Looking back at busy spring, summer
| Type of post: | Chorus news item |
| Sub-type: | No sub-type |
| Posted By: | John Braden |
| Status: | Current |
| Date Posted: | Mon, Nov 18 2024 |
Heart of America Chorus kept its plate full in the last few months, beginning with the Central States District Convention, April 18-21, in Ames, Iowa. HOA didn’t even compete (since the chorus grew too big for the small chorus contest!) but HOA members brought home honors anyway.
Quartets, Combs win district honors
Chapter quartet KC Common competed in and won the CSD Seniors Quartet Championship April 20. HOA members Marlin Weidler, Danny Anderson, Paul Camarata and Steve Keisker came in 16th in overall quartet scoring (up against some high-powered foursomes competing to qualify for International) but brought home the oldsters’ bling.
Additionally, HOA member Tom Riedel’s quartet, AtTAcK Chord Company, won the CSD Novice Quartet Championship. The quartet, also including Ken Garwick, Adam Keener and Adam Sales, came in 17th in the overall quartet scoring.
HOA Director Carter Combs brought home bling of a different sort -- a plaque naming him the 2023 CSD Barbershopper of the Year.
CSD President Duane Lawson noted -- in addition to being a 41-year barbershopper and member of 14 past and present quartets -- Carter has been CSD representative for Contest and Judging since at least 2017 and “knows more about beer than I could ever fathom.”
June is a time for picnics
The chorus took a breather in May, working up to a laid-back chapter picnic June 8 at a Lakewood shelterhouse in Lee’s Summit. Vince Perry IV served as head burger chef, assisted by Paul Camarata and Carl Turlin. Impresario Mike Schumacher organized games. Twenty-eight guys, plus spouses, ate and sang and ate and sang and ate some more.
Festival time: Give me Liberty or give me Independence!
HOA returned to the old courthouse steps in Liberty June 21 for Make Music Liberty. The chorus, with chapter quartets KC Common, Homeward Bound and Swing Shift, has become a mainstay of Liberty’s observance of the global Make Music Day every June 21. After an hour’s performing, chorus members descended on Saltgrass Steakhouse for an afterglow.
HOA hit the festival circuit again Sept. 2 for Santa-Cali-Gon in Independence. Unlike the previous year’s “flash mob” singing, the chorus got a spot on the community stage on the square -- right next to a noisy diesel generator powering a refrigeration trailer! But HOA made some new fans and opened the possibility of performing next year on the “big” stage, which, it is hoped, is quieter.
The chorus closed out festival season by going back to Liberty on Sept. 28. The Liberty Chamber of Commerce entertainment coordinator had heard HOA at Make Music Liberty and invited HOA back for the Liberty Fall Festival.
"It was an amazing performance and such tremendous harmony,” she said. The Fall Festival was a bigger, more crowded event.
HOA and the quartets were again on the courthouse steps, next to a somewhat quieter generator. The festival’s professional sound man said HOA attracted a bigger audience than any other performers.
Quartets, Combs win district honors
Chapter quartet KC Common competed in and won the CSD Seniors Quartet Championship April 20. HOA members Marlin Weidler, Danny Anderson, Paul Camarata and Steve Keisker came in 16th in overall quartet scoring (up against some high-powered foursomes competing to qualify for International) but brought home the oldsters’ bling.Additionally, HOA member Tom Riedel’s quartet, AtTAcK Chord Company, won the CSD Novice Quartet Championship. The quartet, also including Ken Garwick, Adam Keener and Adam Sales, came in 17th in the overall quartet scoring.HOA Director Carter Combs brought home bling of a different sort -- a plaque naming him the 2023 CSD Barbershopper of the Year.
CSD President Duane Lawson noted -- in addition to being a 41-year barbershopper and member of 14 past and present quartets -- Carter has been CSD representative for Contest and Judging since at least 2017 and “knows more about beer than I could ever fathom.”
June is a time for picnics
The chorus took a breather in May, working up to a laid-back chapter picnic June 8 at a Lakewood shelterhouse in Lee’s Summit. Vince Perry IV served as head burger chef, assisted by Paul Camarata and Carl Turlin. Impresario Mike Schumacher organized games. Twenty-eight guys, plus spouses, ate and sang and ate and sang and ate some more.
Festival time: Give me Liberty or give me Independence!
HOA returned to the old courthouse steps in Liberty June 21 for Make Music Liberty. The chorus, with chapter quartets KC Common, Homeward Bound and Swing Shift, has become a mainstay of Liberty’s observance of the global Make Music Day every June 21. After an hour’s performing, chorus members descended on Saltgrass Steakhouse for an afterglow.
HOA hit the festival circuit again Sept. 2 for Santa-Cali-Gon in Independence. Unlike the previous year’s “flash mob” singing, the chorus got a spot on the community stage on the square -- right next to a noisy diesel generator powering a refrigeration trailer! But HOA made some new fans and opened the possibility of performing next year on the “big” stage, which, it is hoped, is quieter.The chorus closed out festival season by going back to Liberty on Sept. 28. The Liberty Chamber of Commerce entertainment coordinator had heard HOA at Make Music Liberty and invited HOA back for the Liberty Fall Festival.
"It was an amazing performance and such tremendous harmony,” she said. The Fall Festival was a bigger, more crowded event.
HOA and the quartets were again on the courthouse steps, next to a somewhat quieter generator. The festival’s professional sound man said HOA attracted a bigger audience than any other performers.
