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Northern California Youth Harmony Chorus
Frequently Asked Questions
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Send an email to youthchorus@voicesofcalifornia.org or call Larry Womac at 916.572-1686 or you can just go HERE to register online.
Beyond this web site, the Barbershop Harmony Society has a web site specific to this event in Orange County, CA. It can be found at http://www.barbershop.org/news-events/youth-chorus-festival/
The rehearsals will likely be on Saturday afternoons in the Sacramento area. Usually it's at the Collings Teen Center in West Sacramento. We try to keep the rehearsal time commitment from the guys to be fairly minimal (because we know they're all busy!), but we've got to get enough time together for our ensemble sound. While final schedules haven't been firmed up as yet, we'll likely have one rehearsal a month from October to January. We will send out additional info on specific location and time in early September
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No, this is a separate event. The Youth Barbershop Chorus Festival is an International event, held annually.
We dont know yet? We'll figure that out at the first rehearsal. We let the guys do it, subject to the good taste filter of the adults. The most recent edition called themselves The Newfangled Forty.
We anticipate five rehearsals between October and January, before we head off to the January 19th contest in Costa Mesa, CA.
The contest rules specify all youth must be age 25 or younger. However, based on past experience, we expect the majority of the participants will fall in the 16-24 range.
This is not an auditioned chorus, although we will assess each singers ability to match pitch, usually by having them sing a simple scale with a fellow singer. This is out of fairness to the other participants, as it is difficult to produce a quality musical experience of all singers do not have this basic capability.
It is not at all a prerequisite. We expect for many participants this will be their first exposure to barbershop harmonies. We'll also have guys who have sung with us several times before
For those that are uncertain we will conduct a quick (1 minute) voice placement to help the singer know where best their voice might fit, although any singer is free to sing whatever part they please.
No, we anticipate singers from throughout Northern California (and likely even Northern Nevada) will participate.
Musical Leadership is being provided by the Music Team of the Voices of California, including Gabe Caretto, a former music educator and director of the award-winning Voices of California, and Ron Black, an internationally-recognized music educator and luminary of the Barbershop Harmony Society.
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The Barbershop Harmony Society, a male singing organization made up of over 25 Thousand singers across the world. For more, see here.
This chorus is being spearheaded by the Voices of California, an award-winning barbershop chorus based in Sacramento. For more about VoCal see here. In addition, we expect very significant support and participation from numerous other barbershop chapters throughout Northern California. The encouragement of young men to experience singing harmony is a vital part of our mission to Keep the Whole World Singing.
No,this chorus is being put together specifically to give young men a chance to experience the youth festival.
No, it varies each year. Recent locations were Orlando, New Orleans, Las Vegas and Tampa. Its always in a warm-weather climate (its January!!)
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Absolutely. The chorus will be chaperoned by adults throughout their stay in Southern California
Very little, as much of the funding is provided through grants from the Harmony Foundation, who views youth harmony as a priority. The contest registration is free for participants. Hotel lodging for participants is also paid for. Meals and bus transportation will be provided by the Voices of California. Participants must pay a small fee (we expect it will be under $50) to defray the cost of stage outfits, rehearsal facilities, music copyright fees and learning tracks. If anyone is interested but the money is difficult, there are usually scholarships available. Please ask.
The Voices of California expects we will be chartering a bus or vans to provide transportation for young men (and potentially their families)that would like to travel together to the contest venue. Depending on our numbers, weÕll also explore train options. If a young man and his family choose another transportation method (e.g., flying), that cost would be their own.
Yes, a chorus from Northern California has attended several times in past years and the boys had a blast. We anticipate numerous members of these prior choruses will be a part of this experience as well.
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