2010 4Q Serenader

February 28, 2010
Volume 58, Issue 3
Nov-Dec 2010
Founded September 14, 1952
Gentlemen, - FROM OUR DIRECTOR - Doug Arrington
We are now well into the last third of 2010 and hard at work on music for our
annual Christmas concert. We had a great summer, which included several
outstanding outings at local churches. I thought this year’s singing was some of the
best we've done lately, and your good participation was a big factor. We also were
part of the first New Mexico Men's Chorus Showcase which allowed us to sing with
a very big group of men and to sing some different music. After a shaky beginning, this project
was a very positive experience for all.
We concluded the summer with a weekend retreat in Socorro with Gary Bolles as our coach.
Once again, he proved to be an excellent choice. I thought everyone came away from the
weekend as a better singer (director, included). Please reserve the same weekend on your
calendar for next year so you don't miss another opportunity to improve your singing.
While we all thought we were singing better this year, our contest scores didn't show it.
However, I was very encouraged by the comments at our evaluation and look forward to next
year when we will most likely sing the same two songs. Hopefully, we will have most of the 15
members who were unable to attend this year with us. With everything else being equal, a
chorus of 45 will score a lot higher than one of 30. This is another weekend to put on your
calendar. The contest in 2011 will be in Colorado Springs, a much more convenient location.
I encourage all of you to attend as many rehearsals as you can, as we approach the Christmas
show. Everyone, individually, and the chorus in general, will perform better if we can rehearse
the entire chorus more often. It's hard to know what we will sound like if we rehearse a
different group of men each week. Never think that your voice is not important - you are ALL
important to the chorus and you are all needed.
Doug
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2 -- November-December 2010
New Members as of this Issue
BRAD CLEMENT
Brad’s story began with his Mom, Audrey Clement, who was an avid Sweet Adeline from 1956 through the
1980’s. She sang in quartets with Lois Twyeffort. And the “moment” came, when, in the 1970’s, Bill Biffle
directed the Yucca women’s chorus and often came over to Brad’s house to coach his
Mom’s quartet.
Currently, his mom now has dementia, but he brought her to the men’s Spring 2010
show with her Sweet Adeline friend, Freddie Martin. With Bill Biffle in the lobby after
the show, the rest was obvious. Brad re-introduced Bill to his Mom and Bill, as ever,
was quick to seize the opportunity and recruit Brad as a member of The New
MexiChords.
Brad’s parents moved here from Nebraska in the great engineering migration, in the
‘50’s, to Sandia Labs and Brad was born and raised, here, in Albuquerque.
He attended Sandia High School and UNM and earned degrees in Fine Arts with
minors in Music and German. He worked at Grandma’s Music as their first employee
in the early ‘80s, and got his brother a job there. His brother has now been their
upper echelon keyboard and audio manager for the past 20 years. However, Brad went on to be a starving
artist, doing a house painting gig and teaching electronic keyboard playing and programming.
Some of his childhood (fond) memories, include riding tricycles in their backyard with other “Adeline kids”
while their moms rehearsed in the kitchen, invariably breaking into laughter every time they hit a sour note.
And he remembers a particular moment around the Cuban Missile Crisis: His family was living temporarily in
Kansas City, but his Mom brought the kids back to Albuquerque so she could participate in an Adeline
competition. Lois Twyeffort picked us up at the train station late at night and drove us back to our house in
the heights. In the dark of night, Ihe could see his neighbors’ house across the street with a gigantic mound
of dirt in front, lit up by dozens of round black smudge pots. At the time he didn’t know what all the earthmoving was for, but later found out these neighbors were building a bomb shelter under their driveway!
Brad’s music background includes having played keyboards in rock and roll bands for 30 years. He currently
plays tin pan alley songs on the piano with his mom, and a lot of ragtime on his own. He hopes someday to be
good enough to play out with it.
Brad has a god-daughter who was adopted from China, who is now 12 years old and very athletic! His family
recently vacationed this summer at Disneyland in Anaheim and the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. They ride
bikes and play tennis together, and his god-daughter can now out-run him!
He has been a member of the Strawberry Zots, a throw-back 1960’s mod/psychedelic rock band for the past
20 years.
He collects old high school and college yearbooks, and is reading the complete Chester Gould Dick Tracy. He
is now up to 1945 with the episodes about “Itchy Oliver” and “Diet Smith.”
The New MexiChords is Brad’s first Barbershop chapter, and although he has not yet sung with a quartet, he
would like to give it a try. He sings baritone, so his prospects should be good. Let’s welcome Brad to the fold
and help him get further involved.
Serenader - Page
3 -- November-December 2010
Our Contest in Layton UT in September 2010.
As we rehearsed and prepared to go on in the competition. And of course we
had two quartets, too. Thanks to Celia Cable for this photo before we went on.
After School
Bill Biffle, Hal Ratcliff, Steve Cooper, Stew Bush
Rio Bravo
George Franklin, Jerry Qunitana,
Rol Blauwkamp, Les Elmer
Serenader - Page
4 -- November-December 2010
Here comes the PIANO
TUNER-----
A
alias,
Note about the quartet
John Elving - MC for the Quartet
photos. I took them, myself,
results in Layton Utah.
without flash....and
without charge.
The New MexiChords travelled to Layton, Utah for the RMD competition. Now, “they say” that
getting there is half the fun, but in this case - well - we did have fun on the way. Some drove to get there in one
day...others to take a leisurely 2 days. But in either case, there was plenty to see along the way. Except for those who
took to the air. But then they made it in speedy time.
From the photos you can see that we were in excellent spirits for our jaunt and we did our best. We even felt good
about most of what we did on stage! But when it came to the judges’ comments, it seemed like more like last year
(to those who were here last year) - and then,,,,,we seemed to have slightly better music scores than last year....and
that is certainly something to jump and scream about! So we came, had fun and were humbled a bit. All in all we
had a great time, heard some superb singing and felt that we learned a lot along the way. So enjoy the photos and
let’s keep singing!
Gary and Celia Cable, catching a
moment of rest during the tiring ride.
Below: Richard
Grady during a
quiet moment.
And to the left, we see a ghostly image of
the famous
Shiprock was it really there?
Serenader - Page
5 -- November-December 2010
Meet me at the Fair........ Two of our quartets wandered main street
at the ABQ Fair in September, 2010, singing as they went.
After School
Steve Cooper, Bill Biffle,
Stew Bush
and Hal Ratcliff
“After School”, with an adoring audience typical of their jaunt through the ABQ Fair.
And as they wandered up and down Main Street of
the Fair, they attracted the attention of the
audiences they came upon. And lo and behold, The
Delivery Kats came to the rescue as well!
The Delivery Kats (Deliverymen and Harmonikats)
Gil Whalen, Nick Maxwell,
Ron Randall , Barney Brumley
Serenader - Page
6 -- November-December 2010
At a recent rehearsal, we had a brief visit
from Dick White and his lovely wife, Pat. He
was one of our Frank Thorne members.
And for those who are not familiar with the
Frank Thorne membership, it is basically a
member at large. They pay no local dues,
only District and International dues. This
was originally established for guys that
wanted to only sing with a quartet and
compete, but did not take part in chorus
activities.
One of our basses, John Taylor (lower left--he's the one on the right!), belongs to the New Mexico Steam
Locomotive and Railroad Historical Society. This group is restoring the locomotive that sat in Coronado
Park for nearly fifty years and is now mostly disassembled at the organization's World Headquarters at 8th
and Haines in Albuquerque. These photos are from a recent open house at the restoration site.
JohnTaylor and friend, Sugar, at
the head of their train.
For those who are further interested in the train project,
please have a look at:
www.nmslrhs.org
Serenader - Page
7 --November-December 2010
From the Election on October 12,
2010 for the
2011 Board of Directors of the
New MexiChords
We have:
President – Carl Pennington
Treasurer – Arlo Nelson
Secretary – Gil Whalen
Performance VP – Mike Taylor
Music VP – Ron Randall
Marketing VP – John Taylor
Membership VP – Keith Pederson
Program VP – Hal Ratcliff
Members-at-Large – J.D. Lucas,
Paul Rowe, Richard Grady, and
Bill Eyler.
The New Mexichords
SERENADER
The Serenader is published
periodically and is distributed to members free of
charge.
Editorial comments, articles, photos,
donations and address corrections may be sent to the
editor:
Arnold Cohen
1508 Escalante Avenue, SW
Albuquerque, New Mexico
sacohen007@earthlink.net
Serenader - Page
8 -- November-December 2010
The New MexiChords
Place
Postage
Here
1508 Escalante SW
Albuquerque, NM 87104
To Barbershop Harmony Fan:
New MexiChords Mission Statement
The members of the Albuquerque Chapter of the Barbershop
Harmony Society dedicate themselves to:
- Continually seek the joy to be found in singing well in the
barbershop style.
- Promote the benefits of our hobby at every available
Vision Statement
It is the vision of our chapter to
achieve continuous improvement
in our music, presentation, and
singing, and to achieve
a high level of
performance.
opportunity
If you would like to view this newsletter in color, visit our website at
www.newmexichords.com
and click on the link: “Serenader” and find 2010 3Q
SAVE THE DATE
ANNUAL CHRISTMAS CONCERT
Saturday, December 11, at 2 and 7 pm and
Sunday, December 12, at 3 pm .
For more information call 505-323-6435