Keene Cheshiremen Barbershop Chorus

	The Keene, NH Chapter of the *Barbershop Harmony Society*

Cheshiremen Chorus - brochure - TEXT ONLY
Keep the Whole World Singing! An Invitation To Sing Four Part Harmony Who Are These Guys Anyway? You may have heard us singing around town or at our spring or Christmas shows. We love singing four-part harmony and we would like to share our fun, excitement and camaraderie with you! We are often asked how do we sing so well? We have a surprise for you! Almost none of our members can read music nor do they know much about music theory! So how do we sound as good as we do? Well, we practice and use learning CDs with each voice-part available alone on a separate track for each song! You would be surprised to see how easy and fun it is to learn your part of a song! We are looking for men who can sing on pitch, love to sing, and who want to have a lot of fun! Past musical or choral experience is helpful but not necessary! Our singer's ages has range from about eleven to over ninety and we represent many professions. What we share in common is our pleasure of singing together in four-part, close harmony. It is one of only three uniquely American, musical art forms left in the world today. We meet every Tuesday night from 7:00 to 9:30 P.M. in the lower level "All-Purpose Room" of the United Church of Christ in Keene, NH. There is ample parking behind the church and next to the Bank of America branch. What Is the Barbershop Harmony Society Anyway? Way back in 1938, O.C. Cash and Rupert Hall decided to form an organization to promote four-part harmony singing. At the time, the government had agencies with long, complex names, or acronyms. O.C. decided to come up with the ultimate long acronym or abbreviation: SPEBSQSA. This stands for the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America. An institution was born that now includes more than 35,000 members in over 800 chapters worldwide. Our chapter is part of the Northeastern District that includes 85 barbershop singing chapters from Canada to New York State. Recently, the Society decided to enhance our image by de-emphasizing that l-o-n-g acronymic name and go with just... "The Barbershop Harmony Society". Easier to remember and says a whole lot more! Please refer to us as members of the Barbershop Harmony Society. What Else Do You Do? Performances: Beside our Christmas and Spring shows, we sing for local nursing homes, senior centers, Valentines day, and at nearly any occasion that an individual or business may contract us for. The moneys that we raise from these performances are used to fund the chapter as well as for charitable causes. Income from our performances is never used for our members’ personal gain. We normally average two performances per month over and above competition. Around Christmas and during Valentines Day, we are busier as the demand for our services increases dramatically. Competition: All barbershop quartets and choruses, if they qualify, have the opportunity to compete at the Division (Maine and New Hampshire) level first, then at the District level, and finally at the International level. We look at competition as a "tune up" of our skills. Unlike some chapters, we are not a highly competitive chapter. Charity: Proceeds from all events and performances assist the Cheshiremen in supporting numerous local and national causes, including the children and facilities of Cedarcrest Home in Keene, the Keene Chapter of the American Red Cross, the Keene Middle School, the Colonial Theater, among others. Today, we remain committed to encouraging children to sing by offering scholarships every summer to chorus teachers and to their students to attend our local Harmony Explosion Camp. We now also support the Harmony Foundation which encourages vocal programs in our schools and communities. The Harmony Foundation believes that singing improves lives. The Foundation’s mission is to support and share the gift of singing as an extraordinary means of making lives more enjoyable, satisfying and meaningful. This is done through funding music education for students in High School and College in order to develop and advance their love and ability for singing. The Foundation fosters a culture of philanthropy in society to carry out comprehensive development programs, and to secure its future through endowment. We also work together within the local high schools and their choral directors to learn and appreciate barbershop style singing as well as general choral techniques. Recently, we have also performed for fund raising performances to support these schools and programs. Family: As family members, we are very appreciative of the time our families and friends give us so that we may pursue our barbershop craft. Potluck suppers, lakeside outings, plays, and other special, family nights are a regular part of our yearly schedule. Many wives and friends are very active in the support of our hobby. Quarteting: Since barbershopping began with four-man singing groups called quartets, quartet singing has always been encouraged. Any four men in our chorus may form their own quartet. If they want to register their unique quartet name with the national organization, they can perform, compete, and create income for themselves. What Do I Have To Do To Join The Keene Cheshiremen? The Cheshiremen Chorus is a real friendly, fun-loving, group of great guys! We would love to have you as our guest on any Tuesday night from 7:00 to 9:30 P.M. During that time, you will have the opportunity to see and hear what a typical evening is like. We will check your voice range and invite you to join the voice section that best fits your voice. You will have an opportunity, if you wish, to practice harmonizing with the chorus and with a quartet. We will teach you a few very easy lines, called tags, from the end of some songs so that you can hear how much fun it is to harmonize with others! You will be singing great sounding barbershop harmony in no time! Many of our visitors return for several meetings before they decide to join our chapter. Once that you have decided to join the Cheshiremen, you may continue to use the learning tape or CD and sheet music to learn the songs that we are working on. When your section leader and the chorus director have determined that you have mastered the essentials of our performance selections, you will be invited to perform with the chorus in public. Performing with the chorus is not required to be a Cheshiremen. Once you purchase or acquire the necessary parts of our simple uniform, you will be a full-fledged Cheshiremen Barbershop Chorus Member! By this time, you may wish to contact some of your new chorus friends to start your own quartet! I Want to Try This! So How Do I Get Started? Give us a call and leave a message on the toll-free Cheshiremen phone line: 1-877-31B-SHOP (1-877-312-7467) We'll return your call soon - and answer any questions you may have. Of course, look around this web site! www.cheshiremen.org Use the online CONTACT form to leave us a message there... we'll return your inquiry promptly! We will be happy to answer any questions that you may have! If you just wish to visit to see and hear what we do, we rehearse in the lower level "All-Purpose Room" of the United Church of Christ at the head of the square at the top of Main St. in Keene, NH. To get to the church from the head of the square, bear off right onto Washington St., take the first left on to Vernon St. and park in the rear church parking lot just past the firehouse on the left. As you face the building, there is a covered ramp that leads directly down into where we sing! We sure hope that we will see you soon for a great experience and the chance to hear some of the sweetest four-part harmony that you have ever heard! Thank you! And ... Welcome!

BACK to Main The Cheshiremen Chorus *The Keene* Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society Post Office Box 225 • Keene, New Hampshire 03431-0225 Toll Free 1-877-31B-SHOP (that's 1-877-312-7467) ~~ E-MAIL US This page was last updated: Sunday January 16, 2011 The web site www.cheshiremen.org and its contents © Copyright 2002-2011. All Rights Reserved, since 1952.