To: Local music educators
From: The Lima Beane Barbershop Chorus
Re: Scholarships to vocal music camp (Harmony Camp)
Greetings to all,
We would like to make you all aware of a wonderful musical experience that your students may be able to participate in during the summer. The event is called Harmony Camp (open to both high school boys and girls), and it is sponsored and run by the Singing Buckeyes from Columbus, Ohio, a competition level chorus in the Barbershop Harmony Society.
For those of you who don’t already know, barbershop singing is an a cappella vocal style that was initially developed in the early 1900’s. This style of vocal music has evolved to the point that it embraces many contemporary songs and has become quite popular among youth who have experienced it. Unlike many a cappella styles, barbershop harmony focuses on producing an expanded sound involving harmonics that create a sound larger than what one would expect four voices could produce. We call this expanded sound “ringing chords”, and it is truly an experience that most singers thoroughly enjoy.
As many of you know though experience, continuing one’s experience as a singer can be difficult after high school or college. The Barbershop Harmony Society is an international organization that has chapters throughout the world, enabling singers to continue engaging in vocal performance beyond ones high school and college years. It is a worthy endeavor that may help your students continue in music throughout their lives.
If you are interested in giving your students this opportunity, please feel free to explore the Harmony Camp website at:
http://www.harmonycamp.org/HCamp2009/www/
There, you will find all the information needed to explore the experience yourself and to present the experience to your students.
The Lima Beane Chorus is willing to fund the full tuition to local area students interested in attending. This, of course, will be limited each year depending on the availability of funds and the number of students interested; however, we may be able to enlist the financial support of other barbershop chapters in our region of Ohio. Please contact our district youth outreach developer, Terry Reichenbach, at (419) 306-0374 if you have any questions or would like to enroll a student.
Sincerely,
The Lima Beane Chorus