Music Under the Stars

Last night I attended the Hunterdon Symphony performance in Deer Path Park. It was a great night. Perfect weather — not to hot and not to cool with a clear blue sky. The orchestra performed well to what was reported to be the best and largest crowd of the season.

This year the performers are not being paid by the County — budget problems, we are told. Hopefully next year the County Park System will be able to help the performers underwrite their costs. For this year all performers not only volunteer, that is do not get paid, but have to provide their own sound systems and cover their other expenses out of their budgets.

A number of Harmonizer families were there last night to support and to enjoy the orchestra performance. Next week, on July 7, the Harmonizer chorus will be performing as a chorus with a number of their quartets. You will learn about LOVE and enjoy a series of patriotic and inspirational songs.

Hope to see you there. Call the Park Service for details or call the Harmonizers directly at 908-806-NOTE (6683).

One of the many fun things we do is learn new performance plans to go with new music. With three new songs on the schedule (a new one next Tuesday – come out and hear it and sing it with us as we learn it together) there will be a lot of learning new performance moves.

The video shows Vida working with Lou, Tony, and Bob as they learn from her the plan for When I’m 64. The video is part of our new instructional tool collection to help the guys get it right.

From the standpoint of each guy they know that each has to embrace the new motto “If it is to be, it is up to me”. I know the guys will, as we move forward faster than usual to learn new music in the constant process of getting ready for the next opportunity to perform for our public.

Have you ordered you Singing Valentine at 908-806-NOTE yet?

Less than one week before contest

The Harmonizers have qualified for the District Contest again this year. It is less than a week before contest. In fact by this time next week the contest will be over. Most of us will be in the Lancaster Convention Center in Lancaster PA Friday in time for the quartet contest in the evening. Two of our quartets, Re-Mix and Untamed, will be singing Friday night. Saturday the chorus contest begins at 9:00 AM. We expect to sing at 9:50 if all is on time.

Even with the contest just around the corner, our show committee has been working on our Annual Show. The photos were taken after our performance at the Craft Fair last week. The guys are out about town giving our local business people an opportunity to participate in our show program as advertisers. If they have missed you, let us know at 908-806-NOTE and, someone will call on you.

Tickets are also now available. Call the same number to get early tickets at a price lower than buying at the door. The show, Holly Days & Jolly Knights will be at Hunterdon Central High School at 84 Route 31 in Flemington. Shows are at 2:00 and 7:00 PM on Saturday, December 4, 2010. The advance ticket price is just $15 (at the door $20) and students $10 in advance. Kids five and under, with an adult, are free. We expect a very fun show.

Greg set up a “Magic Cube”

I had to miss our Heath Village performance on Sunday July 25^th. The heat brought the performance inside this year. By all reports the show was well performed and the audience loved the singing and performance.

So now it is time to get ready for the activities scheduled for the rest of the 2010 year.

Yesterday we began to take a serious look at our contest songs to be performed in October on the 1^st through 3^rd as part of the Lancaster PA District Convention and contest. We are pleased to be among the about twenty percent of the one hundred chapters in the district who qualified in Division contest in May that leads us to the final big event in October.

So Tuesday our Program VP, Greg, set up a “Magic Cube”. Sixteen men are placed so that any line of four singers constitute a quartet of all four parts, including a diagonal line. The group starts singing a song as a group. Our music director, Don, then calls one or another line, or quartet, that take over singing the song. One group after another continues to the end of the song. A second group of men then take the place of a singer with the same voice part as their own and the process starts again. A great exercise that tests our command, as individuals, of these songs and our ability to sing our part on our own. Just one of the fun things we do every week.

A table is covered with signup sheets on which our singers can indicate their participation in the many events that are part of our fun.

Our annual Harmonizer Family picnic for our singers, their families, and their guests will be at the Deer Path Park from noon until 6:00 PM Sunday August 22^nd. We all bring a covered dish and the host committee provides hamburgers and hot dogs and Soda. This year the bass section of our chorus has challenged the other voice part sections for a face off on the volley ball court. That will be interesting. I am going to have to miss that fun while away for family vacation. I think the leads can win that contest.

There is a sheet for our singing for the crowd at the Somerset Patriots on Tuesday August 31. We will be joined by singers from other chapters, including the Morristown, Somerville, and Rahway groups when we perform a show before the game and when we sing the National Anthem.

There was a sheet for our Craft Fair performances on September 18^th and 19^th, Saturday and Sunday. We will be performing a free show about 1:00 on the old court house steps on each of these days. Some of our quartets will be performing though out the town during the fair.

Of course there is also a sign up sheet for the October 1 through 3^rd contest.

And, although there is no sign up sheet, because these are regular meeting and rehearsal nights, there are scheduled coaching sessions for our singers next Tuesday, August 10^th, and again on September 14^th.

To say we are busy having fun is an understatement.

Looking further ahead there is a sheet for our December 4 Holiday show and one for another show – this one to be performed at the Hunterdon County library on Wednesday December 15^th.

Now is the time for men who love to sing to come out and visit us any Tuesday at 8:00 in Flemington in the church at the corner of Main and Maple Streets. We love having guests and give men who want to an opportunity to sing with us.

We say we can take a singer from the shower to the stage in six weeks. Come out and challenge us to do so with you, or ladies with your man. Check our web site at NJHarmonizers.org and call 908-806-NOTE for more details on any of these events.

The Joy of Performing

I do not think there is any better, or happier, activity for the Hunterdon Harmonizers than performing for the local crowds in and around Hunterdon County. This past Thursday evening we had one of those opportunities when we performed for the crowd at the County sponsored series of Music Under the Stars in Deer Path Park. We were one of the free series of concerts that include the Hunterdon Symphony and a number of traveling musical groups from out of the area.

The County Park system does a good job of setting up the venue and providing the sound system so that all we have to do is bring our risers and perform for the enthusiastic audience. People tend to gather about an hour before the performance to set up their seats in a good location, and often to picnic with their families while waiting for the program to start.

Although it had rained a little earlier in the day the skies had largely cleared by the time of our performance. Although it was not as hot out as a day or two earlier, it was hot. One gets the sense of standing on the risers in a reflector oven as the sun sets shining in our faces.

The guys arrived early to warm up their voices. We practiced the start of several of our songs and talked about a few changes in the script for the show. We started almost exactly at 7:00, the published starting time.

We opened with The Star Spangled Banner from our Inspirational and Patriotic recording, followed by Applause, and then Happy Together. Five of our quartets, interspersed throughout the program, including Life Renewed, Chordhouse Steps, Voice Odyssey, ReMix, and Untamed, all participated.

We featured one of out new songs, the Armed Forces Medley, during which members of the audience who had served in the various branches of our military stood to be recognized as we sang the song representing and honoring their branch of service. We displayed the flags of each service as we sang about that particular service.

God Bless the USA, You Raise Me Up, When I Lift Up My Head, and God Bless America concluded our program. With the last song the audience was invited to join us in singing God Bless America. Many people had the fun of singing that important song with us.

We all agreed that we enjoy singing for the County series as we have for a number of years. We already look forward to next year.