Masters of Harmony

The 2012 Far Western District Fall Convention took place in Mesa, Arizona, this past weekend and, as usual, was a busy event for many of our Masters of Harmony members. First and foremost, the dedicatee for the entire convention was our own Mark Freedkin. His many years of hard work and dedication to youth programs on behalf of the District and Society were deservedly recognized. Not many men can claim to have achieved as much in this all-important field.

The weekend began before most attendees arrived in Mesa with the District’s Fall Board Meeting, with President Russ Young presiding. Among the ten FWD Board members are three MOHers – Bob Heron, Treasurer; Bill Rosica, Southeast Division VP; and yours truly as Immediate Past President. Also in attendance as our distinguished guest was Society Board member John Miller. Among the topics of interest at the Board meeting were the news of a revamped FWD website, the end of Westunes in printed form, the appointment of Dr. Greg Lyne as Chairman of Chorus Director Development, and the agreed merger of the two Las Vegas chapters.

The contests were as fine as could be, with some very entertaining performances. As usual, MOH members were visible in both quartet and chorus competitions. Our members sang in five of the 18 quartets, four of which made the top ten. Second place went to Tenacious Q (Joey Buss, Christian Espinoza, Patrick Haedtler, Patrick Claypool); American Pastime (Graham Pence, Tom Moore, Scott Kidder, Joe D’Amore) took third; Doubletake with Emeritus Les Dergan was seventh; Whoop ‘Em Up with Emeritus Gary Steinkamp wound up in eighth place; and Velvet Frogs with Les Dergan and Emeritus C.J. Sams finished in 14th place. Other contest duties were performed by Singing Judge Alan Gordon and by Doug Maddox, Production Director and Official (and very popular) Sweeper-Upper. It was good to see Doug backstage again.

The chorus contest saw 20 choruses competing for overall victory and plateau wins. The Westminster Chorus ran away with first place at 94.3%, one of the highest-ever District scores anywhere in the Society. Their performance was truly fabulous! Amazingly, MOH members (too many to name) were on stage with almost half of the choruses – Fullerton (directed by Craig Ewing), Greater Phoenix (directed by Gary Steinkamp), La Jolla, Pasadena, Rincon Beach (directed by Emeritus Kelly Shepard), Riverside (directed by Emeritus John Brockman), Santa Monica, South Orange County (directed by Martin Fredstrom), and Westminster (directed by Justin Miller). Yours truly was MC for the five-hour chorus contest, which both the audience and I survived.

Although the lobby of the headquarters hotel was under construction, it proved to be a good choice. The Mesa Arts Center, two short blocks from the hotel, was one of the best District contest venues I’ve seen in all my 30 years. Attendance was quite a bit better than expected, meaning good profits to both the host, Greater Phoenix Chapter, who did an excellent job running the event, and to the District. Finally, it was good to be able to hug our hard-working, dedicated, distant emeritus brother Frank Ortega, who came in from nearby Gilbert to be with us. Emeritus Taylor Anderson, our esteemed webmaster and another Gilbert resident, showed up to lend his support.

There is no doubt that our Far Western District Fall Convention is one of the best in the Society. It is one of the best attended and has some of the best choruses and quartets in the land. Ask any of the judges, who travel everywhere. They must have been in awe of what they saw in Mesa.