Xenia Hospitality Chorus Corn Roast 2009

Saturday, August 1 was the date of the Xenia Hospitality Chorus's annual Corn Roast. Unfortunately I was a little late to get signed up for one of the quartets. They had no more need for basses. Just one more reason for me to start learning another part for the Barberpole Cat songs! The picture at right shows the sweet corn being boiled. It was delicious!


The setting for the Roast was beautiful and you can see from a couple of the pictures. There was penty of shade.

Sounds of Aloha Show, May 2, 2009, Hawaii Theater

What a great show put on by the Sounds of Aloha Chorus. It began with John McCreary playing the theater organ. That's the organ in the center bottom of the picture. Quite a sound!

Next came the Sounds of Aloha Barbershop Chorus singing various Brodway Tunes.

Intermission was followed by Shari Lynn singing some more Broadway tunes. Next came the Honolulu Boy Choir. They were followed by The Perfect Gentlemen Quartet. The Perfect Gentlemen are an a-cappella group that sings a little barbershop, but a much wider repertoire of music. And they are very funny! Finally, the show was closed by the Sounds of Aloha Chorus singing The Impossible Dream from the "Man of LaMancha."

Sounds of Aloha

What a difference 40 guys makes! Last night I practiced with the Sounds of Aloha Chorus. They are in the final 10 days or so before their May 2nd performance. The show will be The Best of Broadway - a capella. I was the only guy on the risers frantically trying to sight read the music. Luckily, we'll be here to attend the performance and the "Glimmer" planned for the next morning. No, I'm not in this picture. This is from the Chorus web site! I should mention I was warmly welcomed by each member of the Chorus at the break. (I was late for the start of practice due to a wrong turn) I did get to join in Keep the Whole World Singing at the end, however. It sounded great!

After practice a few of us adjourned to a local eatery. What's new?

Chillicothe Visits Xenia Chapter

On Thursday, Mar 12, 2009, Bob Cook and Paul Hixon visited the Xenia, OH chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society. Their chapter name is the Xenia Hospitality Chorus. We were welcomed by Ron Reynolds.

Warm up was led by Dewayne Grooms. ME MEH MAH MOH MOO plus a couple of other vocal exercises. Things sound a bit different with 20-25 guys singing compared to our Chillicothe group of 8-10. We then broke into groups of baritones and basses in one room and leads and tenors in another room for some learning/practice. Each room had a piano and someone who could play. I found singing along with the piano really helped me. After about 25 minutes we recombined and sang the song together. It sounded pretty good. This portion of the rehearsal was led by Don McAdams, the chorus director.

After singing tags and ending with "Keep the Whole World Singing", Paul and I hung around and talked with some chorus memebers for a few minutes.

Left to right: Dewayne Grooms, Bobby Knisley, Ron Reynolds, and Paul Hixon.

All in all, the visit was very enjoyable. The chorus members made us feel right at home.