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April 2008                Archive | Ads | Submissions | Links          Online Edition #4



Indiana Harmony Brigade


Apparently the Pokagon Pitchpipers had finished warm-up by the time we got there.  Pitchpiper director Bob Gregory was working with the home school organization the DeKalb Area Schools at Home DASH Teen Choir.  The 25 women's Little River A Cappella Show Chorus directed by Betsy Fowler had found a hallway to rehearse in with Betsy having to stand in a side doorway and direct their warm-up from there.  They then all moved upstairs to start the first half of the show leaving the IHB to rehearse. 
 
I took lots of rehearsal photos but regret not getting more of the Pitchpipers or of the show but I really needed the rehearsal time never having sung the songs with live people yet...eek! 
 
The Brigade was in chorus formation with chorus parts in scattered shotgun.  Every man had the utmost commitment to the music and the high level of performance at warm-up was amazing after most members not having sung together for several months.  I played a listening game as we practiced together, picking out any guy near me with my ear, and enjoying the lock and chords. 
 
After practice several members worked the room singing in as many pickup quartets as they could before the show began. 
 
The Harmony Brigade performs both as a chorus and in quartets.  IHB rallies right now limits numbers to 120 on stage.  For quartets it promotes eXtreme quartetting which emphasizes "quartetting ability" for pickup quartets singing in competition from a random selection of that year's repertoire. 
 
There are currently three established extreme quartetting brigades in the country with a 4th slated for Michigan.  The Michigan Harmony Brigade's first scheduled rally is for May 2009 and will be a first come first sing sign up at their website mihb.org  The music will be distributed around December 2008.  The website also has wonderful Brigade testimonials.  After the MIHB's first 2009 rally it will be by invitation only so sign up soon. 

DOC Chorus Show

IHB In Pokagon
Pitchpipers Show
(click image for album)

by Michael Baribeau
Troubadour Editor
Indiana Harmony Brigade
 
The Cardinal District Pokagon Pitchpipers Chorus (Pitch Pipers) held their first community concert in 10 years, Around The Barber Pole at the Indiana Angola Steuben Community Center (old High School) March 8, 2008.   The Pokagon Pitchpipers approached the IHB for help with the show and in that barbershop spirit the Brigade provided the second half of the show. 
 

Although the Indiana Harmony Brigade is in the Cardinal District it's members are from all over but by invitation only.  Several of us from Michigan were fortunate to be sponsored by IHB Michigan members like Alexander Boltenko from Kalamazoo, Director Mike O'Donnell of Muskegon and Grand Rapids, and co-founders of the Michigan Harmony Brigade Joe Queen out of Detroit and Director Rob Halsey of Battle Creek.   We memorized the ten songs over the winter from very nice learning track recordings and auditioned to our sponsors to meet the Brigade's strict rules of proficiency. 
 

My group from Grand Rapids drove the two hour trip down to Angola IN that afternoon and returned the same evening.  For early March the weather was sunny with clear roads but it was a bitter cold walk across the parking lot to the 'cast' entrance.  It was an older building and after following winding service type halls we found a room packed with groups warming up.  IHB members were still arriving so they had broken into pickup quartets. 
 
Here's a report about the Angola show by Brigader Duane Henry.  


Thanks to everyone who sang on the Angola show.  We had 54 men from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and believe it or not, Joe Grimme came in from Washington, DC to sing with us.

For those who didn't attend, the show was held in the old Angola High School in what appeared to be a sold-out auditorium.  The first half of the show was performed by the Angola chapter, a Sweet Adeline's chorus and the DASH Teen Chorus.  Unfortunately, we were unable to hear any of the first half as we were busy rehearsing our ten songs  That seemed like a good idea since we hadn't been together since last November as a chorus, plus we had new directors.

Our 54 men filled the stage and the acoustics made us sound like a 100 man chorus.  It was quite evident after the first song that this was going to be an exceptional evening and an exceptional audience.  We had the stage for one hour, almost to the minute, with the men from the Angola Chapter joining us for the last two songs plus America with the overlay.  When it was over, I didn't believe they were going to let us leave the stage … the applause seemed to last forever.  Too bad we didn't have a song that everyone knew for an encore.

The chapter had not planned on having a afterglow, so a few of our guys, who were staying at the Ramada Inn just outside of Angola, decided to hold their own afterglow.  I don't know how many attended or how long it lasted because we headed back to Indy.  Who knows, they may still be there singing.

Thanks again to all who made it another outstanding performance: the Brigade chorus, the, We Just Met Quartet and Sycamore Road.  Thanks to Rick Mangas, Lyle Pettigrew, and Garry Texeira for directing.  

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