New Dimension Chorus

I just came back into town after graduating college, getting a "real job" with benefits, and a wife. I didn't think that I've been gone that long, but the years slipped by faster and faster.

Can you believe that where the school used to be on Lincoln Avenue is now a Wal-Mart? The building where I got my hair cut as a kid burned down a couple of years ago, and now it's been turned into a retirement village. When I was a kid here, you didn't need a car to get where you were going, but now you need a car no matter where you are going. If you can get there, that is.

The newest New Dimension Chorus Quartet (SBlendid Tonics), including Bob Horwitz as Lead, Ed Graff as Tenor, Kevin Smith as Bass, and Kurt Hornbacker as Baritone, had its first gig on Tuesday, June 2nd, at the Elks Lodge in Livermore, and we actually survived. We performed for one-half hour and included some of our quartet repertoire, some Polecat songs, and some New Dimension Chorus songs. With cute comments and jokes interspersed between songs, we managed to easily fill the allotted time. We were well received, with lots of applause and an invitation to come back again in the future.

"Rock Around the Clock," originally titled "We're Gonna Rock Around the Clock Tonight!" is a 12-bar-blues-based song, from 1952 according to documents uncovered by historian Jim Dawson, written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers (the latter under the pseudonym "Jimmy De Knight"). The song is ranked #158 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

"Silver Bells" was introduced by Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell in a motion picture called The Lemon Drop Kid in 1951. The first recorded version was by Bing Crosby and Carol Richards in 1952, which also became a hit in late 1952. The lyrics are unusual for a Christmas song in that they describe the holiday in the city, and not a rural setting. The song was inspired by the imagery of Salvation Army bellringers standing outside department stores during the Christmas season.

I don’t like competitions. I hate dressing up. And, I hate the heat.

And yet, I put on a full tux in the heat, and performed at the Far Western District–Northwest Division competition on Saturday in Fresno for the first time.

What does it take to keep a chorus together? The eight years that I have been a member have brought many changes.

“99% percent of success is just showing up.” Well, that saying was clearly evidenced in the New Dimension Chorus’s selection for Barbershopper of the Month for April 2009. Kurt Hornbacker was April’s honoree. Kurt has collected his second BOTM in his two year tenure with the chorus, and was the first to recognize the fame that comes with writing a biography for the New Dimension Notes. He joined New Dimension in August 2007 singing Lead.

On Thursday evening, May 14, 2009, the New Dimension Chorus invited its members to bring family and friends to their weekly rehearsal for a mini show to celebrate the support received all year long. The turnout was pretty good, with close to 25 people filling the seats to listen the Chorus’ regular repertoire.

The evening was a good rehearsal for the Chorus as they prepared for the Northwest Division of the Far Western District Convention in Fresno the following Saturday. Early guests were treated to the inner workings of the chorus’ warmup and tuneup exercises.

explained by Tom Wheatley, editor, Dundalk, MD CharivariLast month, this column addressed one of the functions of those markings on sheet music called notes. Specifically, we covered the length of time a note is to be held. There is a second major function that notes fulfill. This involves how high or low the note sounds. In effect, it fleshes out the melody and harmony parts.