April - 2014 - Heart of Florida Chorus

The Heartbeat
April—2014, Volume 11, Issue 4
The official newsletter of the Heart Of Florida Chorus,
Central Florida Chapter, Barbershop Harmony Society
The chapter meets every Thursday evening at 6:30 p.m.
in North Lake Presbyterian Church, 975 Rolling Acres Road
Lady Lake, Florida
heartoffloridachorus.org
Are You Ready?
Doc Weir’s 95th Birthday
By President Fran Donohoe
By John Fleming
That’s right, only 31 days til our platoon
of 45 men and women head for Orlando
to host the Sunshine District Spring Competition. Current signups actually total
48 at this point. Not only do we have a
great opportunity to make a vast improvement over last Springs performance; we
can also demonstrate what a first class chapter can do as
host. If you haven’t signed up to help yet we still need
more help especially Friday the 2nd. For years, the Central Florida Chapter has been a leader in the district, most
notably for Harmony Explosion and the Extravaganza.
Now’s our chance to excel as Hosts of the spring competition.
On the performance front—I think we’re doing better,
BUT, I think we can all do more outside work on both the
singing and choreo. Four rehearsals mean no time for
idle chatter while Scott or Jan are coaching. 1.5 may be
humorous to some but dedicated guys take it very seriously. We have accepted Don’s challenge for 2014 yet
we still have folks who miss too many rehearsals. It’s
time for the big show, so let’s step up-saddle up and head
to Orlando, absolutely prepared to perform at a 100%
level.
Are we going to hear. “Wow what a performance!“ It’s
up to us.
Doc Weir and his wife, Marjorie
Doc (William) Weir was 95 years old on March 13. Doc
invited several of us who had previously been in his “Life
of the Party” quartet to a party he had which included
many of his neighbors. I understand this is a tradition.
The party was at the Water Oak restaurant where the restaurant staff served a pulled pork buffet. One of the staff
members got a picture of Doc at an earlier visit and had
the picture printed on rice paper and placed in the middle
of the birthday cake. It seemed different at times to hear
his neighbors call Doc “Bill.”
(Continued on page 2)
The neighbors and the barbershop buddies visiting
Page 2
April
THE HEARTBEAT
(From page 1)
See Doc Weir’s 95th
Many of Doc’s favorite songs were sung by his current
quartet as well as previous members. We all know that
Doc lives for barbershop and singing and it seems to
really bring joy to his heart!
Guest Director
The Directors Corner
By Bill Oppenheim
From The Harmony Local--bulletin of the Bryn Mawr
Chapter, Bob Rullo, editor
We had a very informative, fun coaching session with
Rich Lavene this past Monday evening. It was a good
perspective on barbershop performing from a coach,
judge and quartet singer. Here are some important
items learned from my notes:
A quartet sings with Doc
On Saturday, March 15, Marilyn Striepeck, Doc’s daughter had a surprise party for Doc to which members of the
Heart Of Florida Chorus were invited. Again we
sang many barberpole cat songs as well as Doc’s quartet
sang doc’s favorites. We had to do “Little Old Lady In
Tennis Shoes,” which is what Doc was rehearsing when
he had his stroke on February 13 at my house. Everyone
is most thankful that things took place where we recognized what was happening and were able to get immediate medical attention.
More photos of Doc and friends
1. Come prepared to sing every week and for every
rehearsal. Know your notes and words, work on your
breaths, and review and understand the emotional and
visual message for each song we sing. If we want to
do well in October it starts with each one of us individually being better prepared. Prepare yourself differently to achieve success.
2. Take care of the singing "interferences" for the audience so they don't have to worry about us. That
means singing all word sounds with attention to detail
(similar to what Ig spoke to us about).
3. Engage your faces and bodies but don't bring up the
hands too much as this is distracting. Stand tall and
Bryn Mawr proud while performing.
4. Focus on the Director and follow him. Don't rush
him. Allow him to create music. Trust him.
5. Vowel Integrity + Articulation = Passion
6. Concentrate on the emotional message and feeling
of the song (similar to what Dwayne Brobst covered
with us previously).
time and it is good to see Doc with his spirits high. I assume once he got back home, he probably had a nice
snooze in the lazy boy!
Doc, thanks for all you have done for the barbershop
movement and may you have many more years of enjoyment.
(See photo on next page)
Marilyn also brought family and grandkids to the party.
Doc’s son who lives in San Diego, called Marilyn at the
party and his family sang Happy Birthday to Doc using
Face Time on her iphone. All in all, everyone had a great
April
Page 3
THE HEARTBEAT
Obituary for Lawrence E. Nuckles
Belleview – Lawrence E. Nuckles, Sr., 91, passed away
Monday, March 10, 2014. He was born in Gallipolis,
Ohio to the late Thomas and Queen Victoria Nuckles. He
was married for 66 years to Mary Ann Nuckles who preceded him in death by 10 days on March 1, 2014. He
lived in the Washington DC suburbs and worked for the
Department of the Navy as a Master Electrician and electronic model maker. He and Mary Ann retired and
moved to Belleview in the early 80’s. They belonged to
St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church and were active members
for many years. His hobbies included performing in Barbershop Quartets, target shooting and singing in the
church choir.
He is survived by one son, Lawrence (Patricia Ann) E.
Nuckles, Jr, Hedgesville, West Virginia; one daughter,
Victoria Ann(Joseph) Heeger, Milford, Delaware; two
grandsons and three great grandchildren.
Graveside committal service were held on Tuesday,
March 25 at Florida National Cemetery. Memorial services were held later the same day at St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church, 3453 East Silver Springs Boulevard,
Ocala, Florida. The family request memorial contributions be made to St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church of
Ocala, Florida. Arrangements by Hiers-Baxley Funeral
Services, 910 East Silver Springs Boulevard, Ocala, Florida.
Attention
If you have not joined the Heart of Florida Chorus Yahoo email list, there is another option for you to join
the list. Send an email to: <Heart_of_Florida_Chorus
[email protected]> and your request to
join will be queued up to me for approval. As soon as I
receive the notice, I will verify your email address and
approve your membership. When typing the address,
there is an “Underscore” character between each of the
words. The underscore key is above the dash. You
need to use the shift key. It is NOT a space. Most programs automatically make the address a hyperlink and
by default draw a line under the whole address. If you
have any problems, give me a call. John Fleming, 352430-1445
By Roz Fischer
Hi Ladies, An interesting thing happened to me yesterday, as I was driving
home on Rt. 441. I had my Sirius radio
tuned to 71.0 (Sinatra) and on came Nat
King Cole, singing "Unforgettable.". I
really did not want Sirius radio in our
car, thinking it was a waste of money;
but finding this station just last week has proven me
wrong. Not only do they play Sinatra, but all the really
smooth oldies that we danced to in high school. Nat
King Cole has always had a magical effect on my moods,
as well as Perry Como and Johnny Mathis. As, the Cole
song ended, on came Perry Como with "Solo Tu". I could
feel the tension leave my body and I began to relax. I
had to sit in my driveway and listen to Perry sing the rest
of the song before I entered the house. These magical
songs come on so infrequently that I will sit and listen to
the rest of the song before leaving my car. This is not a
plug for Sirius radio, but just to state that music is meant
to be enjoyed and does effect our moods, sometimes even
making me cry, reminding me of an event or a moment
shared. I hope you have this experience as well.
Please remember to put your name tag in your purse. If
you do forget it, wear any name tag, so we can locate
you. Let's go to contest and do our usual best! See you there.
Meet the HeartThrob—June Cole
This fascinating
and
multitalented
lady
was born on
June 13 in Boston, and still has
traces of the
Boston
accent. She and
her
husband,
Lloyd, met at a
barbershop
s how .
T he y
were married ten
years
when
Lloyd passed away more than two years ago. She has
three children of her own; two boys and a girl who still
live in the New England area. She has three beautiful
granddaughters as well. June has lived in Cambridge,
Pittsfield and Chelmsford, Massachusetts; Nashua, NH;
and Ogunquit, Maine; and now lives in The Villages.
(Continued on page 5)
Page 4
THE HEARTBEAT
C R a f t
O
R
n
E
r
How To Determine A Key
As seen in Nuggets—bulletin of the
San Obispo Chapter, Rudy Xavier, editor
For a key signature with flats, pick out the second-to-last flat displayed in the key signature.
For a key signature with sharps, go up one semitone from the last sharp displayed in the key signature. The notes that you select are the tonics,
or Do solfeggio syllables, of the major keys. What
do you do with only one flat in the key signature?
Just memorize it: one flat is the key of F. Alternatively, we could simply memorize the number of
flats or sharps for every major key. Many barbershoppers can tell you off the top of their heads that
two flats is the key of Bb, that three flats is Eb, or
that one sharp is the key of G.
Let’s suppose that we can easily determine the major
key signified by any given key signature. Suppose
that we also remember that the relative minor key
can be found by descending three semitones from
the major key’s Do. Now, how do we know which
key a particular piece of music is written in==the
major key or its relative minor? Hmm, this will require one to three additional techniques:
Technique #1: Melodies are always built upon
scales. There are three kinds of minor scales, but
every one of them uses Me, the minor third up from
Do, instead of Mi, the major third up from Do. We
may not realize it, but many of us recognize this minor third in the melody when we hear it. It makes
the song sound melancholy or mysterious Meanwhile, melodies built on major scales sound happy
and/or resolute. So gauging the emotion that you
sense from the melody is one (hard-to-codify) technique for detecting major versus minor.
Technique #2: Another method for determining
whether a song (or section of a song) is major or minor is to locate the chords where the song “rests,” or
could end and leave everyone musically satisfied
(i.e. on the tonic chord, or Chord I). Songs need to
end with a sound of completion to give a satisfying
feeling to the listener, so you can almost always look
at the final chord of a song to determine the key that
the song ended in. Usually the bass will be on the
Do in the final chord and some other part will be reinforcing that Do in a higher octave. Sometimes
chords are voiced a little differently, but putting the
bass on Do is very common. And if two parts are on
the same note in the final chord, you can be pretty
April
sure that the doubled note is the Do. This is because
the tonic chord has only three solfeggio syllables
(Do, Mi or Me, and Sol), so with four parts, two of
the parts must share a syllable. Do is the best syllable to reinforce with a double in a tonic chord.
The songs we sing . . .
“Does Your Mother Know You’re Out, Cecilia”
By Chris Papa, from the Atlantic Gazette, bulletin of the
Red Bank Area Chapter in the Mid-Atlantic District,
Chris Papa, Editor
Cecilia” has long been a regular part of the Matinee Idols
repertoire, and it is now being
sung for the chorus’ current
performances. “Cecilia” was
published at a time in the
1920’s when numerous songsmiths were flooding the U.S.
and, ultimately, global markets, with catchy tunes that
could help the composers and
performers make some
money through the sales of
sheet music and phonograph records. Composer Dave
Dryer is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame,
which has the following biography about him:
Dave Dreyer was born in Brooklyn, New York on September 22, 1894. In his early career, he worked as a pianist,
accompanying vaudeville greats--Al Jolson, Sophie
Tucker, Belle Baker and Frank Fay. From 1929 to 1940,
he worked for film studios, contributing songs to scores.
Eventually, he became the head of the music department
at RKO Radio. In 1947, Dreyer left Irving Berlin Music
Company and started his own publishing firm. Collaborating with legendary lyricists such as Billy Rose, Ballard
Macdonald, Herman Ruby and others, Dreyer wrote
such hit songs as:
“Me and My Shadow,” “There’s a Rainbow Round My
Shoulder,” “Back in Your Own Back Yard,” “Cecilia,”
“Four Walls,” “Golden Gate,” “In Little Second Hand
Store,” “Wabash Moon,” “I’m Following You,” “I Wanna
Sing About You,” “I’m Keeping Company,” “You Can’t Be
True, Dear,” “The Wall,” “Next Stop, Paradise,” “Hold My
Hand,” “HoneyBabe” and “What Am I Supposed to Do?”
Dave Dreyer died in 1967 in New York City.
The lyricist who cooperated with Dreyer for “Cecilia” was
Herman Ruby, whose biography parallels that of Dreyer.
“Ruby was born in New York City in 1892, and started out
as a song plugger in Manhattan's famed Brill Building.
During his varied career he moonlighted as a comedy
writer for Al Jolson and Eddie Cantor, and was head of
Warner Brothers' Vitaphone short-subject department,
from 1931 to 1935. He also contributed to the screenplays of such films as:
(Continued on page 6)
April
(From page 3)
Page 5
THE HEARTBEAT
See HeartThrobs
Talented and college trained as a music educator, she has
worked as an editor of a local newspaper, a reporter, an
event planner, and a cookie packer. Her hobbies include
gardening, jigsaw puzzles, reading, singing, and playing
the cello. For many years she sang with Sweet Adelines
and Harmony, Inc., in two separate award winning choruses, and in an award winning quartet. She and her
daughter recently took a trip to Sweden to visit cousins. She enjoys travel and would like to tour Italy and
have a flight in a hot air balloon. If she won the lottery,
June would set up trust funds for her children and grandchildren. She states that her most embarrassing moment
occurred when she was escorted out of the American Embassy in Paris by U.S. Marines as a "suspicious"
person. June claims that she is proficient at doing nothing; but I, personally, know that she is very proficient
A Minor-Key Tag From Burt Szabo
By Joe Liles, Tagmaster—from the September 2001
Harmonizer
When it comes to writing tags, no
one's any better than Dr. Burt Szabo.
There just couldn't be a barbershopper anywhere who hasn't had the
privilege and great joy of singing one
of his arrange, ments or tags. How
about "Annie Doesn't Live Here Anymore." "Who'll Dry Your Tears
When You Cry," "Ireland, My Ireland," "Nothing But Memories Remain" "l Want To
Dream By The Old Millstream" "Danny Boy," Down In
Dixieland Where I Was Born" and many others.
An experienced music educator, Burt taught music theory, composition, orchestration, sight singing, ear training and music appreciation at the university level for 19 years.
He is an active composer and has written chamber music,
symphonic scores and a variety of choral works. All but
our newest members will remember that Burt was the
playing her cello in the Villages Orchestra. Not happy
until she achieves perfection, June strives and works until
she achieves it. This gal has a killer smile and a fun personality that makes her a great friend and someone all
HeartThrobs need to know.
The Happy Widower
A widower who never paid any attention to his wife
while she was alive now found himself missing her desperately. He went to a psychic to see if he could contact his late wife. The psychic went into a trance. A
strange breeze wafted through the darkened room,
and suddenly, the man heard the unmistakable voice
of his dearly departed wife. "Honey!" he cried. "Is that
you?" "Yes, my husband." "Are you happy?" "Yes, my
husband." "Happier than you were with me?" "Yes, my
husband." "Then Heaven must be an amazing place!"
"I'm not in Heaven, dear."
Society's Music Specialist and Editor of Music Publications from 1983 until 1995, when he retired and returned
to Florida and the Sunshine DistrictBurt has held a number of important barbershop posts, including Sunshine
District Director of Music Education, International Contest and Judging Chairman, an Arrangement Judge and
Category Specialist and has been on the faculty of Harmony College for many years. In fact, it was at Harmony
College this year that he taught us a new one. Burt says,
"lt's always a pleasure to present a tag to the student body
at Harmony College. This year I decided to try a minor
key tag, just to be a little different.
The 600 students who were present were unanimous in
their enjoyment of the result. Using the music with heartfelt emotion and don't be afraid to linger on the harmonies. Baris and tenors need to be especially expressive on
their final echo, and the leads should 'float' their note
above the tenors to make the Chinese 7th ring (middle of
measure four). t the last chord, allow the sound to die
away to a whisper before the final release."
Page 6
April
THE HEARTBEAT
Ba r be r shopper O f the Yea r
Ha l l of Fa me
Joe Pfeifer
Wayne Page
Marty Martin
Ken Carter
Dave Kirkpatrick
Joe Burns
Jim Gehrlein
Elbie Ford
Elmer (Elmo) Wagner
Rich Casanzio
John Fleming
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Chapter Eternal
Our brothers who have passed but will
always be with us in our hearts
Charlie Borders
Gil Mason
Floyd Guernsey
Mel Lee
Harry Olds
Don Polley
John Raymond
Bob Yenney
Emil Bajus
George Murphy
Don Himmelman
Bud Mason
Spike Kenn
David MacEllven
Nick Nichol
Marty Martin
John Burnett
Hugh McLeish
Bill Davidson
Lloyd Cole
Dutch Schultz
Jim Miller
Carl Rostek
Wally Costello
Verne Manning
Bill Hoag
Lawrence Nuckles
PRESIDENTS CLUB
Fran Donahoe
Current President
Wayne Page
2003-2004
Ken Carter
Marty Martin
Dave Kirkpatrick
Pat Haley
Brent Bierma
2005-2006
2007-2008
HOF Chapter Quartets
Four Sharps
Joe Pfiefer, tenor
Rich Casanzio, lead
Don Barnes, baritone
Jim Castanien, bass
So Far So Good
Jerry LaDue, tenor
Dave Kirkpatrick, lead
Dick Fischer, baritone
Jerry Weisenreder, bass
Sun Chords
Lee Shawcross, tenor
Wayne Page, lead
Joe Burns, baritone
Dick Gordon, bass
The Life Of the Party
Lee Shawcross, tenor
George Randolph, lead
John Fleming, baritone
Doc Weir, bass
Further Adieu
Ken Thomas, tenor
Paul Smith, lead
Jim Gehrlein, baritone
Jim Castanien, bass
HarmoniX
Jeremey Reynolds, tenor
John Bird, lead
Ken Wantuck, baritone
Brent Bierma, bass
Senior Moments
Bob Vincuilla. tenor
Norb Schneider. lead
John Carter, baritone
Mo Foisy, bass
2009
2010-2011
2012-2013
Deadline for articles submitted for
publication in the Heartbeat shall
be the 20th of the month.
Articles with no byline are written
by the editor. Clip art courtesy of
the Barbershop Harmony Society.
(From page 4)
See Songs We Sing
"Words and Music" (1931), "Hot
Sands" (1931), "The Old Grey
Mayor" (1935), and "Man of Courage" (1943). In 1953 Ruby suffered a stroke and was bedridden
for the rest of his life. He died in 1959.”
Wishing You the Best!
Larry DeLorenzo
Dave Kilpatrick
Richard Fritch
Jim Gehrlein
Chun Li
Brent Bierma
Ron Scott
Rob Schneider
1
5
10
11
12
13
14
30
We Always Welcome Guests
Dave Bussell
Leesburg,
Florida
Glenn Jewell
Eustis,
Florida
Don White
Ohio
Kirk Mann
Maine
Randy Freeman
Plainfield,
Indiana
Danny Rebecca
Lady Lake,
Florida
Bruce Myers
The Villages,
Florida
Watch These Statements
I tried to catch some fog. I mist.
When chemists die, they Barium.
Jokes about German sausage are the wurst.
A soldier who survived mustard gas and
pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.
I know a guy who's addicted to brake
fluid. He says he can stop anytime.
How does Moses make his tea? Hebrews it.
This girl said she recognized me from
the vegetarian club, but I'd never met
herbivore.
I did a theatrical performance about
puns. It was a play on words.
They told me I had type A blood, but it
was a type-o.
Class trip to the Coca Cola factory. I
hope there's no pop quiz.
April
Page 7
THE HEARTBEAT
The 2014 Central Florida Chapter Leadership Team
President:
Fran Donohoe
352-637-4369
[email protected]
Board Member-At-Large:
Executive Vice President:
Board Member-At-Large:
Dick Baird
352-753-0455
[email protected]
Jim Gehrlein
352-751-0776
John Fleming
352-430-1445
[email protected]
[email protected]
Immediate Past President:
Brent Bierma
352-750-2272
[email protected]
Program Vice President:
Jeremy Reynolds
352-217-8425
[email protected]
HOF Music Team
Front Line Director and
Lead Section Leader:
Scott Werner
352-259-2572
[email protected]
Assistant Director and
Baritone Section Leader:
Don Barnes
352-259-8634
[email protected]
352-750-4384
[email protected]
Bass Section Leader:
Pat Haley
352-753-3351
[email protected]
352-259-2209
[email protected]
HeartThrobs Editor:
Roz Fischer
352-750-6755
[email protected]
Staff Reporter:
Larry Robinson
352-357-7328
[email protected]
Chief Photographer:
Margaret Holmberg
352-259-2209
[email protected]
Heartbeat Mailer:
352-259-8732
[email protected]
Heartbeat Distributor:
Joe Burns
Membership Vice President:
David Holmberg
Senior Editor:
Elbie Ford
352-438-8882
[email protected]
Dolores Burns
Marketing and PR VP:
Tom Hogshead
The Heartbeat Staff
Tenor Section Leader:
Joe Pfiefer
352-751-2415
[email protected]
352-259-8732
[email protected]
Purpose
Music and Performance VP:
Don Barnes
352-259-8634
[email protected]
Stage Presence Coach:
Jan Haley
352-753-3351
[email protected]
Secretary:
Librarian:
Elmo Wagner
352-753-0449
[email protected]
Jim Busko
352-409-2462
[email protected]
Treasurer:
Dick Fischer
352-750-6755
[email protected]
Mission Statement
We are an organization of community
minded singers, dedicated to spreading the joy of close harmony in our
schools and in our community.
The purpose of this chapter
shall be three-fold:
1.) To perpetuate the old American
institution, the barbershop quartet.
2.) To promote and encourage vocal
harmony and good fellowship among
its members.
3.) To encourage and promote the education of its members and the public in
music appreciation of barbershop harmony.
The chapter activities shall be conducted without personal gain for its
individual members and any profits or
other inurenments to the chapter shall
be used in promoting the purposes of
the Society, district or chapter.
The Heartbeat
The Heartbeat—April 2014
Printing of The Heartbeat done by
Ultrex Printing, Inc.
302 Oak Street, Suite A
Lady Lake, FL 32159
352-205-8222
See them for your printing needs.
Place
Postage
Here
Elbert Ford
1520 152nd Place
Ocala FL 34473
Phone 352-438-8882
Cell: Same
Email: [email protected]
WITHOUT MUSIC,
LIFE WOULD BE A MISTAKE.
— F r i ed r i c h N i et z s c h e
May 2-4—Sunshine District Spring Convention. Airport
Marriott, Orlando
June 12-14—Harmony Explosion, Melbourne
July 27-August 3—Harmony University, Belmont University,
Nashville, Tennessee
August 30-September 2—Labor Day Jamboree, Airport
Marriott, Orlando
August 31—Grapefruit League Novice Quartet Contest,
Airport Marriott, Orlando
October 10-12—Sunshine District Fall Convention, Airport
Marriott, Orlando
Belmont U. Nashville