Masters of Harmony

The Masters of Harmony and Harborlites Give Never-to-be-Forgotten Performances

December 13, 2003

Kathy Laderman Wright, Dec 19, 2003

Synergy. It's a word management texts use all the time to describe what happens when two things come together and create something much better than could have been achieved separately. Synergy is a rare thing in the world of business.

But synergy is what occurred on Saturday night when the Masters of Harmony and the Harborlites sang together. The depth of sound, the ringing chords, the emotion spilling off the stage and into the audience, moving the audience and giving them their own unique holiday experience. It's what you hope for as a performer and what we were able to achieve on Saturday.

It was a perfect climax to what has been a great adventure: singing with the Masters of Harmony. We Harborlites were both honored and thrilled when Pam Pieson announced that we would be a doing a Christmas show with the Masters. Because the Masters set the bar so high in their performances, we were given all new Christmas music for the occasion. Better arrangements, new arrangements, more complex music were the order of the day. After all, it was a Masters show.

The joint rehearsals were an experience unto themselves. Once we were used to being crammed on the risers, the music could be set free. Mark Hale's technical ear and energetic directing style fine-tuned the rousing up-tunes, a perfect compliment to Pam's expressive direction of the ballad. The energy was starting to build. We knew this was going to be a great performance.

The Harborlites, hopeful champions-to-be, learned a lot from these rehearsals with five-time champions. The preparation and dedication were evident. The focus on the risers was clear. And each and every one of you made us feel welcomed to be participating on your show and in your rehearsals.

Each rehearsal added more: at first, more precision, more dynamics. By the last rehearsal together, we were adding the intangibles in music: more freedom, more joy. The pieces were in place.

And on Saturday, it was all there: the music, the freedom, the joy. I'm sure each one of us has moments still spinning in our head. The gasp of the audience when the curtain opened and they saw both choruses standing together. The excellence of the soloists and the quartets as they stepped forward and sang. The power of the organ joining our voices in the "Hallelujah" chorus.

Being "Together at Christmas" was a highlight for each and every member of the Harborlites Chorus. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for the experience and look forward to the opportunity to sing with you again. Happy Holidays!