Why is the third hand on the watch called a second hand?

What a great rehearsal we had last Monday! A surprise visitor/coach, David Wright, came to help us out. In "real" life David is a math professor, and he was in Montreal during spring break for a math conference and came to see us. He was staying with the Mance family.

While we were expecting Morgan Lacroix to be our director for the evening, but it was fun to see how she got us in the swing of things so quickly. Did we adapt to her, or did she adapt to us? Either way, it was done quickly, and we were sounding pretty good.

David is a great coach. He pointed out some things early on that got us singing with enthusiasm and proper technique, as well as with emotion and intensity.

It is fun to sing well, isn't it?

"You should have heard us in the warmup room. Our contest set was awesome".

May I never hear these words ever again. It literally breaks my heart to hear quartets and choruses utter these words.

There is an electricity, an energy, a magic that occurs when you go to contest. From the moment you arrive, the energy builds. The butterflies shake the dust off their wings and begin their stretching exercises. Therest of the world's trials and tribulations are set aside for that 6

minutes on stage. You go through some preliminary meetings, chit-chatting, etc. That's all fine and good. Gets all the butterflies fully awake and ready for action.

Then, finally, there's the meeting of the singers (hotel rooms for quartets and ballrooms for choruses). You sing through the songs. "Holy cow - we've never sung it that well". Well, duh, of course. You've been practicing, and more importantly, you're focussed on the task at hand. The moment is NOW. All this singing and practicing is productive. Tweaks here and there. More focus. The excitement builds, the anticipation!

Then rehearsal is over. "Gosh, if we could sing like this all the time!" Time to put on the duds, put on the makeup. Energy is beginning to heighten. Looking sharp. Butterflies have been put into stage alert. The group reassembles. You begin "The Pattern", a myriad of walking from room to room, photos, trips in cars/vans/busses, all designed to increase the energy and magnitude of the event. The electricity heightens. The anticipation of that magical moment when you want to unleash your very best to a hungry crowd of family, friends, and judges.

There's the theatre. You're directed to your warmup room. All systems go, and then it kicks in. Feeling a little nervous. Haven't sung a note in 15-20 minutes (or more). I wonder if it's there? "Let's run a set, guys!" And that performance of your contest set is absolutely the pinnacle of your barbershop career. Everything is working, even the stuff that normally gives you problems is magical. What fun - you don't want it to end. Whoops and high-fives all around. "Cool, let's get the show on the road". And with that performance, all of the hours of pent-up energy, excitement, and magic is gone and unrecoverable in time for the stage. Just the butterflies remain.

I've yet to figure out why singers and directors are obsessed with putting on a performance right before they go on stage. Not all do, and they are usually the ones that have learned from experience! To me, the worst story is "our host wanted to see and hear the contest set". Sure, that host is a wonderful person who, bless his/her heart, doesn't get to see the contest so you feel obligated. Sorry, but given the choice of a disappointed host and a performance of my lifetime for 1000 people, or a thrilled host and disappointing performance, I'll take the former.

Assuming that the group has sung each of the songs 1537 times, the notes and words are pretty well down. If you don't have it now, nothing will help! It boils down to a simple word: "Trust".

Trust is so important at many levels of music and performance. I have to trust that when I go on stage, the guys in my quartet/chorus will do their job. I'm responsible for doing mine to the best of my ability, and when I feel their trust in me, I perform even better. I have to trust that when I open my mouth, a sound will come out. I have to trust that all of the changes we worked on will happen and if they don't, chances are I won't even know it until I listen to the tape, anyway (and the judges didn't know about the changes to begin with)! I have to trust that my "muscle" memory and the habits established in rehearsal will carry me, for I will be captured in that magical moment and will want to ride it for all its worth.

I trust that the excitement and energy and magic will control the butterflies and get them headed in a positive direction. Many times, in that magical moment, my fellow singers and I will be so caught up in the moment that it all goes black (in the zone). I trust we know each other well enough to take advantage of that special opportunity and I trust my body and subconscious mind to do its thing and respond. And with this approach, my trust has never failed me. And has never failed anybody that I've walked through the pattern.

When I walk choruses and quartets through the pattern, as well as in any of my quartets, we sing the intro of each song, and then the intro of the first song once again as our "making sure the voice works", the assurance that each of us needs. That's it. Keep the lid on the pot and let it simmer, let it cook. The rest of the time, it is positive reinforcement of the journey and the love for each other. When I directed a chorus at District one year, several members were almost nervous how little we were singing getting close to stage. Obviously, they had previously sung right to stage. My response was, "You'll be awesome. You sound great right now. We're ready". And they were. They sang at their potential, because they wanted to unleash what was inside them and I waited until stage to let them do so. In the warmup room, I wouldn't even let them stand on the risers.

So, at the outset of the Spring competitions with SPEBS prelims and division contests, SAI Regions and HI Areas, save your magic for the stage! May no one say, "you should have heard us in the warm-up room!" Great performances for everyone.

Murray and Corinne at Edgewood Greenhouses Ltd. supplied our roses and carnations for the Singing Valentine program. The phone number is 514-484-2333 or 484-4264.

Their fax number is 514-484-3726, and the address is 5640 Hudson Ave., Cote St-Luc, Montreal H4W 2K4

The flowers were beautiful and we got them at a very good price. Jerry Silverberg gave me this several weeks ago.

We are all asked to help with the Harmony Inc. Area Contest and Convention. Since there will be an opportunity to enjoy a great barbershop weekend, I am sure you will want to be there.

In addition, we will want to help them, since they will be helping us with International 2003.

For more information see Morgan Lacroix.

Here is our current repertoire list:

Practice is something we do at home, every day, between rehearsals!

Rehearsal is where we reinforce what we have been practising every day!