August, 2010 Volume 6, Issue 8

Harmony College Northwest 2010

By Carl Van Hoff

A record number of barbershoppers were on hand for a fantastic weekend at Harmony College Northwest July 16-18 at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA. Almost 250 attendees enjoyed this year’s event, which featured a near 50/50 mix of BHS and SAI members.

Max Q, Mojo and Fast Track had the audience jumping to their feet at the Friday night show, then kept busy with coaching, classes and impromptu performances. Two other quartets – Overtime and Fourth Avenue – who were serving as faculty also performed for us during the weekend.

This year, there was a lot of the “familiar” which students expect at HCNW: quartet coaching, educational classes, tag singing until the wee hours, and a Saturday evening parade of quartets. In addition, a healthy dose of “let’s mix it up a little” was also in evidence:

• a Mixed Quartet Contest, featuring quartets formed during the weekend and others who have more experience.
• Private Vocal Instructions (PVIs) – essentially a private coaching session –were snapped up before registration was even over. These 15-minute sessions will be offered again next year.

Once again, our coaches and faculty came from not only the Pacific Northwest, but also from more distant states. Old friends –Raymond Schwarzkopf and Rik Johnson– mingled with new friends –Ron Black, Paul Wietlisbach (BHS Director of Education), and Rod and Paige Sgrignoli. Add in with our wonderful local faculty to the mix, and the evaluations prove HCNW is on the right track with its musical education. Here are some of the comments:

• “Fabulous organization and faculty…thank you.”
• “Do it all again! Loved having BHS and SAI together.”
• “This was an exciting weekend. I’ve been a barbershopper for many years, but this is the first year I’ve attended HCNW. It was superb; something for everyone.”
• “Oh my gosh, what an amazing bass; how awesome to have (someone of) that caliber give me (a bass) a PVI. I got so many tips to help; I could instantly feel a huge improvement and have so much to take home.”
• “Everything was wonderful! We heard from quartets who had wonderful coaching, ‘You should have been there!’”

Save July 22-24, 2011 for Harmony College Northwest 2011. (Note this is one week later than normal, due to BHS International being late in the month.) Next year’s special guest quartet is Vocal Spectrum, the BHS 2006 International Champs. Visit the HCNW website www.harmonycollege.org periodically to get updates and information.

See you on campus next year!!