Miami Valley Men of Music Practice

I attended practice with these guys last night. The clip above is from their April 2010 competition performance. While they were not dressed quite so formally last night, they made me feel very welcome. The chorus is starting to practice Christmas music. I got to practice a bit and then sing some Pole Cats with them. Then we all got a preview of one of the quartets from the chorus (The Treblemakers). The Treblemakers plan to compete at District this month for the Novice category. We finished the evening with a trip to a local pub for a bite to eat and drink. All in all, a very nice evening. I plan to return next Monday for their formal Guest Night.

JAD Fall Convention and Contest

Here's the latest from the JAD web site.

JAD 2010 Fall Convention & Contest

Date : October 15 - 17, 2010

Place: Lima, Ohio

Headquarters Hotel:

Howard Johnson Lima (formerly Holiday Inn)
1920 Roschman Ave.
Lima, Ohio 45804
Hotel Front Desk: 419-222-0004

Room rate: $89.00 + tax. (Identify yourself as a member of JAD when making reservations)

Cutoff date: September 17th is the cut off date! Make reservations prior to September 17.

Contest Venue:

Veterans Memorial Civic & Convention Center
7 Town Sq.
Lima, Ohio

For the competitors:

Chorus members should arrive at the Civic Center dressed for stage, and will be directed to their warm -up and ready rooms by host personnel.

A limited number of rehearsal rooms for chorus will be available at the Civic Center at a small fee. Interested chapters should request information for reserving one of these rooms from Terry Reichenbach.

Email Terry Reichenbach at terryr@q1.net. To request a rehearsal room.

Competitor registration Fee:

$35.00 per man, chorus and/or quartet (Fee per man covers both quartet and chorus competitor fees).

Non-Competitor registration:

All-Events ------------------------------------ $35.00
Single Event ---------------------------------$20.00
Student 17 & Below ------------------------$5.00
Saturday night show only ---------------$10.00
College Student (age 18 -24) ----------$15.00
Schedule of Events:

Friday October 15
Noon to 4:30pm --------Registration open @ HQ Hotel
6:00pm --------------------Registration open @ Contest Site
7:00pm --------------------Quartet Semifinals

Saturday October 16
9:00am ---------------------Registration open @ Contest Site
10:00am -------------------Chorus Contest
3:00pm --------------------Quartet Finals
8:00pm ------------------- JADAQC Show

Headquarters Hotel Following Contest Events all weekend:

Woodshedding
Fellowship
Hospitality Rooms (Saturday night)
Notes:

Contest times are subject to change to accommodate volume of registered competitors. Check the JAD web site for any changes.
Questions concerning contest registration need to be directed to Bill Ray, VP C&J.
Questions concerning convention or convention facilities need to be directed to Skipp Kropp, Events VP, or Steve Sommer, Convention Manager.
No advance non-competitor registrations. All non-competitor registrations will be sold at the event.
E-Mail Contacts:

Skipp Kropp, Events VP ------------------ skropp@jacksonkelly.com
Steve Sommer, Convention Manager- steve@caldwellleasing.com
Bill Ray, VP C&J ---------------------------- bray2@neo.rr.com

NOTE: CHANGES OR ADDITION MAY BE MADE TO THIS INFORMATION, AS CONVENTION PLANS ARE FINALLIZED. CHECK THE JAD WEB SITE FREQUENTLY FOR UPDATES.

Miami Valley Music Men Annual Show

Here is "Home Edition", a great quartet from Mansfield, Ohio. They were the guest quartet for the recent (Oct 3, 2010) Annual Show of the Miami Valley Music Men. I really enjoyed their perfomance, especially their version of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight". Their final number, a parody of Roy Orbison's Blue Bayou (Blew By You), was not too shabby either.

Here's a fact about the chorus I found amazing. Out of 36 active members, they have 4 quartets. And to me, singing in a quartet is really what Barbershop is all about. Singing in a chorus is fun, but singing in a quartet is even more fun.

The Miami Valley Music Men have a special guest night coming up on Monday, October 18, and I hope to attend.