Masters of Harmony

One of the major reasons for the success of the Masters of Harmony is the cadre of men who have brought their passion for excellence to the chorus since it was founded in 1985.

These men created an organizational model that other chapters look to for guidance. Working within this model, the chapter’s “founding fathers” and their successors found directors who helped the MOH achieve world-class status as a chorus.

At the head of the chapter’s organizational chart is the chapter president. Since 1985, the Masters of Harmony have had 14 presidents and six of them are still active. In January 2013, Ron Andreas, who became the 14th member to hold that office, is uniquely qualified to lead the Masters. In his capacity as a faculty member at the University of La Verne, he teaches leadership classes to masters level students. He has also given seminars based on his manual “Leadership Essentials.” With the help of the Music Committee, Ron hit the ground running with a visionary plan designed to lead the Masters to the 2014 International Convention in Las Vegas and beyond. The plan involves quarterly goals with chorus updates on progress being made; helping individual chorus members master the intricacies of our unique art form; and getting the entire chapter membership involved in some aspect of promoting chorus activities. His dynamism meshes perfectly with that of Director Justin Miller, and the overall effect on MOH members has been electric, as infectious enthusiasm usually is. Ron’s challenge to perform with excellence throughout the year and next year, to Las Vegas and beyond, has been eagerly accepted. Game on!

In July following the Toronto International Convention, the Masters hosted a party honoring Gold Medalist Quartet Masterpiece, Collegiate Champion Quartet The Newfangled Four, The Westminster Chorus for its silver medalist performance, and The Crush for a very strong sixth-place finish. 140 singers packed the 11 risers. About 100 of them got to bask in the glow of Masterpiece’s Gold by posing for pictures with the gracious champs. The Harmony Sweethearts provided 200 cupcakes for the assemblage. This was not only a tasty way to remember the event but also a chance to honor the memory of Sweetheart member George Vivieros, who lost his life in a tragic accident in Toronto before the contest finals. George, the cupcakes, a tradition you started, were absolutely delicious!

In September, the Masters traveled 75 miles to perform for a sold-out audience at the Sun Lakes Country Club in Banning. Judging from the enthusiastic audience response, the Masters more than met the challenge of performing well on a small country club stage. The performance was especially memorable for two people. One was chorus member David Feiner, who performed with the Masters on his birthday. David has the unique distinction of being a third generation gold-medal winner. David’s grandfather Murray won a gold medal with the Masters, as did David’s father, Mark. The other person was Betty Putnam, former Mayor of our host city Santa Fe Springs. Betty played an important role in helping the Masters develop a mutually beneficial relationship with the city of Santa Fe Springs. Thanks, Betty, for all you have meant to our chorus!

To enhance the feeling of being part of a very unique family, Ron Andreas instituted a new Masters tradition and brought back an old one. The new tradition honors members and their Harmony Sweethearts, as they transition from active to emeritus status. The first recipients were Lou and Marilyn Tedesco. Lou had been an active member of the Masters for over 14 years and his wife has been very active in the Harmony Sweethearts. Each was presented with a plaque honoring their years of service. The old tradition was a Masters family barbeque, something not done in recent years. The event was titled an “End-of-Summer Barbeque” and it was held at Ron and Bonney Andreas’ beautiful home overlooking the stunning vistas of the nearby San Gabriel Mountains. With help from Jim and Sharon Ernsberger, about 80 guests, ranging from charter members to recent members, attended the event. Members brought a variety of food for all to enjoy. Throughout the afternoon, plenty of barbershop chords echoed from the nearby hills, some ringing, some not. Ron was so pleased with the event that he plans to hold another the first part of next April.

Continuing his outreach emphasis two days later, Ron and Joe D’Amore attended a rehearsal of the University of La Verne’s 3rd Street Sound. La Verne faculty member Carol Stephenson directs this ensemble of 20 young men who love to sing barbershop music. Her skill and enthusiasm led our board of directors to help 3rd Street Sound financially as it prepares to compete in Long Beach at the Society’s Midwinter Convention. The board awarded the youth chorus $500 to help with sheet music, learning tracks, and costumes. What a terrific opportunity this is to support the Society’s ongoing efforts to engage young singers in our hobby!

In October, the following men were selected by acclamation as the 2014 MOH Board of Directors: President Ron Andreas, Secretary Maurice Freleaux, Treasurer Matt Swann, VP-Chapter Development Don Shively, VP-Marketing Bill Power, VP-Music & Performance Joe D’Amore, VP-Operations Tom Christman, VP-Public Relations Gary Stone, and Board Members-at-Large Amnon Avidor, Ryan Collins, Jim Ernsberger, Rich Owen, Don Sevesind, and Phil Wolf. Bill Rosica will serve another term as Immediate Past President. These men will be installed at the Annual Awards and Installation Banquet set for Saturday, January 4, 2014 at Khoury’s Restaurant in Long Beach.

Also in October, the Masters of Harmony took the next step on their road to Las Vegas by winning the 2013 Far Western District Chorus Championship in Bakersfield over 23 other choruses with scores that averaged 91.4%. Their contest songs included “On The Street Where You Live” and “Stranger In Paradise.” That evening in the Show of Champions, the Masters sang a rousing version of “Back In Business” with dynamic choreography developed by Erin Howden and polished by Presentation Coordinator Sean Sherrodd with help from Masterpiece’s bari Alan Gordon. The Masters also introduced a new song to the audience entitled “Dedication.” The song is a tender, emotionally moving song based on the epitaph Mark Twain had inscribed on the tombstone of his beloved 24-year-old daughter, Olivia Susan Clemens. Numerous comments delivered directly to individual chorus members indicate that the Masters’ songs that day touched the hearts of many convention attendees.

On the morning of the contests, Bill Rosica took advantage of a unique opportunity to take barbershop music to the greater Bakersfield area when he accompanied the current Barbershop Society Collegiate champions, The Newfangled Four (Joey Buss, Jackson Niebrugge, Ryan Wisiewski and Jake Tickner) to a local radio station. Perhaps expecting a stereotypical barbershop quartet rendition of something like “Sweet Adeline,” the radio crew was blown away by the high quality of what the judges and audience would experience later that evening when the young foursome won the District’s quartet championship. Two other MOH quartets were top-ten finalists: Velvet Frogs (Les Dergen, David Livingston and Emeritus C.J. Sams) took 8th place and 4 Octaves (Bill Finlan) finished tenth.

Throughout that Saturday, Masters of Harmony members competed as dual members with eight other choruses and the following directed four other choruses from the following chapters: Fullerton-Craig Ewing, Greater Phoenix-Emeritus Gary Steinkamp, Rincon Beach-Emeritus Kelly Shepard, and South Orange County-Martin Fredstrom. MOH Director Justin Miller directed The Westminster Chorus’s swan song set as the 2012 FWD Chorus Champion. Several members helped make the convention a smooth running, successful event: Convention Housing Manager and MOH Emeritus Bob Cathaway, Contest Administrator Jim Haggerty, Judges Services Manager Don Laursen, Production Manager Doug Maddox, and Afterglow Chairman Bill Rosica.

Stay tuned for progress reports on our road to Las Vegas and one of the most eagerly anticipated conventions in Barbershop Harmony Society history!

Since the last edition of Westunes, Jeff Hathaway and Ernie Reyes were welcomed into membership. Mark Ewing, David Feiner, Don Shively and Rich Stanford returned as reinstated members.