Author: Cavan Potee

Let’s face it. All those virtual contests and concerts and videos were nice, but nothing will beat the thrill of the live stage, sitting shoulder to shoulder with fellow fans, making friends, and singing tags! It was quite a week in Charlotte, North Carolina! Barbershoppers from all over the world gathered for the first time in 3 years to compete and enjoy the thrill of singing four part harmony. 

In 2017, BHS made a historic announcement to open membership to all! The strategic vision of BHS has been greeted with celebration and challenges alike and the path forward has been a constant topic of discussion, but the first year of full integration in a genderless contest proved to be a momentous occasion, especially for the Mid-Atlantic District! We were represented in every single contest in the best way. We came home with 7 International medals! Our presence as a district was strong. There is no doubt we are leading the pack! 

Better Together started off our week as Mic-testers for the first round of Quartet Quarter-Finals! They certainly made us proud as Heather and Elizabeth were the first women to step on the International stage! What was to follow was nothing short of incredible. Midtown • A Vocal Quartet, GQ, First Take, Gimme Four, and Round Midnight all advanced to the Semi-finals and Secret Best Friends finished 21st and served as mic-testers for the Quartet Semi-Finals. Their beautiful set even included the great Eddie Holt! If that wasn’t enough excitement, ALL of our semi-finalist advanced to the Quartet Finals!!

Wednesday night was just as thrilling. The Next Generation Varsity Contest was filled with talent that assured our world that the future is in good hands. We had four quartets representing our district! The Quin-Tones and New Socks gave performances to be remembered! Brothers in Arms came in third and Jefferson Plaid Tie TIED for first place! They walked away with second place international medals and we are so proud! 

The Chorus contest certainly didn’t disappoint. We had 5 choruses and all of them placed in the top 11 in the world! How cool is that? The Alexandria Harmonizers had us tapping and Gotham made us want to throw on colorful clothes and DANCE! Parkside Melody had us busting out of our seats as they were the very first treble chorus to debut on the International stage and Parkside Harmony gave such a cool and memorable performance. Last and certainly not least, East Coast Sound presented us a master class in clean, beautiful singing. Way to go  everyone! 

We wrapped up the week with the ever popular Quartet finals! There was not a bad chord sung in the Spectrum Center. Each quartet gave it there all and it was entertaining to say the least. Midtown gave stellar performances all week that earned them a second place medal! History was made as GQ became the first women to receive a medal- placing FOURTH in the world. First Take made their debut week as a quartet one to remember placing fifth! Gimme Four wowed is all week with their incredible sound and charisma and ‘Round Midnight was cool as they come!

Congratulations to ALL who performed and shared your music with the world. You took command of the stage, wowed us with your performances, and inspired others to follow in your footsteps! As a district we were represented in every International contest throughout the week and also in the Chorus and Quartet Festival! 

Quartet Contest Results

• Midtown • A Vocal Quartet- 2nd
• GQ- 4th
• First Take- 5th
• Gimme Four- 7th
• ‘Round Midnight- 9th
• Secret Best Friends- 21st (mic testers)
• Madhattan- 37th
• The Brooklynaires- 38th 

Next Gen Contest Results 

• Jefferson Plaid Tie- 2nd (tied for first) 
• Brothers In Arms Quartet- 3rd
• Quin-Tones Quartet- 6th
• New Socks- 15th 

Chorus Contest Results

• The Alexandria Harmonizers- 3rd
• Parkside Harmony- 4th
• Voices of Gotham/Sirens of Gotham- 8th
• Parkside Melody- 10th
• East Coast Sound- 11th

Quartet Festival Winner

• Midnight Society Quartet 

Chorus Festival Winner

• Voices of Gotham

Let’s continue to make the Mid-Atlantic District a front runner, not just on stage, but offstage as well! Something that was so beautiful to see was the outpouring of love for each and every performer. It was evident that our district was there to support our fellow friends in harmony and there is something to be said for that kind of unconditional love and support. Congratulations once again!!

contributed by Heather Havens

Hello M-AD members! I’m excited to support our great District as interim President through the end of this year. As many of you know, Brian Schreiner had to step down as his business obligations made it impossible for him to serve the District at the level that he thought necessary. I know you will join me in thanking Brian for his many years of service to our District.

Given all the COVID uncertainties, I had no idea if we would have conventions this spring, and all I can say is that I was so thrilled that we did. I saw so many of you at one of our Spring Conventions! We had 466 attendees at the Central/Southern convention and 279 at Northern. It was awesome and so wonderful to see a number of new ensembles sing for our M-AD audience, as well as many of our long time quartet and chorus participants. The feedback that I’ve gotten so far is overwhelmingly positive. There is nothing like getting back to live barbershop! I’m hoping that all of you will be able to attend our Fall convention, which will be held at the Lancaster Convention on October 7-9, 2022. Please come!

Our next event is Harmony College East and if you have not yet checked it out please do so, here is the link. The school is at McDaniel College in Westminster, MD. It’s going to be a blast! Lots of new courses, a great faculty and a wonderful venue. See you there!

Submitted by Ig Jakovac, Interim District President

It was so wonderful to see everyone at our two conventions in March and April. Enjoying live barbershop performances from our quartets and choruses was everything that I hoped for. I really didn’t know what to expect. I had no idea how ensembles would adapt to the “time off” and didn’t know the extent to which each ensemble was getting together because each part of our District had different levels of community spread. I was so thrilled with the high quality of the performances that were delivered at both of our conventions. Such fun!

Our March 25 and 26 events were a combined Central and Southern Division Contest, MAD Seniors District Quartet Championship, and International Preliminary Contest.

We had five quartets competing for the 2022 MAD Seniors District Champion. The winner:

• Opus 4 – 64.6%

We cannot yet announce our representative to the 2023 mid-winter convention, as there is a least one quartet competing out of District due to COVID illness.

There were 16 Central (1 for score/eval) and 8 Southern quartets that competed. The top three Central Division quartets are:

1. GQ – 85.1%
2. Secret Best Friends – 80.6%
3. B&B – 78.0%

Our fourth-place quartet was a tie broken by the singing score:

• Rule #1 – 78%

The top three Southern Division quartets are:

1. First Take – 84.6%
2. Fantastic 4 – 73.5%
3. Breakthrough – 71.9%

The Novice Quartet Champion for Central Division is:

• Up & Away – 69.8%

The Southern Division Novice Quartet Champion is:

• The Society of Fellows – 66.3%

Eight Central choruses compete. The top three Central Division Choruses are:

1. Parkside Melody – 85.2%
2. Country Gentlemen – 73.1%
3. The Mainliners – 73.1%

White Rose Chorus is the Central Division Plateau AA Champion.
Keystone Capital Chorus is the Central Division Plateau AAA Champion.
Country Gentlemen is the Central Division Plateau AAAA Champion.
White Rose Chorus is the Central Division Most Improved Chorus.
Three Southern Division Choruses competed.

1. The Virginians – 71.6%
2. Commodore Chorus – 71.5%
3. Heart of Maryland – 69.8%

Commodore Chorus is the Southern Division Plateau AAA Champion.
The Virginians is the Southern Division Plateau AAAA Champion.
Commodore Chorus is the Southern Division Most Improved Chorus.

Thirteen quartets competed, and 3 scratched. The top three Northern Division quartets are:

1. The Brooklynaires – 77.4%
2. Age of Flight – 73.8%
3. Madhattan – 73.6%

The novice quartet Champion for northern Division is:

• Champagne Alley – 72.5%

Ten choruses competed (one out-of-division and 3 for score/eval only) – the top three Northern Division choruses are:

1. Gotham – 85.8%
2. Sirens of Gotham – 76.7%
3. Long Island Sound – 69.7%

The Dapper Dans of Harmony is the Northern Division Plateau AAA Champion.
Long Island Sound is the Northern Division Plateau AAAA Champion.
Somerset Hills Harmony is the Northern Division Most Improved Chorus.

Qualifiers to the International in Charlotte include:

1. Midtown – 90.3% (qualified in CSD)
2. GQ – 85.1%
3. ‘Round Midnight – 85.0%
4. First Take – 84.5%
5. Secret Best Friends – 81.0%
6. Rule #1 – 77.9%
7. B&B – 77.8%
8. Madhattan – 76.5% (qualified in NED)

At least two quartets are still trying to qualify so we could add to this already impressive list!
Invitations to compete at the Fall District Convention will be sent out as soon as contest season is over so, please stay tuned!

Submitted by Ig Jakovac, VP of Contest and Judging

Harmony College East Is Back In 2022!  We are so excited to be offering this terrific event in person again! Get your calendars out and reserve June 16-19, 2022, for the best District barbershop school ANYWHERE.  Briefly, here are the particulars:

WHAT:  Harmony College East 2022
WHERE: The beautiful campus of McDaniel College, Westminster, MD
WHEN:  Thursday, June 16 through Sunday, June 19, 2022

COURSES:  We are excited to report that, in addition to our standard amazing course offerings, we have added many NEW courses and instructors this year, including (but not limited to):

• Yoga for Singers (Sally Galloway)
• BIPOC Youth Engagement (Julian LeFlore)
• Bring it On!—Better Singing and More Members (Paul Ellinger)
• Barbershop in Our Changing World (Chris Rimple)
• The Singing Actor (Theresa Weatherbee)
• Song Writing (Steve Delehanty and Tom Gentry)

…..and MORE!  All new courses are highlighted on the registration website. And we are thrilled to offer a new track of courses exclusively for music educators! Please feel free to pass this information on to any music teachers you may know for their consideration.

BRING YOUR QUARTET OR YOUR CHORUS FOR COACHING: By coming to Harmony College East as a quartet or chorus, you will have the opportunity to take advantage of intensive coaching by some of the finest coaches in the Barbershop Harmony Society, such as gold medalists Gary Parker, and Brian Beck, and local luminaries such as Joe Cerutti and Rick Taylor, to name just a few. Your quartet or chorus will leave your HCE experience with the tools and skills to continue to grow and improve!

PRIVATE VOCAL INSTRUCTION (PVI):  In addition to our courses and coaching, you will have the opportunity to sign up for for one-on-one vocal instruction with one of our faculty members, who will help you to target your areas of vocal concern and give you strategies on how to improve!

COST:  Tuition has been held at our 2019 level!  Please see the registration site for tuition and housing options.

COVID MITIGATION POLICY: Consistent with the Mid-Atlantic District’s current policy for all in-person events, all registrants must provide proof of being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 (two Pfizer/Moderna shots or one J&J shot). All registrants will be provided with a link to upload their proof of vaccination on or about May 15, with a deadline to submit by June 1. McDaniel College’s on-campus protocols currently require masking in instructional areas on campus, with masking “optional” in residence and common areas. We will provide registrants with any updated information regarding these policies should they be revised. We appreciate your cooperation with these protocols in the interest of safety for all participants.

Since your Deans and your District Leadership fully embrace “Everyone in Harmony,” we heartily welcome all barbershoppers to attend HCE!   Please consider passing this great news on to your friends and family members who are members of Harmony, Inc. or Sweet Adelines International! We’d love to have them join us and experience this fun educational event.

REGISTRATION LINK: Please go to www.midatlanticdistrict.com/HCE and follow the links to the registration page. You will receive an email confirmation upon completion of your registration.  

We hope that you, your quartet, and your chorus will consider coming to Harmony College-East this year to take advantage of the best faculty and coaches the Society has to offer!

Submitted by Sheryl Berlin and Bill Colosimo, HCE Deans