We have been busily preparing to hold two conventions:
the combined Central and Southern Divisions (which includes Prelims) in Wilmington, DE (Doubletree Downtown) March 24, 25 and
the Northern Division combined with Prelims (Nazareth Middle School, Nazareth, PA) April 8, 9.
Registration for both our conventions will stay open for the former until February 25 and for the latter until March 8.
We can’t wait to see everybody! And you’ll all be glad to know that we’ve had 24 quartets and 12 choruses register for the Central/Southern division convention!
We are planning to hold our Spring Conventions as outlined in a communication to you in early December (included below) from your VP C&J Ig Jakovac (note that Barberscore opens Feb. 2).
This note is to provide you with an update of what to expect regarding COVID protocol – please note – this guidance may change as we get closer to the events.
All attendees must be fully vaccinated (except for children under 5) – this means that all individuals have received the dose or doses (which may include boosters) recommended by the CDC and/or WHO, and that the waiting period (two weeks) to achieve full effectiveness has passed. While we strongly encourage folks to get their booster, we don’t require it.
All events (including afterglows and informal gatherings) will be strictly limited to registered attendees.
Attendees must show proof of vaccination to receive their tickets. Folks can order tickets on our MAD website as they always have. The only difference this year will be for ordering “blocks”. If your chorus or quartet wants to order a block of tickets, they must send an email to Mike Baguley (bagman410@comcast.net) with the names of every individual in the block. Our events folks will make sure that every person on that list has a ticket in an individual envelope instead of having group tickets in one envelope – this means that everyone needs to pick up their own ticket so that we may check everyone’s vaccination status. Everyone who picks up a ticket at the registration desk must show proof of vaccination along with their photo ID before being able to receive their ticket – folks won’t be able to gain entry to the auditorium without a ticket.
Audience members will be required to wear a mask (except children under 2) – a mask is defined as a face covering that has two or more layers with high thread count and that completely covers the wearer’s nose and mouth and fits snugly around the edges – N95 or KN95 are preferred but not required. Choruses and quartets are expected to enforce masking requirements for their members and guests, and work with the Events Team if there are issues.
Choruses and quartets will be required to wear masks while going through the pattern and can choose to remove them just prior to going on stage. The masks should be replaced once off stage.
Individuals who experience any COVID-19 symptoms or who learn that they were in close contact with someone who has tested positive leading up to the event should get tested and stay home unless the test is negative.
Hope to see you at the Conventions!
Steve Kirsch, EVP Mid-Atlantic District
Hello M-AD Members!
First, we have concluded that we will have two conventions this spring.
A combined Central and Southern Division convention coupled with a quartet International Preliminary contest will be held March 25-26, 2022. The location is still undetermined but will most likely be a hotel just north of Baltimore
The Northern Division Contest coupled with a quartet International Preliminary contest will take place April 8-9, 2022, in the Allentown/Easton area. Details to follow.
Our District Convention will take place October 7-8, 2022, most likely in Lancaster, PA.
At the Division conventions choruses and quartets will have the opportunity to compete for a score (and an evaluation if they wish one) to qualify to sing at the Fall District convention or just to come and sing for fun (where they can get an evaluation if they wish). Because each of the two conventions will host a quartet International Preliminary contest, quartets will be able to qualify for the 2022 International convention at either event. All of these choices will be available during the registration process, which will be in Barberscore in the BHS Member Center (registration for both conventions opening Feb. 2, 2022)
Below are details about what to expect.
Seniors (currently defined as male only)
The March 25-26 convention will be designated as the contest to determine the Seniors District Championship. In addition, seniors can compete to qualify for the Fall District contest (2022), the Seniors International contest (2023) and/or the International Quartet contest (2022) at either of the spring conventions by simply making the appropriate selections during the registration process.
Quartets
Automatic qualifiers to the District Contest will be the Division Champions, quartets that score 70% or higher, and International Contest competitors from the current year; additional quartets will be invited based on Division scores.
Quartets competing to qualify to sing at the International Convention in Charlotte, NC July 3-10, 2022, can do by scoring 76% or higher at either of the Spring conventions.
Choruses
Automatic qualifiers to sing at the Fall District contest will be the highest scoring chorus from each Division contest and International Contest competitors from the current year; additional choruses will be invited based on Division scores
Awards – what to expect this Spring
The highest scoring quartet and chorus in each Division contest shall be Division Champions for the current year.
The highest scoring chorus in each plateau (Plateau A, AA, AAA, AAAA) will be the Plateau Chorus winner.
The highest scoring Novice Quartet shall be acknowledged as the Novice Champion.
The chorus showing the most improvement each year at their Division convention chorus contest will be named the Most Improved Chorus.
That’s all for now. Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.
Ig Jakovac Mid-Atlantic District – DVP Contest & Judging Barbershop Harmony Society
Throughout this past year, our M-AD Operations Team (Ops Team) searched for ways to best serve our membership even though we weren’t singing and sharing our hobby the way we were used to. This included online versions of Leadership Academy, Director Round Tables, Virtual Harmony College East, as well as planning several events before being forced to cancel them. While not visible to many of you, the Ops Team continues to work on events and programs for 2022.
With a goal of serving our District members more effectively, the District Leadership also reorganized the Ops Team. This change includes a re-alignment of the District Vice Presidents and will be accompanied by a District Operations Manual. This guidance document (manual) has been sorely needed for almost a decade.
We will roll out a reorganized structure in the new year consisting of the following four silos:
Community, to serve our chapters, quartets, and members
Events, to plan, execute, and administer our contests and conventions
Education, to grow and develop all barbershoppers
Marketing, to ensure effective and efficient communication to our members and the community
I am confident that these changes will aid in moving our organization forward. Thank you for your support.
submitted by Steve Kirsch, Executive Vice President (EVP)
Anne Bureau has served as Director of the North Pennsmen Chorus since 2005. From 2006 to 2019, Anne led the chapter to six Division first place Championships, three second place and two third place titles. Anne is also the musical director and founder of a Harmony, Inc. chapter and has combined the talents of the choruses at multiple concerts, modeling the spirit of Everyone in Harmony.
Our honoree has coached multiple quartets as they prepared for all levels of contests and has coached local high school ensembles at several large high schools including Souderton and North Penn in the greater Philadelphia area.
Anne with Serendipity Quartet
Anne became the first certified female director in the BHS and has been a strong supporter of MAD youth ensembles, having coached at the Harmony College East (HCE) Youth Camp, and has also given classes and coached adult groups at HCE. She has supported youth adjudications by participating on numerous judging panels. She has sung in two M-AD mixed quartets, Silky Mix who placed 2nd in 2015 and Serendipity who were the M-AD Mixed Harmony Quartet Champions. She is currently Director-at-Large on the M-AD Board of Directors.
Anne is a certified Harmony, Inc. Music Judge and has been called upon by the Society multiple times to judge at both Divisional and District Contests across the Society. Her quartet, Spectrum, won the Harmony Inc. International contest in 1993 with Anne on baritone. She has sung bass, lead, tenor, and baritone in top 10 HI quartets over the last 3 decades. She is a member of the Mixed Barbershop Harmony Association (MBHA), and has served as a panelist at MBHA-sponsored workshops and panel discussions.
She can sing all treble voice parts and has been providing high quality vocal learning tracks to barbershop singers in all organizations since 2008.
Joe Cerutti and Kristin Chenoweth
Joe with Mike Rowe
Our next recipient:
Joe Cerutti has successfully served as the director of the Alexandria Harmonizers chorus for 15+ years, embracing the legacy identity of the chorus and Chapter, while driving change and growth as a regionally recognized community arts organization. Joe has led the Harmonizers to
multiple M-AD Championships and nine International appearances including four top five medals.
Under Joe’s leadership, the Harmonizers have performed in major professional collaborations with the Music Center at Strathmore, as well as the Kennedy Center.
Joe is among the most sought-after coaches in M-AD. He has coached dozens of quartets and choruses before and during the pandemic.
Joe with the Harmonizers at Normandy
Joe has been a regular faculty member at Harmony College East many years.
As Director of Outreach for the Barbershop Harmony Society, Joe has led the continued successes and growth of the BHS Youth Chorus Festival at Midwinter conventions, providing hundreds of youth a positive and fun exposure to barbershop harmony and lifelong singing. He has worked tirelessly to build and strengthen relationships with other choral organizations around the world.
Joe has served on the Faculty of Harmony University (and Virtual Harmony University) for more than a decade and he delivered the keynote address in 2016, one of only a few dozen barbershoppers to have delivered this address in the history of Harmony University.
Joe has served as a Music Judge as part of the C&J program for more than a decade.
Joe is also a prolific coach internationally. He has travelled around the world to coach in Great Britain, Germany, Australia, and New Zealand.
IT IS AN HONOR AND a privilege to recognize Anne Bureau and Joe Cerutti as new members of the MAD Hall of Honor.
_________________________
The Mid-Atlantic Hall of Honor (HoH) recognizes persons who have contributed significantly to the well-being and growth of barbershop harmony in general and have fostered growth among chapters, quartets and choruses, divisions, districts and internationally in the BHS. Each recipient is chosen from nominations sent in by Mid-Atlantic members and must meet certain criteria to be considered.
A committee of MAD HoH members reviews all nominees and meets to determine which (if any) of the nominees merit inclusion in the Hall of Honor.
Each recipient will have their name inscribed on the MAD Hall of Honor plaques and will receive a sterling silver engraved plate which reads:
“Mid-Atlantic District Barbershop Harmony society proudly designates (name 0f individual) as a member of the MAD HOH in recognition of exceptional contributions to the MAD and for encouragement of Barbershop Harmony. “
In additional they will receive a name badge signifying their membership in the MAD HOH.
The Mid-Atlantic District Leadership Development Committee (LDC) is much more than a nominating committee, although that is an important part – maybe the most important part – of what we do. But that’s just one of the many functions this committee performs.
A nominating committee is one of the most fundamental board committees because the District Board performs the most essential duties of the District. Board members work together to set policy and to direct the overall operations of the District. The board bears the responsibility for providing essential oversight and strategic planning, with the necessary due diligence. Putting forward qualified, committed and passionate nominees is critical to the health and future of the District.
The LDC appreciates the positive vote of the House of Delegates to approve the following 2022 slate of District officers and Board members we proposed.
President Brian Schreiner (re-elected) Executive Vice President Steve Kirsch (re-elected) Immediate Past President Bob Eckman (non-elected position) Secretary David Kelly, Jr. (appointed in 2021, newly elected) Treasurer Dave Welter (re-elected) Members at-large Sheryl Berlin (newly elected) Anne Bureau (re-elected) Jay Butterfield (re-elected) Rafi Hasib (newly elected)
What else does the LDC do?
Starting in January of every year, the LDC meets on a regular basis throughout the year to do these things:
Begin to accumulate names, references and background information on potential nominees to the District Board of Directors;
Plan a method of self-assessment for the current members of the District Board;
Identify missing skill sets on the current Board, and strive to identify potential nominees with those skills;
Strive to incorporate the vision of Everyone in Harmony by identifying candidates from varying genders, ethnicities, backgrounds and constituencies to deepen the Board’s appreciation for under-represented groups;
Prepare and present a slate of officers and board members-at-large for consideration by the House of Delegates at each Fall Convention;
The M-AD budget for 2022 was approved at the recent District House of Delegates meeting. It includes a moratorium on dues for 2022. So, there will be no District dues included in your membership invoice that is due in 2022.
The discussion of this topic included consideration of the fact that we have been unable to provide the services that you deserve and are accustomed to during the pandemic (such as conventions and in-person education), and the fact that with events cancelled for 2021 we will finish the year with a funding surplus that is greater than the expected annual dues collection. The Board determined that it is appropriate to waive District dues for all members of the Mid-Atlantic District for the next dues cycle.
For those so inclined, if you still want to contribute to the cause, you can make a tax deductible donation to the M-AD by clicking the ‘Donate’ button on the District website (or mail a check to the Treasurer).
Individuals available to volunteer may sign up by clicking here! They also appreciate and welcome charitable donations of any amount. This camp is free to all eligible singers, so any amount helps greatly with their expenses! You can donate with a credit card or PayPal account by clicking here. The free performance at 6 p.m. that evening is open to the public for all fans of barbershop to enjoy!
I was so looking forward to being with you at our Fall Convention. How disappointing to have to cancel again. We had 13 choruses and 24 quartets registered when we had to close the registration process. Thank you so much – if nothing else we had a dry run for how to register your quartet or chorus via the new Member Center Barberscore system. While there were a few hiccups, most of you successfully navigated the new contest entry system. This will serve us all well in the spring.
Our current plan is to hold Division, Seniors and International Quartet Preliminary conventions this spring. These will qualify participants for later contests as follows:
The Division contests will qualify quartets and choruses to appear at the Fall District convention
The International Preliminary Quartet contest will qualify quartets to compete in Charlotte next summer.
Choruses who have not yet qualified for Charlotte can qualify in one of the spring conventions (more information on this as soon as BHS provides guidance).
Finally, Seniors can qualify to compete at the 2023 Mid-Winter at any of our Division contests and can compete for Seniors District Champions at a designated Division convention (TBD).
The last two years have proven to be a challenge for our chapters in many ways. There has been so much change and new information flying around daily, forcing our leadership to constantly adjust course and find new ways to keep members engaged and working towards SOMETHING! Perhaps no one understands this struggle more than the men and women who stand (or sit on Zoom) in front of us each week and lead us in what is hopefully a productive, meaningful rehearsal each week… our Directors.
Our talented M-AD Directors spent countless hours planning and seeking out new ideas for keeping the choruses moving forward during “the Zoom era” and, just when they found some light at the end of the tunnel and things began to get back to normal, they had the rug pulled out from under them all over again. Fortunately, they were able to lean on each other a bit with “Directors Round Table” discussions, a tradition started a few years ago when directors met on Sunday morning at a convention and shared ideas, discussed important topics, and sought input from their peers. During the “lockdown” MAD chorus directors met periodically via Zoom to do the same, and it proved to be truly valuable each time we met. Assistant Directors were always welcome and even Music VP’s and Presidents from time to time. No matter the title or position of the attendees, the result has been the same: great feedback, ideas, and encouragement from a group of people who are all in the same boat.
As we move into the next chapter of the pandemic, we’ll continue to hold our Directors Round Table meetings from time to time. If you’re a Director or Assistant Director who would like to participate but haven’t received the previous invitations, please send your name, chapter, and position to Rich Gray, at richgray27@gmail.com and I’ll be sure you’re included going forward.
I’ll look forward to seeing you all in the spring (fingers crossed) where we can all get back on stage to share some great performances with each other.
Being a chapter leader (and member) over the last 19 months has been challenging. The good news is that we are now more flexible, understanding, patient and creative.
March 10, 2020, we met as usual, sang, socialized, then went home, and the following day, our rehearsal hall closed, and things changed.
“But we need to stay connected!” I thought.
So, without missing a beat, we began meeting weekly using ZOOM. We met through the spring, summer and fall months. We met through the winter and following spring, even on snow days, learning songs, making videos, and launching an online Singing Valentine’s program. We even produced a virtual Spring Show in 2021.
Last April, we met safely, outside on a Saturday morning for the first time in 13 months. We sang and it was beautiful. Since then, we’ve been meeting in-person, outside, then inside, then outside, preparing for performances we gained from our promotions. We’re planning a live Christmas Show December 4 and have continued to advertise for Singers Wanted.
In August, we held our annual picnic and celebrated singing together. My hope is that you have also stayed connected and that you are singing with your riser buddies. Let’s plan to see each other, sing a tag together, once again, next spring!
Anne Bureau, Musical and Artistic Director www.northpennsmen.org District BMAL
