Masters of Harmony

Masters Make Memories

Even in "off" year, MOH men merit medals

J.D. Ahmanson, Jul 20, 2006

For the second time in history, the Masters of Harmony returned to Indianapolis to retire a championship earned in Salt Lake City. And once again, the Masters’ influence was felt among the many competitors from the Far Western District. This year, the District sent three choruses, eight quartets, and three college quartet entrants to the Barbershop Harmony Society’s 68th International Convention and Contest, held July 2-9, 2006. And in every level of competition, MOH participants ended up with medals.

FWD chorus competitors were The Westminster Chorus (Westminster Chapter), Pacific Sound (Rincon Beach), and Pacific Coast Harmony (La Jolla). All four members of quartet OC Times (Shawn York, Sean Devine, Patrick Claypool, and Cory Hunt) are current members of both MOH and Westminster, as are Adrian Arteaga, Kevin Brown, Chris Burns, Justin Grant, Patrick Haedtler, Jovani McCleary, Jon-Michael Miller, Justin Miller, Luis Padilla, David Rakita, Russ Squires, Chris Stewart, and director Royce Ferguson. In addition, several past Masters also competed with the young chorus: Jason Halliday, Zach Materne, and Steve Saxon. Pacific Sound counted MOHers Bob Cathaway, Justin Grant, Don Kileen, Art Taylor, and director Ken Potter among its ranks.

The District sent eight quartets to Indy, three of whose members all belong to the Masters of Harmony: the aforementioned OC Times, Metropolis (James Sabina, Bob Hartley, Kelly Shepard, and Brian Philbin), and Hi-Fidelity (Craig Ewing, Tom Moore, Gregg Bernhard and Martin Fredstrom). MOHer Scott Kidder and MOH Hall of Famer Joe D’Amore made up the ‘lower half’ of quartet VocalEase, while other FWD quartet participants were Late Show, Stardust, Men-So Forte, and Dazzle!

Two of the three college quartet competitors boasted MOH men: Justin Miller and David Rakita joined Westminster members Matt Whiffen and Drew Harrah in Afternoon Delight, and Graham Pence sang tenor in CHP (California Harmony Project). Let It Ride!, from Las Vegas, rounded out the Far Western District college quartet contingent.

As if that weren’t enough, several Masters members participated in pre-contest events. Sean Devine sang with The Alley Cats at the Harmony Foundation Presents show Tuesday night. Also appearing on the show was the mixed a cappella ensemble VoCA, which includes MOH members Mark Hale, Brett Littlefield, Rob Menaker, Jeff Baker, Scott Kidder, Doug Maddox, and Sam Papageorge. Later that evening, VoCA made a special encore appearance before an enthusiastic crowd at the Larry Ajer Endowment Fund benefit show.

On Wednesday, the quartet competition began. OC Times performed their Salt Lake Saturday night set, singing “Put Your Head On My Shoulder” and “Save The Last Dance for Me/Sway” medley, scoring 87.2% for the evening. Metropolis opened the contest with the popular “They Go Wild, Simply Wild Over Me”/“When It Comes To Lovin’ The Girls/I’m Afraid Of The Girls” set, which earned 88.7% from the judges. The quartets, both medalists in Salt Lake City last year, made the top twenty, as did newcomer Late Show, from Northern California. Though the singing of VocalEase lived up to its name, and Hi-Fidelity brought the audience to its feet with their “Addams Family” package, both quartets narrowly missed the cut, scoring a 79.6% and 79.3%, respectively. Other FWD contestants that failed to advance included Stardust, Men-So Forte, and Dazzle!, scoring 80.5%, 76.4%, and 75.7%, respectively.

Thursday saw OC Times perform their Elvis set, “Love Me” and “Good Luck Charm,” which earned them 89.1%. Metropolis sang “I’m In Love Again/Them There Eyes (Medley)” and “Down With Love,” for 88.1%. Both MOH quartets advanced to the Saturday night finals, with FWD quartet Late Show finishing 20th with an impressive 81.1% in their first International appearance.

Friday dawned upon a crowded field of chorus contestants. The 32-man Pacific Sound chorus sang “What’ll I Do?” and “Somebody Knows,” ending up with a score of 77.9%. Pacific Coast Harmony sang “Strike Up The Band” and “Once Upon A Time,” scoring a 79.3% for the 34-man group.

But it was the Westminster Chorus that made history on Friday night. The “little brother” chorus of the Masters of Harmony consisted of 56 young men, whose youngest member is half the age of its oldest member. (The 32-year-old ‘grandpa’ of the chorus is also the Masters’ newest member, Chris Burns.) But the mere fact that a young chorus whose average age is less than a quarter century was not what made history. In only its second international appearance, the chorus took home a silver medal, finishing with a score of 94.0%, a mere 17 points (or 0.57%) behind now eleven-time chorus champion The Vocal Majority.

From the first phrase of “The Way You Look Tonight,” through the final tag of “South Rampart Street Parade,” the audience was spellbound by the clean, youthful sound of the Westminster Chorus. The packed Conseco Fieldhouse audience exploded in standing ovations for both songs, the final one beginning before the chorus sang its last note.

As the scores were being tabulated, the Masters of Harmony took the stage for our swan song performance. The curtain rose with most of the front row lying on the stage floor, as the venerable Brett Littlefield took microphone in hand to sing “Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child,” accompanied by the Masters. Following enthusiastic applause for the emotional performance, Mark Hale addressed the audience to thank all those who have helped the chorus to be who we are. As Brett directed, Mark and the chorus sang “For Good” from the Broadway musical Wicked while a slide show appeared overhead. Those honored in the presentation included Erin Howden, David Wright, Greg Clancy, Ed Waesche, and Dr. Greg Lyne.

The set concluded with “Go Down, Moses.” From the massive opening chords to the tone cluster that began the tag, the audience was spellbound by David Wright’s masterful arrangement and Erin Howden’s show-stopping choreography. Again, the crowd sprang to its feet before the final cutoff.

Late Saturday morning brought the MBNA America Collegiate Barbershop Quartet Contest to the Conseco Fieldhouse. FWD competitor Let It Ride! finished 9th with a score of 72.3%. CHP finished just one percentage point out of the medals, in sixth place, scoring 76.8%. Afternoon Delight earned a fourth place bronze medal for the second straight year, with an improved score of 78.2%, 2.5 percentage points above their previous mark.

Saturday afternoon, the Masters appeared on the World Harmony Jamboree at the Murat Theater, singing its ‘new’ opener “That’s Entertainment,” crowd-pleaser “I’ve Been Everywhere,” and once again, the unforgettable “Go Down, Moses.” At the last minute, OC Times graciously stepped in and sang “Drivin’ Me Crazy,” though they had to compete later that evening. Once again, the quartet and chorus received standing ovations from the sellout crowd.

The contest concluded Saturday night with the quartet finals. Metropolis sang “Only Have Eyes For You” and “Dance Medley,” bringing the house down and the audience to its feet, scoring 87.4% for the set. OC Times performed Aaron Dale’s arrangement of “Stormy Weather,” and a slightly revised version of their Salt Lake City hit, “Honey (Open That Door),” earning an 89.3% for the evening. For the three days of competition, Metropolis scored 88.1%, earning them a fourth place medal. OC Times received a cumulative score of 88.5%, earning them a third place bronze.

The Masters of Harmony proudly salutes its medalist members of OC Times, Metropolis, The Westminster Chorus, and Afternoon Delight; congratulates quartet champion Vocal Spectrum, chorus champion The Vocal Majority, and college quartet champion Musical Island Boys; and applauds all other participants for making the Masters’ second trip to Indianapolis such a spectacularly memorable week.