, Jacksonville, FL Guests always welcome Call 355-SING No Experience Necessary

WHAT'S INSIDE Title Page Great Shows 1, 3 Editorial 2 Emotions In Singing 3-5 Barbershop History Questions 22 5 Free Your Voice 6 Free Singing Tips 6 Why It’s Important To Know (And Use) 7-9 Magic Choral Trick #358 9 The Inner Secrets Of Recruiting 10 Help Wanted 11 Barbershop History Answers 22 11 Everybody, Somebody, Anybody 11 What Is Performance As Opposed To 12 Quartet Corner 13 Chapter Member Stats 13 Board Minute Summary 14 Chapter Quartets 14 Upcoming Schedules 15 Birthdays / Guests / New Members 15 Directing Team / Other Leaders 16 Chapter Officers / Music Team 17

GREAT SHOWS by John Alexander

W e’ve been focusing on doing more local shows and having more community involve-ment. Last month we performed our Ameri-cana, Religious, and Patriotic program sev-

eral times over the 4th of July weekend at several churches. We performed at Shepherd of the Woods Lutheran Church, St Marks Episcopal Church, Arlington Baptist Church, and Southside Baptist Church. Also on the shows were On Point, Slice, and Odd Man Out. We also performed on the small stage at the Riverside Arts Market and then manned a booth there to promote the chorus and our upcoming annual show.

(Continued on page 3)


The Orange Spiel is published monthly and is the official publication of the Jacksonville Big O Chapter of the Sunshine District of the Barbershop Harmony Society, the home of the Big Orange Chorus. The chapter and chorus meet most Thursday evenings at 7:30 pm at the Shepherd of the Woods, 7860 South-side Blvd. For more information visit our website, http://www.bigorangechorus.com. Articles, pictures and address corrections may be sent to the editor.

EDITORIAL by John Alexander

Showtime is upon us. Sell ads and tickets. Know everything cold and concentrate on performance. Be ready to make everyone who attends glad that they were there. The director search continues. In the meantime George Gipp and Dr Tim Workman are keeping us on top of our game. More new music and more performances are enhancing the fun. Keep invit-ing guests. Don’t keep us a secret. Let others share in the fun. It’s great to be a Big O!

2016 Board of Directors President: Terry Ezell Music & Performance VP: John Alexander VP Chapter Development: Mike Sobolewski VP Marketing: Frank Nosalek Secretary: Don Messler Treasurer: Steve Mullens Immediate Past President: Dave Medvidofsky VP Communications: Robert Reeves Members at Large: Jason Dearing Howdy Russell VP Program: Daniel Proctor

Big O Bucks Coordinator: Mike Sobolewski Bookkeeper: Rick Morin

Committees Show Chairman: Jason Dearing Chorus Manager: Vacant Chorus Contact: Vacant Webmaster: Frank Nosalek Youth In Harmony: Dave Parker

Music Team Music Director: Vacant Associate Director: George Gipp Assistant Director: Vacant Director Emeritus: Chuck Griffith Section Leaders: Terry Ezell Tenor Robert Reeves Lead Steve Mullens Lead Jeff Packer Bari Jason Dearing Bari John Alexander Bass

John Alexander, Editor 2429 Southern Links Dr Orange Park FL 32003 [email protected] 904-278-3987

For more detailed, timely information see my weekly publication: Orange Zest

District Senior's Chorus! This Chorus will be judged

during the Fall Convention and the top five Choruses

from all the Districts will be invited to compete at Mid-

Winter in San Antonio this coming January. Here is

your chance to perform for a great audience with oth-

ers who have mature voices and maybe even get to

the big stage at Mid-Winter Convention. Some Districts

have already begun rehearsals. All it will take is learn-

ing your music (two songs with learning tracks) and

maybe two or three rehearsals prior to the Fall Con-

vention! How neat is that? Again, if you are interested,

contact the District VP for Music and Performance -

[email protected]. If there is enough inter-

est, a sign-up will be available on the SUN web site

where you will be able to get your music and learning

tracks.


(Continued from page 1)

EMOTIONS IN SINGING

THE KEY TO SELLING A SONG by Stephen C. Rafe

© reprinted by permission

(edited to serialize content) This paper will focus on how to interpret a song. It will explain the importance of start-ing by determining the message(s) they convey. Then it will focus on how to help chorus members get in touch with how any song’s story should be told. Here, we will be talking about delving into the lyricist’s IN-tent behind his or her CON-tent. In short, we will discuss how to get in touch with the feelings the author/composer is intending to convey.

PART TWO

Getting Started Researchers *Ekman, Friesen, and Ellsworth say there are just six universal emotions. They list them as: anger, joy, surprise, disgust, sadness, and fear. Those are just the starting point.

SOURCE: Ekman, P., Friesen, W. V., & Ellsworth, P. (1972). Emotion in the human face: Guidelines for research and an inte-gration of findings. New York: Pergamon Press.

Begin with those and decide how they apply to the words. As you begin to understand the message better, however, you will find a need or desire to go


GREAT SHOWS

(continued) A F T E R G L O W



deeper. At a more-in depth level, Ekman said (1999) we can include: Amusement, contempt, contentment, embarrassment, excitement, guilt, pride, relief, satisfaction, sensory pleasure, or shame. The following illustration shows how some of these can be expanded even further.

SOURCE: Ekman, Paul (1999), "Basic Emotions", in Dal-gleish, T; Power, M, Handbook of Cognition and Emotion, Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons.

As you fine-tune even further to present the emotion you wish to convey as precisely as pos-sible for each phrase – and perhaps even for individual words -- you may want to go even deeper. The list that follows will be helpful.

PARTIAL LIST OF HUMAN EMOTIONS

Compiled and Edited from Various Sources

Acceptance Forgiveness Joy Affection Friendly Loneliness Aggression Friendship Love Ambivalence Frustration Nostalgia Anger Gentleness Paranoia Anxiety Gratitude Pity Apathy Grief Pleasure Boredom Guilt Pride Compassion Happiness Sadness Confusion Hatred Sarcasm Contempt Hope Rage Curiosity Horror Regret Depression Hostility Remorse Doubt Homesickness Shame Ecstasy Humor Suffering Empathy Hunger Sympathy Envy Hysteria Suffering Embarrassment Interest Tenderness Euphoria Worry

EMOTIONS IN SINGING

(continued)

Little Help Needed

When we learn the words to a new song first, then dis-cuss the depth of the "meaning" behind the com-poser's "story" throughout every phrase of the song, life becomes easier for the chorus director. He or she rarely needs to do very much to bring out the singers' correct vocal and non-verbal expression. And those are what “sell the song,” not just the notes.

Inappropriate Interpretation

Without that step, we make learning more difficult and we can also end up with inappropriate interpretation – vocal expression that doesn’t fit, and “choreography" for its own sake that may have nothing to do with the song's story line. We could even end up with gestures that are literal and inappropriate such as the following extreme example: I saw a non-barbershop chorale -- singers pretending to climb as they sang "Climb Every Mountain."

A Related Problem

When we don’t get in touch with the meanings of the lyrics first, gestures may be directed within the chorus when they should be directed to the audience. A clas-sic example is chorus members shaking each others' hands when singing "and ... even policemen say 'how do you do'." I believe that as many gestures or actions as possible should include the audience.

Exceptions

There are exceptions, of course. The most obvious would be when the words and notes express melan-choly or reflection. Vocally and physically, those should be expressed internally. For example: On “Sing Me That Song, Again” (Chart D), the chorus might start out telling the story to the audience: "I love to hear the old songs that my mother used to sing." Then, however, they would gradually shift from the ex-ternal to the internal as they reach "They take me back to childhood days...." Ultimately they would go totally internal as they sing "bring back the joys and the pain dear..." and stay in that mode straight through to the close as they plead, hopelessly, to a mother who is gone to "sing me that song, again." This is certainly a far cry from what is conveyed when we try to belt it out to the audience.

Summary (Continued on page 5)



When we learn the words to a song first and con-centrate on their “message,” we avoid all these problems and, in the process, improve our memori-zation skills, our singing skills, and our interpreta-tion skills.

END NOTES: A very good friend, Dick Kreh, the tenor in our quar-tet with decades of barbershop-singing experience, tells us this story: Several years ago he attended a coaching session for barbershoppers on how to un-derstand and interpret the emotions found in a song. The instructor was Gerry Geis who was the choreographer for the Alexandria Harmonizers at that time. The song she selected was "Danny Boy" and she began by handing out copies of just the lyrics exactly as I recommend in the manual “Teaching (Choral) Music Painlessly.” The only dif-ference is that I prepare the lyrics in my “Eye-Cue™” format. (See Charts.) Again much in the same way, she had the partici-pants read through the entire piece and then dis-cuss the emotions within each line, phrase, or thought. With her guidance, everyone soon had gotten in touch with what that song is all about – even down to the fine points or nuances. No longer was it “just another nice song” – but rather a haunt-ing, emotional expression of the emptiness one feels when losing a loved one, along with the awareness of how fleeting life can be.

Never the Same Again

Once we get in touch with emotions that way, with songs like “Danny Boy” and so many others, the words will never be the same again when we sing them. If indeed we can sing them without a lump in our throats. The words haven’t changed: What has changed is that we now understand the message and it has gripped us by the heart. Not all songs call for us to dig that deep. And each song tells its own story and expresses its own emotions. For singers, that story is told in words. And naturally, the notes and the chords, and how they are phrased must be consistent with that story, and vice versa. That holds true even with songs for which melodies have been created before lyrics. They must complement each other and work together to communicate the same emotions at the

EMOTIONS IN SINGING

(continued)

BARBERSHOP HISTORY

QUIZ 21 by Mark Axelrod

from probeweb.org Define the following musical terms: 1 - Fermata 2 - Legato 3 - Tessitura

Answers on page 11

same places in the song. As Dick puts it, the two must “come together natu-rally to be effective.” He adds, sharing the sentiment of others, “We need to do this with every song “if we are to sell it our audience.” And that’s what we’re there to do. (To be continued next month)


FREE YOUR VOICE by John Newell, Lead, Realtime

from “Let It Out” Vocal Performance Coaching

Facebook page Rehearse your technique again and again until you are unconsciously competent, then... forget about it while you sing. It's a very large step your brain must take. For so long, you have thought hard about technical processes. Now your thinking must funda-mentally shift to what the music and words are all about. The same applies at performance time, even if your technique still needs a lot of work. You won't change your technique now, so immerse yourself in the moment. As Clive James wrote: "Works of art can be inspired only by individual passion." "Competent technique is what mediocrity has in common with genius, so there is small point getting enthusiastic about it." "The arts do not advance through technique, they accumulate through quality." ————— It's performance time. The moment comes. There is no turning back. You must trust that you have pre-pared so thoroughly that your technical execution will be automatic and your mind will thus be free to express truth. This is the moment a performer lives for. In this mo-ment, the performance becomes real life and what was real life is temporarily forgotten. Nothing else matters. Embrace that moment, fully and wholeheartedly. Your best performance hinges on doing so. ————— Sing to reveal truthfully who you are, not merely to show off what you can do.

FREE SINGING TIPS by Yvonne DeBandi

from a2z-singing-tips.com F = Free your natural voice. Don't be a slave to any music style -- even your fa-vorite one. Learn to sing with your full and natural voice by developing your vo-cal strength and coordination. Then add stylistic nu-ances to achieve any singing style you desire

FREE SINGING TIPS by Nicole LeGault

from a2z-singing-tips.com

F is for Facial Muscles. For homework, ob-serve your favorite singers in live action. Take note of how they drop their jaw for some sounds, and lift their cheeks up for others… The shape of your mouth will greatly affect the tone and volume of the sound you are creating.

FREE SINGING TIPS by Mick Walsh

from a2z-singing-tips.com F. Freehold New Jersey is where I teach. You can contact me on 732 685 2069 if you are interested in voice lessons. F is also for fear. Don’t be afraid to try new things. As long as you are gentle with your self and listen to your body it’s very unlikely that you will do any serious damage whilst working with a professional coach.

FREE SINGING TIPS by Teri Danz

from a2z-singing-tips.com F= Fatigue -- Fight fatigue. As a singer, this is a huge enemy. Fatigue will sap you of technique and have you working against yourself. Many singers strain their vocal chords, push their range, get hoarse, and get a variety of other problems when they get tired. The antidote is rest and self-care.


Or, more precisely: “a pre-existing capacity for a particular way of be-having, thinking, or feeling that is authentic and en-ergizing to the user, and enables optimal function-ing, development and performance.”

The Realise2 Model And when you put these two criteria together, you end up with four categories of activities we could be engaged in (the Realise2 Model, developed by the Center for Applied Positive Psychology). Our realized strengths are things that we are pretty awesome at, and get energy from doing. Unrealized strengths on the other hand, are things that we don’t get to do so much, but represent the areas in which we have the greatest “upside” or po-tential for future awesomeness. We find these pretty energizing as well, even if we’re not as strong in these areas quite yet. Our learned behaviors are those things we are good at, but find draining. Doing too much of these things can lead to disengagement and feeling burned out, so ideally, we wouldn’t have to engage in these ac-tivities too much. Our weaknesses, are the things we do least well, and perhaps more importantly, also seem to suck the energy and life out of us. In theory, it’d be nice to minimize the time we spend in this area too. The idea being, if we spend too much of our time engaged in learned behaviors and weaknesses, we will find ourselves underperforming because our greatest strengths aren’t being leveraged. And maybe worse, we’ll be prone to feeling emotionally out of sorts as well, from spending so much of our time engaged in activities that we find draining and unengaging. So does this mean that it’s better to focus on en-hancing our strengths?

Signature strengths and goals A team of researchers in the UK recruited 240 col-lege sophomores to take place in a goal-setting study.


WHY IT’S IMPORTANT TO

KNOW (AND USE) YOUR

SIGNATURE STRENGTHS by Dr Noa Kageyama

from bulletproofmusician.com

T hat’s out of tune! Now it feels rushed. Hmm…the sound is a bit forced; doesn’t ring enough.

Whether it’s the voice in our head, or a trusted teacher, conductor, or colleague, we spend a lot of time focusing on all the imperfections in our playing. And not just with regards to all the lit-tle details in every piece we play, but with every facet of our instrumental skills and musicianship too. From finger tension, to breath control, rhythm, concept of sound, intonation, or our musical in-stincts, it’s easy to obsess about all the areas in which we struggle. Pinpointing and working on our weaknesses isn’t all bad of course, and there are indications that the best athletes and performers spend a greater per-centage of their time targeting their weakest areas than do intermediate-level athletes. But there are some who have concerns about the “deficit-based” approach, and argue that we should spend at least as much time cultivating our strongest attributes too. Because it’s our strengths which allow us to stand out and make the greatest contribution to our community and the world at large. So which is it? Should we focus on remediating our weaknesses? Or enhancing our strengths?

What is a strength? Let’s say you’re good with numbers. But you enjoy math about as much as you enjoy cleaning the leaves and gunk out your gutters. Would math be considered one of your strengths? Well, maybe not…but it’s not exactly a weakness either, right? Indeed, a strength is not just something that you do well; that’s just one part of the equation. For something to be a strength, it must also be an ac-tivity or skill that you find energizing to engage in. Something you enjoy doing not for fame or for-tune, but for its own sake.



They started out by taking a strengths-identification assessment to identify their top five “signature strengths.” Then, they wrote out their top 3 goals for the se-mester – things like “Attend most of my lectures” or “Make the university football team” or “Stop drink-ing alcohol during the week.” Next, they were asked about the degree to which they have used their signature strengths so far dur-ing the semester, with regards to their life in gen-eral (not their goals, per se). And then they were asked to what degree they have used their signature strengths in working to-wards their first, second, and third goals.

Six weeks later… At the six-week mark of the study, the researchers checked in to see how things were going. Partici-pants were asked the same questions about their usage of signature strengths and also reported on the progress they were making towards their three goals for the semester.

Ten weeks later… And then at the ten-week mark, the researchers checked in again to see if anything had changed. Lo and behold, using signature strengths was as-sociated with greater progress towards their goals. Furthermore, using signature strengths seemed to be connected with greater feelings of well-being too. So it’s not just about gritting our teeth and white-knuckling our way to big goals at the expense of our well-being and emotional health. It’s about real-izing these goals, but feeling engaged and ener-gized along the way too, which in turn makes us more likely to achieve our goals, which improves our sense of well-being and life satisfaction, which helps us persevere and achieve our goals, in an “upward spiral of success.”

Take action So how can you utilize a strengths-based approach

SIGNATURE STRENGTHS

(continued)

to achieving your musical goals? Well, the first step is to identify your strengths. Be-cause while you can probably rattle off a list of at least a few of your “areas for growth” without a mo-ment’s hesitation (and no, the ability to instantly generate a list of your weaknesses probably does-n’t count as a strength…), try to name 2 or 3 of your biggest strengths. Not so easy, eh?

Step 1: ID your strengths Here are a couple examples of questions you can ask yourself from a study which looked at develop-ing mental toughness in cricket from a strengths-based perspective (and in the off chance you are a cricket fan, cricket-centric answers from the study are included): Question: My strengths are…I feel strong when I am… (doing this) Answer: “My strengths are my hands, slip catching or catching in general” Question: What is your best delivery? How do you get most of your wickets? (Or in more musician-friendly terms, What is your best attribute? What is the most compelling aspect of your playing? What kind of music do you care about the most/feels like it was written just for you?) Answer: “By building pressure on batsmen and executing my bowling plan. Reading batsmen and their game plans. Breaking partnerships.”

Step 2: Figure out how to use these strengths more often

Question: Things I can do to build on my strengths, put myself into situations where I am in my element are… Answer: “Ritualize my pre- and post-delivery rou-tines through simulated pressure practice at the nets.”

Takeaways At the end of the day, I don’t think the question of strengths vs. weaknesses is an either/or proposi-tion. It’s one of those both/ands. And a matter of finding the right balance.



MAGIC CHORAL TRICK #358

THE GEAR CHANGE by Janet Kidd

from betterchoirs.wordpress.com

W hen we want to carry the sound over from one phrase to another without a breath, it’s never enough to simply not

breathe. If there’s a good enough reason to carry through, what we really want is to sweep the audience along with us. And while phrases like “spin the sound here” and “create an arch in the sound” work for some of our singers, our more pragmatic chorus members may need other imagery. Since most people are aware of the energy kick when you change gears on a standard car, I’ve found the Gear Change an effective tool. There’s even a ready made director’s hand signal – as if I’m changing gears on a sporty little convertible. As I’ve mentioned before, hand signals save pre-cious time in rehearsal because once the chorus knows and has imitated the signal themselves, they understand exactly what I want. Yes, I do have other more graceful ways of indicat-ing energy flow from one phrase to another – but


The idea isn’t to ignore and neglect the things we struggle with, but to get them to a level at which they are no longer liabilities. Given that we only have so much time in each day, trying to be awesome at everything is going to leave us feeling exhausted, burned out, and lacking in many areas. It sounds like the more optimal path is to target our weaknesses, and showcase our strengths. Investing our limited energy in those areas that are going to give us the most return on investment – both in terms of the level of our playing, and in how engaged and ener-gized we feel by working on aspects of our craft that we find inherently meaningful and which are truly and authentically us.

SIGNATURE STRENGTHS

(continued) sometimes my groups just seem to sleep through these moves and not really notice them. The Gear Change is not flowy and attractive – but they notice it. I should also mention that, as with asking for any increased energy flow from one phrase to another, the energy increase should be on the target vowel. For example, if in Amazing Grace I decided that I wanted to flow straight from those first two words into ‘how sweet the sound’, I would make the gear change motion on the back end of the target vowel for the word ‘grace’. So it would happen like this Amazing Greh……..(Gear change/crescendo/energy flow boost/tone spin/intensify the vowel/arch here) eecehow sweet. I’ve included the extra descriptors in the bracket above because as with any effect I want I usually have to say it about 5 or 6 different ways for every singer to understand what I mean. The Gear Change is not pretty, but it’s been work-ing well for me.

FOCUS ON THE QUALITY OF

YOUR OWN VOICE from 33 Most Effective Singing Tips

by Eve Soto

from how2improvesinging.com “I feel one of my most useful singing tips has been to remind beginner singers that their ability to sing should not be meas-ured by how close they sound like a par-ticular artist but on the vocal quality of their own voice and vocal presentation…”

DAILY PRACTICE IS THE KEY from 33 Most Effective Singing Tips

by Sarah Popejoy

from how2improvesinging.com “The best way for beginners to improve their vocal abilities at a rapid rate is to re-cord their vocal exercises and then prac-tice them every single day.”


Don't oversell or undersell barbershop music. Most young guys have no idea what it is, so it's no big deal either way. Sell the "all male" aspect when they ask, "what kind of music do you sing?" ... The answer is "all kinds", which is true. However, the best answer is to give them a prac-tice tape and say. .. "Listen to this". Men who have sung in organized groups are usu-ally our best bets. If the guy is over 50 and has never sung organized music, the odds are pretty long on him being able to do it. There are always exceptions. Never underestimate our music's ability to hook somebody. Don't make excuses for your group. Since the chorus is growing, reassure the recruit that there are other new men just starting. You have to be willing to go beyond your immedi-ate circle to find new singers. You may have to ask ten or more guys to find a singer. Don't stop on number nine!

THE INNER SECRETS OF A

VETERAN BARBERSHOP

RECRUITER: by Jim Frye

from The Chordsmen Chronicle

N obody, in the history of the world, ever walked up to a stranger and said, "Do you know any good groups I can sing with?” You have to invite them.

Potential singers are usually worried if they are good enough to sing with us while we are usually worried if we are good enough to invite potential singers into our group. The majority of male singers don't read music... they just follow the notes up and down. Our music is our best advertisement. The busiest people are the best recruits; they're do-ers!! Don't oversell; your only job is to get them there the first night - let the chorus sell itself. International Contest, District or Chapter “stuff” is meaningless to the new recruit. Sell good music and fellowship. Young guys want to know others their age partici-pate. A good speaking voice is sometimes a clue. Very few guys will come by themselves the first night. Either escort them or suggest they bring a friend with them. Don't talk dues. They'll ask when they're ready. If a guy is sincerely interested, he'll be back. Don't badger him! His actions will tell you. Don't be pushy. As a general rule, recruiting "old barbershoppers" is a waste of time. Sell them a show ticket. If they want to come back, they will. Hang with your recruit at meetings. Make sure he meets the guys, gets music and, most importantly, is NEVER LEFT ALONE!

LABOR DAY JAMBOREE Wow...just wow! So far this year is shaping up to be one of the most well attended LDJs in years! Labor Day Jamboree is one of the best family bar-bershop weekends of the year. And this one in particular is going to be jam packed! Don't delay in reserving your room as they are booking quickly! Ticket sales are going stronger than ever this early before the weekend. Buy them now to take advan-tage of the combined ticket show price and to avoid that horrible line that builds up at the door before the show! And... the Dave Labar Almost-Classic Classic golf tournament is now online. Reserve your spot now. Either book your whole team or we will place you on a team! Cost is only $50 (lunch NOT included). Stop reading and go take care of all this NOW at www.labordayjamboree.com.


BARBERSHOP HISTORY

ANSWERS 21 by Mark Axelrod

from probeweb.org Answers to this month's history quiz: 1 - The prolongation of a tone, chord, or rest beyond its indicated time value; the sign (musical notation) indicating this prolongation which looks like a dot be-neath a semi-circle. 2 - The smooth, seamless connection of successive notes; the opposite of choppy. 3 - The general 'lie' of a vocal part, whether high or low in its average pitch. It differs from range in that it does not take into account a few isolated notes of extraordinarily high or low pitch.

EVERYBODY, SOMEBODY,

ANYBODY AND NOBODY by Stephen Rafe

from Probemoter

T his is a little story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Any-body, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Every-

body was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it. However, Nobody did it.

Somebody got angry about that because it was Eve-rybody’s job. Everybody thought that Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

————— The key to a chapter’s success is the involvement of the members—with each member taking on a job that is appropriate to his skills, his time, and his de-sire to contribute.

HELP WANTED by Dave Parker

C harlie and Lynn Young have de-cided to travel next fall, leaving us without a Floor Manager for the Youth In Harmony Sing-

Shop on October 19th. He passed on his carefully filed records for a volunteer to fill his shoes coordinating that day’s activities for choral members from several local high schools. If you have coordination abilities and you would like to ap-ply them to a truly joyful project, please contact me to discuss further. No experience required.

At every gig you do, ask yourself this

question throughout the night: “If I were in the audience right now, would I be

enjoying this show?”


back. Next, practice in front of a mirror to see how you are doing in believability. It can be very humbling, but also very informative. In the long run, it will be the best thing for our audiences.

WHAT IS PERFORMANCE AS

OPPOSED TO PRESENTATION? by John Elving

from The Voice of Rushmore

I n the latest issue of “The Harmonizer,” there was a very good overview of the “new” Performance category of judging Barbershop performances. Here is another simplified explanation of what

things are different in the “new” Performance judging category as opposed to the ”old” Presentation, and even older Stage Presence category. The “old” categories evaluated the entertainment value of the performance including the emotional im-pact on the audience and the credibility of the story, message, and theme in the visual and vocal presen-tation. However, what is different in the “new” Performance category? The new Performance category will em-phasize believability and de-emphasize traditional “barbershop moves.” Authenticity, meaningful chore-ography, and connection with the audience will be emphasized. Now, what does that mean to so many of us who don’t necessarily get judged at contest every year? It really means that we, as the entire BHS, are trying to get rid of so many of the stereotypical ideas of what Barbershop is. All those old moves we made to end a song with everyone spreading out their hand(s) say-ing, “that’s the end, love us,” or so many other “canned” moves. What they want to do in this change of the judging is to make us think first and foremost of the audience. They want us to communicate just the same as if we were talking to the individual. Everything should be so natural that nothing seems to be a canned move. Yes, there are specific planned choreography moves which are specifically meaningful to the lyrics, but so much of what we have done in the past is not mean-ingful. I challenge you to watch any of the top quar-tets and choruses on YouTube to see how they have made all of their “moves” more meaningful to the au-dience. You can find all of those videos on the Bar-bershop Harmony Society channel at http://bit.ly/1ZE7hCV. Check out choruses like Westminster, Vocal Majority, Toronto Northern Lights, or a host of others. Quartets to watch would be Instant Classic, Forefront, O.C. Times, Vocal Spectrum and Throw-

PICKUP QUARTET

AT THE SUNS GAME


COMING DUE MEMBERS

T he following members are coming due in the next 60 days. John Banks Rich Casanzio

Bill Cotter Terry Garvin Chuck Griffith Bryan Hevel John Humble Dave Jacobs James Kastler Alan Kelley Christopher Kline Art McNeil John Pennington Martin Port John Santamaria Lee Sobania Mike Sobolewski Bob Stump Robert Tucker

QUARTET CORNER by John Alexander

Odd Man Out, On Point, and Slice performed on the patriotic shows. On Point earned 16th in the world at international in Nashville. Four More Guys did a birthday party gig. What is YOUR quartet doing? Don’t have one? Find three other guys and start one! Can’t find a match? Drop me a line and I’ll run a list of guys looking to quartet up here in the bulletin. It’s one of those really fun things that you don’t fully under-stand until you’ve done it. It’s never too early to be thinking about Singing Val-entines. Quartets are always needed, officially formed or pickup. It’s only a few easy songs. Learning more than one voice part to these songs can help make you easier to fit into a pickup quar-tet.

CHAPTER MEMBER STATS

T he following are our current membership statistics:

Regular Members (RG) 45 Life Members (LF) 1 Youth Members (Y2) 6 Senior Members (SN) 14 Senior 50-Year (S5) 5 Senior Legacy (SL) 6 Total Membership 77

PAST DUE MEMBERS

T he following members are listed separately on the BHS website as past due. They vary from 1 days overdue to 178 days overdue. They will automatically be removed from the

society roll at 180 days overdue. Rob Hargen Dave Medvidofsky Ken Moyer Frank Nosalek Robert Reeves Howdy Russell III Dan Smith Bill Vockell


CHAPTER QUARTETS BOARD MINUTE SUMMARY by John Alexander

The Board of Directors met on a conference call at 9:00 pm on 27 July. Present were: John Alexan-der, Jason Dearing, Terry Ezell, George Gipp, Don Messler, Steve Mullens, Frank Nosalek, Robert Reeves, and Mike Sobolewski. The Secretary presented the previous minutes and they were approved. The Treasurer reported on finances. Online ticket sales processing transferred to Heartland. Online ticket handling moving to new person. Membership reported on status of prospects. Social Media reported and requested that every-body “share” chapter posts to gain more dissemi-nation. Show Chair reported only four ads sold. Every-body sell one. New committees were created and members as-signed. Director says we need a full house! Everybody sell tickers! The next regular meeting is scheduled for 18 Au-gust at The Loop. All members are invited to at-tend.

It’s great to be a Big O

What’s that idea brewing in your head?

Would it be of benefit to the Big O?

Attend the board meeting and let it out!

All are allowed to sit in and listen.

All are allowed to participate in “For the good of the chapter.”

Four More Guys

Dan Kulik, tenor Ken Moyer, lead

Rick Chapman, bari John Alexander, bass

If it’s not worth doing well, Why do it?

Slice!

Terry Ezell, tenor Eric Grimes, lead

Jason Dearing, bari Daniel Proctor, bass

Odd Man Out

Terry Ezell, tenor Brad May, lead

Daniel Proctor, bari Dave Medvidofsky, bass

On Point

Joseph Mendum, tenor Daniel Pesante, lead Timothy Keatley, bari Alex Burney, bass

Room For More

Your Name Here

Maybe?


BIG O BUCKS SCHEDULE Fri 05 Aug Janet Jackson Wed 05 Oct Cirque du Soleil Sat 08 Oct Cirque du Soleil (2) Sat 20 Oct Jags vs Tampa Bay (pre) Sun 28 Oct Jags vs Bengals (pre) Sun 11 Sep Jags vs Green Bay Sun 25 Sep Jags vs Baltimore Sun 23 Oct Jags vs Oakland Sat 29 Oct Florida vs Georgia Sat 05 Nov Navy vs Notre Dame Sun 13 Nov Jags vs Houston Sun 04 Dec Jags vs Denver Sun 11 Dec Jags vs Minnesota Sat 24 Dec Jags vs Tennessee Sat 31 Dec Taxslayer/Gator Bowl

REHEARSAL SCHEDULE Thu 04 Aug Shepherd of the Woods Thu 11 Aug Shepherd of the Woods Sun 14 Aug Annual Show (Episcopal) Thu 18 Aug Board Meeting (Loop) Thu 18 Aug Shepherd of the Woods Thu 25 Aug Shepherd of the Woods Thu 01 Sep Shepherd of the Woods Wed 07 Sep Art Walk Show (Hemming) Thu 08 Sep Shepherd of the Woods Thu 15 Sep Shepherd of the Woods Thu 22 Sep Board Meeting (Loop) Thu 22 Sep Shepherd of the Woods Thu 29 Sep Shepherd of the Woods

BIRTHDAYS Dave Schubert 07 August Christopher Kline 25 August Ralph Kraegel 30 August

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE Sun 14 Aug Annual Show Wed 07 Sep Art Walk Show Sat 17 Dec Christmas Show

NEWEST MEMBERS Alexander Burney June Timothy Keatley June Eric Grimes April Brian Kerr April Ryan Hastie March Todd Hastie March Matt Lawrence August

RECENT GUESTS Jim Akers Jason Boddie Rick Chapman Scott Copeland Jake Koebrich Dan Kulik Joseph Mendum Brian Moore Daniel Pesante Rick Pugh Tom Sanders Kaleb Tinker Doug Torrence Drew Williams

WELCOME { Big O Buck$ }

Ask yourself:

What kind of a chapter would my chapter BE

If all of its members were just like ME?

DISTRICT SCHEDULE Fri 07 Oct Fall Convention Sat 08 Oct Fall Convention Sun 09 Oct Fall Convention


EDITOR’S NOTE Article and column submissions are solicited. Help make this a better bulletin. Send me stuff! The deadline for September is 26 August. Items without a byline are from the Editor. The Orange Spiel John Alexander, Editor 2429 Southern Links Dr Orange Park FL 32003 Back issues are available online at: www.bigorangechorus.com/newsarchive.htm More specific and timely performance information is in my weekly sheet, Orange Zest.

DIRECTING TEAM

Vacant Front Line Director

Chuck Griffith Director Emeritus

Vacant Assistant Director

OTHER CHAPTER LEADERS

Vacant Performance Coordinator

Vacant Chorus Manager

Frank Nosalek Webmaster Technology

Dave Parker Youth In Harmony

Coordinator

Mike Sobolewski Big O Bucks Coordinator

John Alexander Bulletin Editor

Rick Morin Big O Bucks Bookkeeper

Jason Dearing Show

Chairman

George Gipp Associate Director

Print off two copies of this newsletter

to share - one with your family and

one with someone you are bringing to a chapter meeting. Let them know they

belong here!


2016 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Terry Ezell

President

Mike Sobolewski

VP Membership

Steve Mullens Chapter Treasurer

Don Messler Chapter Secretary

Howdy Russell At Large

Frank Nosalek

VP Marketing

MUSIC TEAM

John Alexander VP Music & Performance

Mike Sobolewski Presentation Coordinator

John Alexander Bass

Sec Ldr

Imagine 100 men on the risers

Be a singer-bringer

Jeff Packer Bari

Sec Ldr

Daniel Proctor Learning Materials

Coordinator

Robert Reeves Lead

Sec Ldr

Terry Ezell Tenor Sec Ldr

Jason Dearing At Large

Dave Medvidofsky Past

President

Robert Reeves VP

Communications

John Alexander VP Music & Performance

Jason Dearing Bari

Asst Sec Ldr

Steve Mullens Lead

Asst Sec Ldr

Daniel Proctor

VP Program

the orange spiel page 1 august 2016 - big orange...

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