Experienced music educators James Estes and Mike O’Neill have accepted positions with the Music and Education staff of the Barbershop Harmony Society.

Both new staff members are "graduates" of the Society’s collegiate quartet program. James, of Fond du Lac, Wis., will be responsible for student activities development beginning June 15. Beginning May 30, Mike, of Fort Worth, Texas, will specialize in chorus director development.

James Estes currently is choral director at Fond du Lac High School and conducts the Fond du Lac Children’s Choir. An eight-year member of the Society, he directs the Pride of the Valley Chorus in Appleton, Wis., and is assistant director for the Midwest Vocal Express in Greendale, Wis. In addition, he serves on the Society’s Student Activities Committee and is a candidate Singing judge. He holds a bachelor’s degree in music education from Lawrence University, and is a member of MENC: The National Association for Music Education and the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA.)

Mike O'Neill, an 11-year Society member, served as director of choral activities at Central High School in Keller, Texas, and as music director at St. Andrew Catholic Church in Fort Worth. He recently sang baritone on the international stage with Vantage Point, and earned a gold medal in the 1999 MBNA America Collegiate Quartet Contest as bass of Station 59. Mike served on the Society’s Young Men In Harmony Committee and on the COTS faculty. He holds a bachelor’s degree in music education from the University of Florida and a master’s degree in choral conducting from the University of North Texas, and is a member of the Texas Music Educators Association and the ACDA.

The appointments come after a months-long search for a music educator to replace Rick Spencer, after he accepted the position of director of music education and services in January. "We had a field of many very strong candidates," Rick said. "We are fortunate to have James and Mike on our team."

An additional vacancy was created by the departure of Bill Rashleigh, who resigned this week. "We thank Bill for his long service and many contributions and wish him well in future endeavors," said Ed Watson, Society executive director. "We also look forward to working with James and Mike. We expect they will contribute greatly to our organization and its growth."

New members = 2 Members in process = 0 Current= 33

We welcomed Jack Trottenberg and Andrew Mangal from Ardesco to our rehearsal. Talk to somebody about barbershop this week! Our target for members this year is for a 7 member NET INCREASE by the end if 2006.

Remember: If you recruit 5 members this year, your International, District and Chapter dues for 2007 are 100% fully paid!

This years show is only 3 weeks away Bert Brossoit is the ticket manager. This is the time to tell people we are again the Small Chorus Champs of the Mountain Division, and that our guest quartet Vocal Spectrum, is going into International ranked as #2. We also have added Ardesco, a talented a cappella group from McGill.

See Bert tonight to reassess the value of the tickets you still have.

We have budgeted to make a profit on this year’s show – something we haven’t done for the past four years. One way we can do that is to sell enough advertising that we pay for the costs of the show. Flyers are available online.

It can be done, and there is no time like the present, so just do it! See Murray or Steve! Talk up our show with your friends and acquaintances. Tickets are $25.00 each.

If you have a June 30 renewal date, you can go to the Members Only section and renew online. You can also send your payment by snail mail to:

The Barbershop Harmony Society
Dues Renewal
7930 SHERIDAN RD
KENOSHA WI 53143

The Society’s Canadian Exchange Rate for the second quarter is $1.0994.

In either case, you should think about starting to Easy-Pay your dues. Have your dues spread out over 12 months and charged to your credit card or your bank account.

Here is our current repertoire list: [mp3] means that the mp3 file is on the Members' Only web site

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

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

Our Chapter was 56 years old on March 13, 2006!

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