To The Haldimand Press
SIMCOE—Your friendly, neighbourhood barbershop chorus is still here and thriving! On October 21 and 22, 2022 the Gentlemen of Harmony competed at a convention in St. Catharines and brought home three trophies.
During the height of the pandemic, which affected so many so adversely, the Gentlemen’s love of singing and the promise of someday again sharing that love of singing with everyone kept them strong. During recent social distancing, masking, and otherwise trying times, the group rallied together to embrace technology such as Zoom meetings to stay in touch and short-range FM transmission to sing together in parking lots, using their car radios as receivers and continuing to work on their music. They called it “Car-bershop singing.”
All this effort really paid off. When the Ontario District Barbershop Harmony Society recently held their first convention in almost three years at the St. Catharines First Ontario Performing Arts Centre, Simcoe’s Gentlemen of Harmony “came out SINGING.”
In addition to the chorus competition, Simcoe Chapter registered five Novice quartets. Of these 20 singers, most had never competed on stage in a quartet, or even sang in an organized quartet before. Of the six trophies awarded that weekend, Simcoe won three!
The Gentlemen of Harmony, which includes several members from Haldimand County, were awarded:
The Plateau 2 Trophy for highest score in their plateau
Most Improved Chorus Trophy – for highest score improvement since last competing
Encouragement Trophy – for promoting Barbershop A Cappella Harmony and encouraging new quartet singers.
Now for the best news of all. After three long years the Gentlemen of Harmony’s Harmony Showcase is back! Join them Saturday, November 12, 2022 at Simcoe Composite School for “An Evening On Broadway”.
The event will feature International Silver medalist quartet “Midtown” from New York City, Ontario’s “Yonge Guns” from Toronto, and Simcoe’s Gentlemen of Harmony with Chapter quartets “Sing-Capella” and “Northshore Four.” Tickets are available for $25 from any of the Gentlemen or by calling 519-410-4648. Performances are matinee at 2 p.m. and evening at 7 p.m.
The Gentlemen of Harmony sing every Tuesday from 7-9:30 p.m. at Old Windham United Church in Simcoe, and they encourage any men who enjoy music to come out and join them. Everyone can sing and they promise that their learned Chorus Directors will help everyone sing better.
Ladies, do you want him out of your hair for an evening? Do you want control of the TV remote for an evening or just an evening of peace and quiet? Send him to sing with the Gentlemen, who will take really good care of him.
