Masters of Harmony

Many barbershop singers are unapologetic romantics who will break into song about love and romance at just about any opportunity. A great way to share this passion is with Singing Valentines. This involves delivering a single red rose and a personalized Valentine’s Day card to a usually surprised but very delighted recipient, followed by the singing of “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” and “Heart of My Heart.” In 2002, Andy Edwards pioneered a successful Singing Valentines program for the Masters of Harmony that ran for another four years with varying degrees of success. In 2013, Phil Wolf led a revival of the program. Six quartets used Uber, a new ride-hailing company, to deliver over 100 Singing Valentines. In February 2016, he coordinated the MOH program with the Fullerton Orange Empire Chorus, known for its very successful Singing Valentines program. In the three days of Valentine’s Day weekend, four Masters of Harmony quartets delivered 25 Singing Valentines. Recipients included women at work, men and women at home, the Cal State Fullerton women’s basketball team, a woman on the eve of her 100th birthday and several couples in retirement homes. Special thanks go to the three who skillfully coordinated the complex delivery schedules - Sheila Lowerre, Tom Nichols, and Jay Campbell.

For the past 16 years, the Masters of Harmony and the Southern California Vocal Association, a professional organization of choral music teachers, have co-sponsored an Annual Young Men’s Harmony Festival that is now a model for similar events all over the country. In February, thanks to long months of preparation by festival guru Mark Freedkin, the 2016 event at Orange Coast College was again a rousing success. This year, 206 students from 32 Southern California schools attended and more than 80% were first-timers. After warm-ups led by Dr. Chris Peterson and Dave Tautkus, the young men received choral training from The Newfangled Four (Joey Buss, Jackson Niebrugge, Ryan Wisniewski, Jake Tickner), a foursome whose ages, vocal and teaching skills helped them relate well to participants not much younger than themselves. In one of the highlights of the afternoon sessions, Masterpiece (Rob Menaker, Patrick Haedtler, Alan Gordon, Brett Littlefield) held a “Sing With the Champs” session that made the day extra special for seven young men who took turns singing with them. The evening show featured the youth chorus as well as solo, quartet and small ensemble performances. The Masters of Harmony and The Newfangled Four took turns captivating the audience of family members and music teachers. For the show finale, 280 singers filled the risers to overflowing and sang “Fun In Just One Lifetime” and “America The Beautiful” to wildly enthusiastic applause. This year’s event brought the 16-year attendance total to well over 3,400 students. Thank you, Mark, and your team of skilled, dedicated assistants, for showing these young men how much fun four-part a cappella harmony can be!

The Far Western District’s Spring Convention was held at the Alexis Park Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the MOH was well represented throughout the competition. Nearly half the choruses competing represented MOH in some way and three MOH members served on the judging panel (Rob Campbell, Justin Miller, and Dave Tautkus). The Newfangled Four and American Pastime (Graham Pence, Tom Moore, Steve Pence, Joe D’Amore) qualified for the Nashville International Convention this July. Current Far Western District Quartet Champion Flightline (Oscar Sotelo, Cody Littlefield, Daniel Huitt, Kyle Williamson) qualified as the Far Western District representative to the Youth Barbershop Quartet Contest, also in Nashville.

In recent months, the MOH’s web appearance has been restructured so as to enhance the chorus’s online presence. This site reworking was made possible thanks to MOH Grants Manager Rich Owen who helped secure a two-year grant from the Los Angeles County Arts Commission. The Masters gratefully acknowledge this support with an attribution in their show flyers and programs: “The Masters of Harmony is supported, in part, by the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission.”

If you are planning to visit a Masters Wednesday night rehearsal, please note that the rehearsal location has been moved to the Pio Pico Room of the Gus Velasco Neighborhood Center, 9255 S. Pioneer Blvd., Santa Fe Springs, from April 13 to September 28, 2016.

It is with sadness that the Masters announced the passing of two members whose work was instrumental in the early success of the chorus – Jim Holder and Marlin Niesley.

Since the last issue of Westunes, the MOH welcomed John Rhodes into membership.