Our first three AC&Cs have proven to be as successful as we hoped they would be. There was so much joy and support for each other as we returned to in-person events. Three more to go, and my hope is for more of the same! Fill those rooms with “harmony” on and off the risers. Commit to take care of yourself and each other by following safety protocols. I cannot even imagine how exciting IC&C will be. Together Again is our theme and it is promising to be a celebration like no other!
30 new initiatives
Your International Board met this past weekend, and you were on our minds for sure! We have been working with three goals: supporting our members, growing our organization, and strengthening our governance. I counted off somewhere around thirty initiatives that are in the works, and the majority of them focus on supporting our members. Thank you to all our Board members and Assistants who submitted their reports for the meeting. These reports will be available to the membership when our minutes from the Mid-Year meeting are posted to the website.
Assistants focus the work
We have an absolutely amazing team of assistants, and we could use some more! Having an assistant to be responsible for a smaller focus, helps us not “burn out” people, encourages our members to be involved at the corporate level and yes, gets the work done in a more efficient manner. I cannot thank you enough for all you do!
Task forces get it done
From time to time, we also establish a task force to handle a specific question or initiative. These involve short commitments and have proven to be very efficient. Most recently we created a Music and Licensing task force to ensure that instructions are clear, our needs are properly defined, the terminology is understood, and our hope now that this is almost complete, we will have the support in place for an Assistant willing to be our Copyright and Licensing coordinator – it will be easier – promise!
Please invite your friends who are looking for a way to get involved to consider one of the positions that is currently open. The full list will be available in the June 5 issue of the HI Note.
Area 5 – we will be thinking about you as you get ready to pack your bags for AC&C! Enjoy and be safe.
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Northern Blend's 80.8% score landed them in first place for Area 3.
Congratulations to all the contestants at the Area 3 Convention and Contests!
With 13 quartets and eight choruses competing at the Area 3 Derby Days convention, it's clear we're all "getting back to normal". Check out the results on the website.
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Area Contests
Area 6 AC&C
March 31-April 3, 2022
See results
Area 2 AC&C
April 21-24, 2022
See results
Area 3 AC&C
April 29-May 1, 2022
See results
Area 5 AC&C
May 27-29, 2022
REGISTRATION CLOSED
Area 1 AC&C
June 2-5, 2022
REGISTRATION CLOSED
Area 4 AC&C
June 10-12, 2022
REGISTRATION CLOSED
RETURN TO TOP
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Committee announces IBOD election results
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By Sandra Dunlop, Elections Committee Chair
It is with great pleasure that we announce the following members of Harmony, Inc. have been re-elected by acclamation to serve two-year terms on the International Board as Board Directors:
Jan DelVecchio
Kim Meechan
Laura Oakes
Sara Stone
In addition, Sarah Thorne-Miller has been elected Area 3 Director and Sandy McCreary has been elected Area 5, both also by acclamation. Each will be assuming a two-year term as Area Director and International Board of Director member. The Area 1 Director position remains vacant.
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Introducing Area 3 Director: Sarah Thorne-Miller
 Sarah has been a member of the Liberty Belles Chorus of Lansdale, PA, and Harmony, Inc. for seven years. She has served as Bass Section Leader, Performance Sales Coordinator, Chorus Marketing Chair, Social Media Administrator, Secretary and President of the Chorus. She currently serves as the Contest Chorus Manager and Parliamentarian.
Sarah joined the Area 3 Council as Education Co-Coordinator in late 2017. She served as the U.S. Teller and Chair of the Nominating Committee for the Harmony, Inc. International Board of Directors. For the past year and a half, Sarah has served as Area 3 Director.
Introducing Area 5 Director: Sandy McCreary
 Sandy has been a member with Harmony, Inc. since November 1, 1985. She has been a member of three different choruses within Harmony, Inc. over the past 37+ years and has served in numerous positions both on the Chapter Board and the Music Team. She has been an active quartet singer since 1996 and has enjoyed getting to know many members of Harmony, Inc. through quartet contests and Area Education Events.
These members will be assuming their positions as International Board Directors immediately following the International Convention. At that time, they will join the incumbent four Board Directors and the remaining four Area Directors as the governing body of Harmony, Inc. for the coming year.
We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate them and to thank each of them for submitting her name. It is indeed a great honor to serve on the International Board of an organization such as ours and we look forward to their work on our behalf in the coming years.
We look forward to another year of leadership by our International Board, with harmony in our hearts.
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Is judging for you???
By Kathy Greason, ICJC
 Our contests are back! I’ve been both a contestant and a judge in the past few weeks, and I’m having a hard time deciding whether it is the contestants or the judges who are more thrilled! It almost goes without saying that performing again in person at our Area contests provides a natural high. But it is also true that our judges are celebrating with equal joy, as we see and hear our singers in person again, and support their growth and learning as they return to live performance. Why were our judges in a position to experience this joy? It’s because they had made a decision some time in the last five to thirty-five plus (!) years to join the Harmony, Inc. judging program. Is this something you might consider? If so, read on.
First, ask yourself some questions today: Do I thrive on helping our Harmony, Inc. members in whatever way I can? Am I a good communicator? Do I have some teaching or coaching experience? Am I willing and able to commit time and money to go to Category Training School (CTS) for a four-day weekend once a year, and to attend Area contests to practice, knowing that the training process is never less than two years, and can be as many as five or six (though it is usually somewhere in the middle).
If answers to these questions are making you think that you should look further at the judging program, then check out the Contest &Judging Handbook in the members-only section on line, and look at the category descriptions for the four categories. While you are reading, ask yourself some more questions: Do I relish being organized and creating a good experience for all? When I am at a barbershop performance, am I most drawn to the ringing chords? The entertainment? The drama? The musicality? Do I have some music theory background? Some vocal training background? Do I have good computer skills? Based on your answers to these questions, you will likely identify a category that seems a particularly good fit for you.
And if you feel you need more information, talk to any Harmony, Inc. judge (by email or maybe in person!) and ask any questions. We are all passionate about what we do, and would love to provide any information that might help you with your decision.
Next steps
So, let’s say you’re ready for the next step. If you have been a Harmony, Inc. member for two years, contact Sue Novosad, the ICJ Committee Training Coordinator to request an application now. She will send you an application package and a General Knowledge Test. You must complete and submit them by July 1.
Based on your application and on feedback from references, the Training Coordinator will notify you in early August about whether your application has been accepted. At this point, if you have applied to be in a scoring category, the Category Director in your chosen category will also be in touch with you and ask you to complete assignments designed to assess your current knowledge and skills related to that category. The assignments might include answering questions to show your understanding of the C&J Handbook category description, providing a coaching video, or taking a music theory test or vocal pedagogy test, among other things. Assignments will be given and completed between August 1 and October 1. These assignments are an opportunity for you and the Category Director to determine whether the category you have chosen is really a good fit for you, and for the Category Director to make recommendations about resources you may need to study further before you are ready for CTS.
If the category seems to fit and if you have satisfactorily completed any assignments that were given, then in early November, you will receive an invitation to the upcoming Category Training School. And you will be on your way toward what may be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life!
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This month we feature two new quartets from Area 4, Reunion and Z. Reunion is a new lineup of barbershop veterans who have sung together before in different formations and Z is a light-hearted foursome taking their name from a coaching technique. Read on for more of the story!
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REUNION: Lisa Pigman, Cathy Muse, Mary Spencer, Charlotte Moore
When Reunion were deciding to sing together, they suddenly realized Cathy and Lisa had sung together in another quartet 30+ years ago as did Charlotte and Mary! The “Reunion” name just made sense.
Cathy, their bass, has been singing barbershop for 35 years in Sweet Adelines International and Harmony, Inc. combined. Quartets she has sung with include: Silver Lining, Toast of the Town, WOW, Rumor Has It, With a Twist, and Monarch. She currently sits on the chapter board and is bass section leader with Bluegrass Harmony Chorus. Cathy retired from the Texas Roadhouse Support Center in Louisville, KY. She is obsessed with giraffes and black jelly beans!
Mary, their lead, is thrilled to be singing in a quartet again. She is a charter member of Bluegrass Harmony Chorus and previously sang with the Derby City Chorus. She also sings with SAI’s Pride of Kentucky, SATB chorus Voices of Kentuckiana, local ensemble Inner Voices, and is a cantor at her local church. She is an assistant director and lead section leader with Bluegrass Harmony and lead section leader with Pride of Kentucky. Her previous quartets include: Topaz, Feisty Four, and Red Velvet. When she’s not singing, Mary is working, sleeping, or enjoying time with her grandson.
Charlotte, their baritone, first joined Derby City Chorus of Sweet Adelines International in 1989. She has also sung with Harmony Magic and is a charter member of Bluegrass Harmony. She previously sang with Take That, Amethyst, and Red Velvet quartets. Mary is the secretary for Bluegrass Harmony and her profession is a life insurance underwriter. She enjoys reading and knitting in her spare time.
Lisa, their tenor, first joined SAI’s Pride of Kentucky Chorus in 1989 and then joined Bluegrass Harmony in 2019. She is the tenor section leader for both choruses. Her former quartets include: Silver Lining, Fermata NoWhere, both SAI quartets. She is a teacher and coach with Jefferson County Public Schools in Louisville, KY. Besides singing, her hobbies include water sports, hiking, camping, and babysitting her granddaughter.
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Z: Ruth Maple (bass), Fran Strohm (bari), Kathy Snodell (lead), and Teresa Kroculick (tenor)
Z is a new quartet born this spring from the Village Vocal Chords. During the pandemic, the chorus worked with a vocal coach who taught a new singing technique to improve their sound and refocus their singing using fricatives. One of the fricatives was the letter "z". The quartet is embracing the change and decided to use the letter as their quartet name.
All members live in the Chicago area, but Kathy spends a lot of time on their ranch in Montana. (They love the stories she shares about life on the ranch!) When Kathy is in town, Z spends as much time as they can singing together. The rest of the time they rehearse long distance via Zoom and phone.
RIght now, Z girls just wanna have fun. They have no definite plans after Area 4’s AC&C. It’s just so good to be zinging together again!
When you see Reunion and Z, please be sure to give them a warm and friendly Harmony welcome!
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Hello, friends! You are invited to register for Harmony College East 2022. We are so excited to be offering this terrific event in person again! Get your calendars out and reserve June 16-19, 2022, for the best barbershop school ANYWHERE! Briefly, here are the particulars:
WHAT: Harmony College East 2022
WHERE: The beautiful campus of McDaniel College, Westminster, MD
WHEN: Thursday, June 16 through Sunday, June 19, 2022
COURSES: We are excited to report that, in addition to our standard amazing course offerings, we have added many NEW courses. For the rest of the story, check out the April 20, 2022 issue of the HI Note.
“EVERYONE IN HARMONY!”: We heartily welcome all barbershoppers to attend HCE! Please consider passing this great news on to your friends and family members who are members of Harmony, Inc. or Sweet Adelines International. We’d love to have them join us and experience this fun educational event.
REGISTRATION LINK: Please go to www.midatlanticdistrict.com/HCE and follow the links to the registration page. You will receive an email confirmation upon completion of your registration.
Sincerely,
Sheryl Berlin & Bill Colosimo
Deans, Harmony College-East
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