A Seemingly Seamless Transition
We’re now living through our third major director transition in the history of the Masters of Harmony. It has been less than a year since we said goodbye to Mark Hale, our director for the past 10 years. Yet, anyone attending our rehearsals these days would see that we have hardly missed a beat.
Justin Miller is now firmly in charge. He took over the chorus reigns last year in time to prepare and direct the MOH for the 2012 Christmas shows and has since directed the annual youth festival performance and the Downey spring shows. Oh, and we also posted one of the highest divisional contest scores in our history with only 76 men on stage. At first glance, it would appear that all of this was just more of the same success that we have come to expect. Yet, we all know it has come as a result of a concerted effort by many MOH men . . . creating a seamless transition.
Once our new director was chosen, the Director Search Team handed the responsibility for a successful transition and the new direction of the chorus over to the Music Committee. Their leadership has been felt at every rehearsal, whether in the warm-ups, choreography workouts, sectionals on a particular song or reminding the membership of “who we are and what we represent, ” the team has maintained and even improved our dedication toward musical excellence. President Ron Andreas has lit the fire of enthusiasm within the board of directors. New board members are bringing ideas to the chorus that are being translated into workable projects (such as Singing Valentines).
Perhaps the most important of all, is the masterful way that Justin has taken over the directing duties. For those of us who first met Justin as a college student fresh out of high school, his transition from chorus baritone, to presentation coordinator to MOH director is nothing short of amazing. Of course, a lot of education and life experience happened along that 10-year journey.
He has been trained in both classical and contemporary music and traditions, not just barbershop or rock-n-roll, which gives him a unique versatility. He has already directed a premier “youth” chorus to a gold medal and tasted musical success and tasted excellence in many diverse places, including Wales, Germany and Carnegie Hall. Although we may like to think of Justin as a barbershop hobbiest, he is a professional musician and teacher (compare Dr. Greg Lyne, Jim Henry, David Wright, etc.).
What we see every week is a director that communicates amazingly well through his hands. Like Dr. Lyne, he was trained as a choral conductor; his vocation is teaching. You would expect there to be a special relationship with his “students” – us. Justin is a picture of efficiency; he says what he wants with a minimum of talking, illustrates it with his hands, corrects mistakes and reviews difficult passages . . . and then moves on. His song selections have been fun, sonorous, lively and innovative: “On The Street Where You Live,” “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” “Vict’ry Road” and currently “Back In Business.”
Justin loves dramatic gestures in the music and does much to evoke them from us. Yet, he is not averse to creative innovations: e.g., the extra note added to the tag in “Stranger In Paradise”; the super serial crescendo in “On The Street Where You Live.” He communicates his own infectious excitement with the meaning of the song. As a former front row captain and presentation coordinator, he understands how choreography and music work together. He hears or finds mistakes, fixes and reviews them, all in a congenial, collegial (we’re-all-in-this-together) manner, including finding the causes of, for example, pitch decline, and leading us through the solutions.
What is clear to those of us currently on the risers each week is that the chorus is in good hands and has a bright future. Rehearsals are both satisfying and FUN! Our recent scores at the divisional contest indicate that we are on the right track.
Can you imagine what the chorus will sound like when we add dozens of more voices? Let’s find out by getting all of your talented friends and former riser mates back here for another incredible journey!
