Registration

Use the link below to register online for our 2024 event. Early bird registration pricing ends January 1, 2024. Whether you’re a District member or not, looking at commuting rather than staying over, or looking to stay in your own room, we have a registration option for you!

All registrations include lunch and dinner on the Saturday. For those whose registration includes staying in the hotel, breakfast is also included with the hotel night. 

Course Descriptions

Here are some of the courses available this year. Stay tuned for complete descriptions of all courses being offered!

Elective – Getting Close and Personal with your story – Robert Ross

Explore the possibilities that your sensory memory has to connect to your lyric and musical expression. Working at ways to be more vulnerable and allow your audiences to get a glimpse into your heart. We will see video examples of this at high levels and will discuss how you can do the very same.

You be the Judge – Performance – Robert Ross

Dive into the Judging world by learning how a performance judge assigns a score to a performance. What constitutes a 50, 70 or 90’s performance and how you would approach a feedback session for these groups.

Performance plan and your sheet music – Robert Ross

Putting plans in place that allow you to bring your visual focus and your storytelling transitions to life from the get go. We will explore tools you have that allow you to start your performance plan much earlier in your learning process. Starting with your basic visual focus points and how they relate to your lyric and musical plan and increasing understanding on how to transition from point to point to allow you to have the skills to deliver a more believable story.

Performance Coaching under glass – Robert Ross

Watch a quartet/Chorus get coached live, an interactive experience that allows for questions and suggestions to help a quartet/chorus become even better.

Basic Vocal Health – Amy Patterson

Ways to protect and maintain a healthy voice throughout life.

Intro To Primal Sound – Amy Patterson

What are ‘primal sounds’ and how are they connected to singing and performance? We’ll experiment with a variety of vocal sounds and show how they may be used to relieve excess tension and release your natural voice.

SEVIs Under Glass (volunteers wanted!) – Amy Patterson

SEVI = “small ensemble vocal instruction”. Step out of your comfort zone and onto the “stage” – or at least, the front of the classroom. You’ll be asked to sing just a few lines of a song a couple of times, and we’ll go from there. Depending on the number of attendees, we may ask 6-8 people to help demonstrate small ensemble vocal instruction. This technique is helpful for working towards section unity through a lens of singing, performance, and/or musicality.

SOVTs Beyond the Warmup – Amy Patterson

What are SOVTs and why are they so popular? We’ll try a number of semi-occluded vocal tract exercises and demonstrate ways to incorporate them into your practice and rehearsal time beyond the basic vocal warmups.

Practice With Purpose – Amy Patterson

Of course we know personal practice is important, but is there a ‘right’ way or a ‘wrong’ way to practice? We’ll share ideas and strategies for practicing that will help you feel better prepared and more confident for your next quartet or chorus rehearsal.

Leadership Stream (4 sessions) – Steve Wyszomierski and Steve Denino

This four-session stream is designed to guide participants on a journey towards success in expanding their chapter membership and enhancing performance levels. The course emphasizes the importance of a growth mindset, leadership strategies, and overcoming emotional barriers. Participants will engage in exercises to develop decision-making skills and team collaboration, vital for personal and group success. Additionally, the program includes learning about creating a strong chapter identity and addressing member needs to prevent attrition. This comprehensive training offers strategic direction for growth, a deeper connection with the Barbershop Harmony Society, and the development of personal leadership skills, all aimed at achieving chapter goals and individual success.

Sing Healthy, Sing Well, Sing Long (2 sessions) – Nathan Ogg

Class Description: Singing is the ultimate “life long sport” provided we take care of our instrument. This class will look at the irreplaceable nature of our voices, discuss the voice’s structure and function, the impact of our holistic health on vocal production, and some solutions going forward to ensure that we can sing from the good ol’ days to our golden years. 

Speech Level Singing (2 sessions) – Nathan Ogg

Class Description: “Speech Level Singing is the refusal to reach.” – SLS trains you not to reach for high pitches which means the larynx stays at a speech level position, allowing the vocal cords to adjust as the pitches go up or down without disconnecting. That means the cords stay connected, so you have no breaks, cracks, breathiness or falsetto no matter how high or low you sing. There’s no interruption in the tone quality because the voice is balanced.   This class will explore the science of why this approach is great for barbershop and how it allows us to find performances that transcend technique and find pure emotion.