Pittsburgh, we re on our way back! by Greg Roembke, Chapter President-elect

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1 Vol. 45, Issue 11 Winner, PROBE International Bulletin Contest, 2011 and 2014 News and views from the Greater Indianapolis Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society November 2014 Our chapter mission: To enhance lives by performing with excellence and encouraging singing within our community. Pittsburgh, we re on our way back! by Greg Roembke, Chapter President-elect Over the next several months, we re going to be discussing our upcoming trip to the 77th International Convention, to be held in Pittsburgh. We ll cover all of the important information such as our hotel, the contest venue, and places to eat and enjoy an adult cold beverage and some activities other than singing. We want you to arrive in Pittsburgh next July well-prepared and ready to have a great time. So here we go. This will be the third time that the International has visited Pittsburgh. The first visit was in 1982, with Classic Collection winning gold in the quartet competition and the Vocal Majority taking the top place in the chorus contest for the third time. The Pride of Indy, as Circle City Sound was known at the time, finished 12th. The next trip to Pittsburgh in 1994 had the Jokers Wild and Vocal Majority winning the gold. Pittsburgh goes by several nicknames. The first, Steel City, is in recognition of the numerous steel related businesses that have called Pittsburgh home. You ll also hear it called the City of Bridges because of the 440+ bridges that cross its rivers. (Continued on page 2) In This Issue CCS Christmas Show Thankfulness The Christmas Songs We Sing, part 2 Circle City Sound, Toronto, July 2013 seventh place International chorus

2 Page 2 THE BEAT November 2014 And if you are a long time Colts fan, it could also be called Heartbreak City. For it was here on January 14, 1995 that a Jim Harbaugh Hail Mary pass to Aaron Bailey just rolled off Bailey s chest ending the Colts run to the Super Bowl. Jerry E. Troxel, Editor Member, PROBE (Public Relations Officers and Bulletin Editors) 129 Yorkshire Blvd. E Indianapolis, IN jerry@troxels.com The BEAT is published monthly by the Greater Indianapolis, Indiana, Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society, a proud member of the Cardinal District. Chapter Leadership 2014 President Skipp Kropp VP Chapter Development Scott Beverley VP Music & Performance Kyle Kitzmiller VP PR & Marketing Larry Anthony VP Operations Jeff Boyd Secretary Bruce Bellen Treasurer Paul Gabriel Board Members at Large Jason Best, David Meade, David Sanders Immediate Past President Gary Garitson Director Garry Texeira Assistant Directors Theo Hicks, David Zimmerman Circle City Sound meets every Monday at 7:00 p.m. at Christ Lutheran Church 345 N. Kitley Indianapolis, Indiana But I digress. Whatever name you choose to use, Pittsburgh is home to approximately 300,000 people with over 2.7 million in the surrounding areas. Over the past 30 years it has changed from a gritty industrial town to one of the most beautiful cities in the country. Areas along the river that once housed steel mills are now parks and green places. It is a recognized leader in building environmental friendly or green buildings, including their convention center. The beautiful hills that surround the city also provide ample opportunities for sightseeing and exercise. There are over 720 sets of public pedestrian stairs that rise 25,000 vertical feet! Many of the steep streets have stairs instead of sidewalks. A less stressful way of reaching the top is to ride one of the two remaining inclined railways, the Duquesne or the Monongahela. At one time, 17 of Duquesne Incline Railway these inclines climbed the hills in Pittsburgh. And of course we ll be there for the hottest temperatures of the year. The normal high for July is in the upper 80s and lower 90s, along with high humidity. So if you re going to take on all of those steps, be sure to drink a lot of water. We ll have much more about Pittsburgh and information on the convention and contest in future issues. Later this month, representatives from all the competing choruses will join the International staff in Pittsburgh for a trip to the contest venue and hotels that will be used next July. David Sanders will be representing CCS. We will soon be learning from him more about our home away from home and more. So be sure to follow along as Circle City Sound starts once again on the road to Pittsburgh. Secure the future of Barbershop harmony through your generous gifts to the Harmony Foundation. Provide additional support to your chapter and district with the Donor s Choice option.

3 November 2014 THE BEAT Page 3 Strolling down memory lane A monthly look back at our chapter s history By Lew Gillespie, Chapter Historian Thirty Three Years Ago (1981) When the Speed Capital Chorus became the Pride of Indy in 1979 [then Circle City Sound in 2003], one of the goals was to sing a little bit better at each chorus rehearsal. The Pride staved off a tremendous challenge from South Bend-Mishawaka who had 63 men on stage compared to 59 from Indy and won the privilege of representing the Cardinal District in the summer of 1982 at the International Convention in Pittsburgh, Pa. The Pride scored 981 points, an A level score in the four judging categories Sound, Interpretation, Stage Presence, and Arrangement at the contest in Terre Haute. The consensus among chapter members was that two factors contributed most to this win: the establishment of attendance rules at practice and the work of the music team hammering away at vowel and tone production, concentrating on pitch and balance, with chorus director Bob Weiss focusing on interpretation and smoothness. With 930 points, South Bend-Mishawaka was the runner up to Indy, Lake County with 872 points was in third place, Greenwood was in fourth place with 737, and fifth place went to Western Kentucky with 729 points. Other convention highlights: the Logopedics Auction at Terre Haute was a big winner with $3,431, while a quilt raffle brought in $900 and the $100-bill raffle took in $600. George Houk and his helpers from The Pride took in a grand total of $4931. Present CCS members who performed with The Pride were: Scott Beverley, Steve Cline, George Houk, Greg Roembke, and Jim Sauder. The favorites for the upcoming International in Pittsburgh in 1982 included Vocal Majority, Dallas, Texas; Southern Gateway, Cincinnati, Ohio; Harmonizers, Alexandria, Virginia; and the Peninsulaires, Peninsula, California. (Material taken from Speed Notes, Vol. 12. No. 4, Fall 1981, Chuck McKenzie, editor). Recent Guests Don Fuson - BHS Executive VP, guest of Skipp Kropp Bill Turk - guest of Don Fuson Michael Southern - Iroquois Valley Harmonizers Matthew Hougland - guest of Drew Stainbrook Scott Crist - guest of Steve McPherson Nate Smith - guest of Steve McPherson Harold Rightor - past member, guest of Terry Silke Monte Drake - from business card Daniel Chamberlin - guest of Skipp Kropp Matthew Ross - guest of Frank Bynum Jeffery Spires - guest of Theo Hicks Jason Spires - guest of Theo Hicks Members of the Tech High School Choral Department Calendar of Events CCS Performance at Holiday Mart Wednesday, Nov. 12 (evening) Marsh Blue Ribbon Pavilion Indiana State Fairgrounds CCS Christmas Party and BOTY Banquet Friday, December 5, 6:00 pm Heartland Crossing, Camby CCS Christmas Show Sat., December 13, 2:00 pm Pike Performing Arts Center Indianapolis Cardinal District Leadership Academy Saturday, February 7, 2015 Clarion Hotel and Conf. Center Columbus, Indiana Singing Valentines February 13-14, 2015 Indy metro area Cardinal District Spring Convention and Contests March 20-21, 2015 Tentatively planned for Terre Haute, Indiana For detailed information on all chapter performances check your Yahoo! Group s or go to: and visit the Members Only section The deadline for the December issue of The BEAT is Wednesday, November 26. Send articles to: jerry@troxels.com The preferred cleaners of Circle City Sound

4 Page 4 THE BEAT November 2014 The Christmas Songs we sing, part 2 by Greg Roembke Here are a few more of the Christmas songs we sing, with the story behind the songs. Understanding the true meaning of our songs helps us to sing with the proper vocal expression and the correct mood. Coventry Carol This song dates back to a 16th century play entitled The Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors that told of King Herod s attempt to kill the newborn Christ child by ordering the death of all male infants in Bethlehem. This play was traditionally performed in the village of Coventry, England, which gave the song its name. When it was put to music, it was written as a haunting lullaby as sung by the mothers of the doomed children. The beautiful music and painful lyrics serve to remind us of this tragic event, as the mothers say goodbye to their young sons. Mary Did You Know This relativity new Christmas song was introduced in 1984 when Mark Lowry was asked by his pastor to write some lines for their church s annual Living Christmas Tree program. He took a different approach and wondered if Mary had any idea that her baby was born to save the world. The simple yet powerful questions put a whole new meaning to the story of the birth of the Christ child, and how a seemingly innocent newborn could have such an impact on the world. When those lyrics were put to music by Buddy Greene in 1991, the combination only enhanced the powerful message. It has quickly become one of those Christmas songs that seems to resonate with people of all faiths. Hallelujah Another song that was released in 1984, Hallelujah was not intended as a Christmas song at all. It took songwriter Leonard Cohen many years to complete the song, and it has been said that he wrote more than 80 verses before selecting the final lines. His thought was that there are many different Hallelujahs in life. He based a few of the verses upon biblical references. The music is reminiscent of a slow waltz with the message always ending with a Hallelujah. This was one of those songs that everyone enjoyed listening to and seemed to fit in wherever it was used. In 2012, Vocal Majority director Jim Clancy wrote a verse that celebrated one starry night in Bethlehem, and the song then became a beautiful Christmas carol. The opening and second verses took on new meaning as well, and it seemed to confirm Cohen s vision that there are Hallelujahs everywhere we choose to look.

5 November 2014 THE BEAT Page 5 The changing colors By Larry Anthony, VP PR and Marketing What a beautiful time of year. The trees are showing all the beauty of nature as the greens for virtually every tree change to their own individual color. We are now seeing reds, yellows, browns and many other colors. Although of differing shapes, just a month ago each tree looked the same as all the others. The same goes for barbershop choruses. There are times to some of our listeners that most choruses sound the same. There are of course some choruses that stand out. Their hard work has resulted in the changing of their colors. The Vocal Majority, Great Northern Union, Northern Lights, and many, many more have changed their colors so that they are highly entertaining and stand above almost everyone else. How do you see the tree we call Circle City Sound? There have been times in the past where nonbarbershop people looked at CCS as just another barbershop chorus a bunch of guys getting up and being kind of entertaining but definitely different. It was during those times that it was a challenge to get shows, sell tickets, sell ads, and get new members to join our ranks. You could say we were a green tree in a green forest. CCS has been going through change for the last several years. The members got tired of being just another green tree in the barbershop forest and wanted to start showing our real colors. The change involved not only changing directors but also changing the venues we chose to do our annual show. It involved not only changing the music we sang but also the way we sang those songs. It involved the way we carried ourselves on and off stage. It also involved how we communicated ourselves to the outside public. That outside public included our friends, people we were offering tickets to (notice I said offering instead of selling), the people we were giving the opportunity to advertise in our programs, and the people we were convincing to come and sing with us. (A quick note on why I said offering tickets: I didn t mean that we were giving away tickets but that we were giving them the chance to come and hear some beautiful music.) With the help of Garry Texeira and the entire music team, we are changing our colors into something that is really beautiful and a joy to share. Dave Coleman sent a recent describing the feeling he got when he listened to the tracks for Mary Did You Know and I ll Be Home for Christmas. He said that these arrangements by our Assistant Director Theo Hicks gave him chills. We ve had people who have known CCS for years commenting on the new CCS. This was especially true after they heard us sing You and I, arranged by our Music VP Kyle Kitzmiller. Theo, Kyle, and another of our Assistant Directors, Dave Zimmerman, are leading us through new segments of CCS University. They are helping us change our colors. Dave Coleman also wrote that the thing that he loves about CCS now is that it is about the music. The music is the spectrum of colors we are now producing. I thoroughly believe that CCS is changing its colors and a lot of people are noticing the change. Have you noticed the change? Have you told others either in idle conversation or in promoting our shows how much fun it is to sing with CCS? If not, then just do it. Let s keep the vibrant CCS colors showing, and let everyone know what they are missing! GO CCS!

6 Page 6 THE BEAT November 2014 A first time for everything... By Tim Dalton, CCS member I love moments with music that get burned in my brain. It very rarely happens that I am totally overcome with emotion that I have to stop singing or playing. It is really rare for me to even get goose bumps or have the hair stand up on the back of my neck. I have sung at my mother s funeral, my mother-in-law s funeral, my father-in-law s funeral and also at my daughter s wedding each time with people I know and love letting their tears flow. Each time I was somehow able to put myself in the right frame of mind to get through it, knowing that it was the best for everyone. There is nothing like someone singing a cappella to help people let go and cry. It is good to cry. At a concert at Pike High School our newly-elected chapter president Greg Roembke had tears falling down his cheeks while he was singing. I remember our late brother in harmony Keith Leavell singing a solo at last year s Christmas show and having to stop for a second to regroup, then the group of us singing at his funeral a few short months later and trying to hold those long notes without coughing as our eyes welled up. Well, a few weeks ago at our rehearsal, it hit me. We were down to fourth on the director depth chart with Kyle Kitzmiller. We had maybe 50 people show up to sing this night. From the first note, something was different. Maybe it was the correct number of people in each section with the right mix of voice types with a sprinkle of guest participation. The sound just got better and better. Kyle was animated and energetic, saying all the right things. He was waving his arms making plenty of jokes, and the chorus made an equal number of jokes back. We were going through our Christmas set, and I was just singing along, relaxed, loving the sounds and antics. I am not sure what Christmas tune it was, but suddenly I was overcome with emotion. I had to literally stop and regroup. Whoa, what was that? I said to myself. It was like someone punched me in the stomach or knocked me on the head. (Maybe someone did.) This chorus not only sounds good but has enough emotional juice to bring any house down. Unleashing that power in a controlled, consistent, and effective manner is what we are trying to achieve and we are doing it! This ride continues, gentlemen, all the way to International. I am sure we will bring the house down even if we have to follow Ambassadors of Harmony, Westminster or any of the other absolutely great choruses ranked higher than us. I believe this chorus is unique enough to reach down with both hands and grab the hearts of the judges and anyone who happens to be in the audience. Let the love (and the tears) flow.

7 November 2014 THE BEAT Page 7 A very thankful Circle City Sound! by Scott Frosty Beverley, VP Membership/Chapter Development As Thanksgiving is just around the corner, it is the ideal time to reflect on 2014 and be thankful for Circle City Sound s accomplishments. Most importantly we have made great strides in becoming brothers in harmony. One of the things that has helped us to accomplish this is the creation of CCS University where as brothers in harmony we have together learned to sing better. While we have many accomplishments to be thankful for, the following are just a few highlights. Circle City Sound is very thankful to have a best-in-class music team, who serve as our teachers. We also are very thankful that we have had many guests this year, who have come to us in many different ways. Continue extending invitations to friends and acquaintances to visit Circle City Sound to see if this hobby is for them. Our guests have found us via the internet, through local CCS performances, and just being in the right place at the right time. Most recently, we had a chapter meeting with 16 guests where we heard our guests from Tech High School s men choir sing for us. With the guests we have had in the past and will have in the future, it is critical to demonstrate our commitment to being brothers in harmony. Brothers, we are well on our way of adding 25+ new members to the risers for the 2015 International competition. The things that we have learned from CCS University about our singing technique and by all of us not wanting to let our brothers down have led to many successes to be thankful for. Those successes include a very successful annual show, qualifying for the 2015 International competition in Pittsburgh, and a very well-received performance at Pike High School. Let s continue that commitment at our upcoming Christmas Show, which should be very entertaining for our audience. These are just a few of the many things that Circle City Sound is very thankful for. While this month we do not have any new members to announce, many recent guests expressed interest in learning more about our hobby. It is very important that we make our guests feel like brothers in harmony as we continue to introduce our hobby to people we come into contact with. Keep up the good work! Wishing all Circle City Sound s brothers in harmony and their families a Happy Thanksgiving! November Birthdays 11/4 Kevin Cline 11/5 Kurt Vogel 11/6 Jerry Troxel 11/8 Bob Kendall 11/13 John Hicks 11/20 Jim Beehler 11/21 Geno Newcombe 11/23 Jim Patterson Chapter statistics as of November 1, 2014 Chapter members: 107 Average member age: 56 Average years of service: 20 Number of active chorus members: 71 (66%)

8 Page 8 THE BEAT November 2014 Chapter and District Officers for 2015 President Greg Roembke VP Chapter Development Scott Beverley VP Music & Performance Kyle Kitzmiller VP PR & Marketing Larry Anthony VP Operations Steve Cline VP Program Don Brown Secretary Frank Bynum Treasurer Jerry Troxel Members at Large Jason Best, Norman Dew, David Sanders Immediate Past President Skipp Kropp President Greg Busch (Columbus/Greenwood) Executive VP Don Green (South Bend/ Mishawaka) Secretary Jim Rosenau (Greater Indianapolis) Treasurer Paul Gabriel (Greater Indianapolis) Member at Large Roger Ford (Fort Wayne) Member at Large Eric Hunstiger (Louisville) Immediate Past President Jerry Troxel (Greater Indianapolis)

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