By Gordon Billows, Sing Canada Harmony board member
Where else on earth would you find/hear nearly a thousand BHS, SAI and HI men and women, youth, music educators and vocal music enthusiasts from 16 countries joining together in HARMONY, but at Belmont University in Nashville?. About 100 of the attendees were Canadians, 44 were there on Sing Canada Harmony scholarships. Our instructors were some of the very best coaches, contest judges, administrators, directors and “icons” from the three Barbershop organizations. We came together for a week of vocal music education and camaraderie – Barbershop style, as a family, truly #everyoneinharmony!
Barbershop immersion HU style – a full week, usually 8 classes a day (selected from a few hundred available sessions), starting at 8:00 am and ending at 9:00 pm, usually followed by the ever popular “ice cream” social, lots of singing, especially tag singing that continued into the wee hours of the morning, a bit of sleep and REPEAT!
Various BHS Districts and groups gathered during the week for pictures. The Canadians and Sing Canada Harmony scholarship recipients posed for group pictures and were singing/chanting the “Hockey Night in Canada” theme song. HU staff captured a few moments of this for their YouTube HU summary video. Watch for it! We would like to have you join us for the pictures next summer.
Many of us took time to visit and enjoy the historical displays at the Barbershop Harmony Society’s headquarters. For some, this was also an opportunity to stand before the Sing Canada Harmony’s “Keep a Melody Ringing” plaque in remembrance of our memorialized chorus members.
Sing Canada Harmony and our donors strongly believe in supporting vocal music education for all Canadians and we are pleased that we were able to assist 44 singers to attend Harmony University this summer. We encourage you to consider adding your support so someone will sing tomorrow. Visit the Sing Canada Harmony website for more information about our donor, scholarship and legacy programs.