Troubadour

Michigan Harmony Brigade

Music was expected to be distributed around December 2007 but then the announcement was made that, "We have decided to postpone from the May 2008 date in order to provide the best possible product for all participants." With that the first rally date was postponed one year to May 2009.

Here is the announcement...

Hello everyone,

Many of you have been inquiring about a variety of points regarding where things stand on the inaugural rally for a Michigan Harmony Brigade (location, dates, music, etc.)

At this time, we've decided that it would be better to reschedule the inaugural event from the original plan of May 2008.

For those that haven't had the pleasure of attending a brigade, quite a number of things have to be arranged in advance (hotel accommodations, 3-4 meals for 120 men, a venue for a Saturday evening chorus performance to the general public, music selections, associated arrangers fees, copyright royalties, CDs, etc.). In addition to all those general categories, there are another whole set of coordinated efforts that must occur at the time of the event - but require a lot of preparation in advance to allow the

Delayed till '09
(click image for website)

by Editor Michael Baribeau

The Harmony Brigade has been around for awhile now (the North Carolina Harmony Brigade is 15 years old) but has recently received a lot of attention including a cover page write-up in the Barbershop Harmony Society's publication The Harmonizer's July 2007 issue article called Extreme Quartetting.

It's described as 'extreme quartetting'. Everyone arrives to a Brigade rally fully versed in about 10 preselected songs, are teamed up with strangers, and then with little or no practice time together sing one song in competition.

There are 3 affiliates including one in nearby Indiana. A 4th is being organized here in Michigan and generating a lot of buzz in the State. The 1st Michigan Harmony Brigade Rally was scheduled for May 2008. I heard at Pioneer District's 2007 Spring Competition that you could sign up as early as then on their MIHB.org website.

attendees to have a wonderful experience.

There hadn't been a broadcast prior to now since work had been ongoing to try to iron out the critical items necessary to feel comfortable with moving forward and send out packets for you to register (and send us your $$$). However, we've reached the critical point where we had to make a decision to continue moving forward (with a lot of risk) to still make the May 2008 plan, or step back and rethink things.

We decided on the latter since we want to ensure that when we host an event of this importance, it's a success story. So with that thought in mind, rather than do a poor job and throw something out there that will fall short of our or your expectations, we are going to work on resolving the issues and plan for a new target date.

We hope this doesn't dampen your interest and that you stay tuned.

Yours for a Song....

Joe Queen
Email
Rob Halsey
Email

(co-chiefs, cooks, and bottle washers)



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