March 2017 Volume VII, Issue 4 Keep the Whole World Singing! Public Website at: kearneychorus.com Making Music in the Middle of America The Chordnator Even though the head- quarters for the annual Singing Valentine project was at Jim Berglund’s Self Ser- vice Furniture in downtown Kearney, the 1733 Chorus rep- resentative quartets spread across at least half a dozen towns during the three days of singing to show how it is an “area” group. Several quartets, some that came together just for these occasions, found themselves as far away as Lexington to to the west and Raven- na to the east to help surprise numerous recipients of songs, flowers and cards for the special day. About 20 different singers enjoyed the singing “Heart of My Heart” and “Let Me Call You Sweetheart”. Aside from members of Just 4 Fun and Patent Pending, other fellows offered their voices on various parts to provide harmony. The quartets collected a $25 fee for their efforts to help build the chorus coffers. For Singing Valentines Kearney ‘Area’ Quartets Seen in a Host of Towns Headin’ for the Country GENETIC HARMONY will be the headliner at our 2017 show on April 1. Colin Drown (l) stands near his Dad Darin, then there is Grandad Dan Clark and Uncle Jim. (Photo provided by Genetic Harmony) It is just about a month from when the 1733 Chorus will take audiences to “Country Roads” for the 45th annual show on April 1st. This year the theme for the production features country music. It was an easy choice since the Barbershop Har- mony Society that provides the foundation for our inter- national hobby, also provid- ed a songbook entitled “Nashville” filled with country style arrangements. Two of the show tunes come from that book: “Rocky Top” and “Tennessee Waltz”. Also on the song list are “Country Roads”, the title tune, and “I’ll Fly Away”, “Bye, Bye Love” and “You Were Always on My Mind”. The first half of the show will also feature quartet numbers from the chorus’ three active foursomes, Patent Pending, Just 4 Fun and Habitat 4 Harmony. All three quartets will warm up the second half of the program for special guests Genetic Harmony out of Denver. The 1733 Chorus Musical Director is Fran Wilson. Gary Helms and Todd Stov- er were the music selection committee. WINONA FULLERTON was serenaded by Just 4 Fun at the Arapahoe nursing home on the Saturday before Valen- tine’s Day. Quartet members include: (l-r) Jeremy Hemphill, Don Lif, Monty McCollough and Gary Helms. (Courtesy photo)
Transcript
March 2017
Volume VII, Issue 4
Keep the Whole
World Singing!
Public Website at: kearneychorus.com
Making Music in the Middle of America
The Chordnator
Even though the head-
quarters for the annual
Singing Valentine
project was at Jim
Berglund’s Self Ser-
vice Furniture in
downtown Kearney,
the 1733 Chorus rep-
resentative quartets
spread across at least
half a dozen towns
during the three days
of singing to show
how it is an “area”
group.
Several quartets, some
that came together just
for these occasions,
found themselves as
far away as Lexington
to
to the west and Raven-
na to the east to help
surprise numerous
recipients of songs,
flowers and cards for
the special day.
About 20 different
singers enjoyed the
singing “Heart of My
Heart” and “Let Me
Call You
Sweetheart”.
Aside from
members of
Just 4 Fun
and Patent
Pending,
other fellows
offered their
voices on
various parts
to provide
harmony.
The quartets
collected a
$25 fee for
their efforts
to help build
the chorus
coffers.
For Singing Valentines
Kearney ‘Area’ Quartets
Seen in a Host of Towns
Headin’ for the Country
GENETIC HARMONY will be the headliner at our 2017
show on April 1. Colin Drown (l) stands near his Dad
Darin, then there is Grandad Dan Clark and Uncle Jim. (Photo provided by Genetic Harmony)
It is just about a month from
when the 1733 Chorus will
take audiences to “Country
Roads” for the 45th annual
show on April 1st.
This year the theme for the
production features country
music. It was an easy choice
since the Barbershop Har-
mony Society that provides
the foundation for our inter-
national hobby, also provid-
ed a songbook entitled
“Nashville” filled with
country style arrangements.
Two of the show tunes come
from that book: “Rocky
Top” and “Tennessee
Waltz”. Also on the song list
are “Country Roads”, the
title tune, and “I’ll Fly
Away”, “Bye, Bye Love”
and “You Were Always on
My Mind”.
The first half of the show
will also feature quartet
numbers from the chorus’
three active foursomes,
Patent Pending, Just 4 Fun
and Habitat 4 Harmony.
All three quartets will warm
up the second half of the
program for special guests
Genetic Harmony out of
Denver.
The 1733 Chorus Musical
Director is Fran Wilson.
Gary Helms and Todd Stov-
er were the music selection
committee.
WINONA FULLERTON was serenaded by Just 4 Fun at
the Arapahoe nursing home on the Saturday before Valen-
tine’s Day. Quartet members include: (l-r) Jeremy
Hemphill, Don Lif, Monty McCollough and Gary Helms. (Courtesy photo)
Volume VII, Issue 4 Page 2 The Chordnator March 2017
An official publication of the
Kearney Area 1733 Barbershop Chorus
Board of Directors and Officers of the Kearney Area 1733 Chorus
The vision of the 1733 Kearney Area Barbershop Chorus is to
be recognized as a quality men's choral group, bound by a love
of four-part barbershop harmony. Our aim is to have ordinary
men produce extraordinary music, with every member encour-
aged to actively participate in the chorus and its related events.
VISION STATEMENT
By
Chorus Comic Bruce
Beitler
Joke of
the Month
A bookseller conducting a market survey asked a
woman: "Which book has helped you most in your
life?"
The woman replied: "My husband's check book!!"
Valentine Message
Amber Morris re-
ceives a Singing
Valentine from this
pick-up quartet of :
(l-r) Mitch O’Neill,
John Glatter, Fran
Wilson and Kent
Smallcomb. Amber
works at Kearney
Clinic.
(Courtesy photo)
JUST 4 FUN sings a Valentine greeting to Erica Clark on February 14.
Quartet members are: (l-r) Don Lif, Jeremy Hemphill, Monty McCollough
and Gary Helms. (Courtesy photo)
Volume VII, Issue 4 The Chordnator March 2017 Page 3
We are encouraged by the Socie-
ty leadership to find ways to not
only attract a big audience, but to
be attractive to them, particularly
in the music we select for our
annual shows.
For most barbershoppers, it is
difficult to think of country west-
ern or Nashville as conducive to
the pureness we hope to achieve
with four-part harmony. More so
I suspect with the diction and
accent that pivots on clarity.
I don’t think just because we sing
country we are obligated to drawl
the lyrics with southern twangy
voices, or an overdone nasal “a”
or harsh “arrr” like a pirate or
cowboy.
When you think about it though,
a large majority of our audience
enjoys country music and it
doesn’t hurt us to make the most
of that kind of song.
We will hopefully
draw a bigger and
more receptive audi-
ence.
Gone are the days
apparently, when we
attracted more than a
thousand people to a
show, or even that
much total for two
shows which we are
down to now.
When I first joined
the 1733 Chorus we
had shows on Friday
and Saturday nights
and a Sunday mat-
inees.
Quartets got more
and more reluctant
to make a late start
on Sundays, and the
cost of putting on a
show with a big
name quartet, let
alone the expense of
the venue, has got-
ten us down to
where we about
don't break even.
All the other
distractions
are in the
mix too.
With easy
access to
movies at
home with
the likes of
cable TV
and the Inter-
net, and so
many athletic
events, and a
certain drop
in the interest of fine arts
in general, not just music,
we are in the midst of a
shifting way people look
for entertainment.
It’s a little like trying to find a
formal dining experience. When
is the last time you dressed up in
a tie and your wife or girlfriend
wore a sharp looking dress, just
to dine out?
Of course the other side of this
has to do with how much effort
each of us as a chapter member
puts into selling tickets. All of us
should have a goal in mind as to
how many tickets we will try to
get sold.
Given our membership, I don’t
think an audience of 800 should
be that difficult to attract.
Speaking of participation, unless
you are otherwise motivated, it
would be nice to have you offer
to take care of or help with one
of the activities for the show
crew.
We are into doing all this by
committee anyway. That seems
to work well.
Please give me or Fran the high
sign if you are keeping your job
from the past year.
After the Christmas season it
looked like we might slow down
a little with singing engagements,
but instead we enjoyed a couple
of events in January and Febru-
ary, not to mention the Singing
Valentines that kept us on our
toes
around
that celebration. Now on to the
show!
PATRONS OF KEARNEY Catholic High School are treated to both chorus and
quartet singing at a fund raiser held in the old gym of the school on January 29.
Just 4 Fun provides harmony as it sounds from only four men singing each part.
Those singing include: (l-r) Don Lif, tenor; Gary Helms, baritone; Monty
McCollough, bass and Jeremy Hemphill, lead. (Photo by John Moore)
By jpm
From the Barber’s Chair are
tidbits about both members
and non-members who have
recently contributed time
and effort to the betterment
of the Kearney Area 1733
Barbershop Chorus and bar-
bershopping in general.
‘Take Me Home’ to the show
By the time [the Serenade]
is published, the Nebraska
State Fair, in Grand Island,
NE, will have come and
gone. My hat’s off to the
Kearney Chapter’s Director,
Fran Wilson, for all he does
to organize the Nebraska
Barbershop Harmony
Booth, and gathering and
providing information about
Nebraska BHS Chapters to
State Fair visitors.
Read About It in
CSC Serenade By Neb. CSD VP Ron Flock
Volume VII, Issue 4 The Chordnator March 2017 Page 4
Weekly meetings at
Countryside Chris-
tian Church, (west of
Harmon Park) 3203
8th Ave., in Kearney
at 7:30 p.m. on Mon-
days. Please use the
south entrance and
south parking area.
Staying Ahead of Colds, Flu
We are headed into the time of year when the air is often dry. Colds and flu
abound. So take care. Keep your vocal folds wet by sipping water. Make sure
you practice supporting your voice and not yelling out of your throat. It’s only
about a month before the annual show.
Krohn, Berglund, Wilson
Attend HEP/LA in St. Joe
Scientists say singing
boosts immune system (Editor’s Note: This article is from the BHS “Harmonizer” magazine.)
Singing strengthens the immune system, according to re-search by scientists at the University of Frankfurt in Germa-ny, published in the latest edition of the US Journal of Behav-ioral Medicine. The scientists tested the blood of people who sang in a professional choir in the city, before and after a 60 minute rehearsal of Mozart’s Requiem. They found that con-
centrations of immunoglobin A – proteins in the immune system which function as antibodies – and hydrocortisone, an anti-stress hor-mone, increased significantly dur-ing the rehearsal. A week later, when they asked members of the choir to listen to a recording of the Requiem without singing, they found the composition of their blood did not change significantly. The researchers, who included Hans Guenther Bastian from the Institute of Musical Education at Frankfurt University, concluded singing not only strengthened the im-mune system but also notably improved the performer’s mood.
Craft
Corner
Kearney Catholic High School benefited from the
talents of the 1733 Kearney Area Barbershop Cho-
rus on Sunday, January 29 when members helped
at a benefit fund raiser for the school.
The group offered a half hour of barbershop har-
mony starting at 1:00 p.m. in the old gym of the
school where tables were set up for a pancake
feed.
The chapter used to utilize the choral room near
this gym for many years where it held rehearsals.
The school has grown to the point where the chorus had to find a new location for weekly re-
hearsals. That place is Countryside Christian Church west of the Harmon Park pool.
Those who participated included: Bruce Beitler, Gary Davis, John Glatter, Gary Helms, Jeremy
Hemphill, Don Lif, Monty McCollough, John Moore, Mitch O'Neill, Don Ostendorf, Ron Ron-
hovde, Jim Sanks, Rod Stewart, Bob Wagner, and Fran Wilson.
