1. Notes for this week

• Ed . - Apologies for missing last week's issue. I was preparing for a family travel in Georgia and ran out of time!
• Jan 20: Oak City Sound Annual Banquet, aka Installation Banquet. was held at Fuquay-Varina United Methodist Church in Fuquay Varina. Thanks to Gary Thorn for a good dinner and for a good program. Many awards for 2022 were given out. See the Champagne Room section below for details!.
• Jan 21: Carolinas District Leadership Academy (aka COTS School). was held via Zoom. In attendance from OCS were Gary Thorn, Warren Fuson, Paul Martin, Nic Cols, and Michael Fields
• Jan 23: Our regular chorus meeting.
  • The quality of the chorus Valentine songs' recordings that we did on Jan 23 was good enough that we did not have to do more takes.
• Jan 30 - Chorus meeting was held at our regular location Searstone Retirement Community. 7pm to 9:30pm. 
  • Thank you Mike Muha for stepping in and directing the rehearsal in Carol's absence.
  • Mike also identified those willing and able to sing in Valentine’s quartets and ran a mix and match exercise to identify those whose voice timbre matched. The plan is to offer 3 slots for each time slot Saturday, Sunday and Monday as there seemed to be adequate talent to fulfill the orders that do come in.
  • Followed by a good Afterglow at The Corner Tavern. Michael reports that Warren Fuson and he were the only ones who went to Afterglow and an excellent time was had by all. The barkeep was inquiring where the rest of the crew were. Good to know we were missed!
• New Music: Still ready for download from the web site:
  • The revised sheet music in the right key (Eb) for "You've Got a Friend in Me", so we now have sheet music to match the tracks. Please discard your previous Ab version immediately..
• Feb 6: Our next Chorus meeting will be held at our regular location Searstone Retirement Community. 7pm to 9:30pm. Song List:
  • Story of the Rose
  • Let Me Call You Sweetheart
  • Desperado
  • Ova the Wainbo
  • Ah-most Like Being in Love
  • You've Got a Friend in Me
  • Comes the Sun
  • The Lion Sleeps Tonight
• OCS is deciding whether to set up a booth at Cary Spring Daze's Cultural Arts Row. OCS/General Assembly has done this in the past. It runs on April 29, 2023, and we're talking running our info booth from 9am to 5pm. If you have thoughts or opinions about manning such a booth for OCS for a few hours, please let me know!

2. Carol's Korner

• Apologies for my absence this week. It sounds like Mike did a great job keeping you all on track. I heard that many of you piped in with comments like, "I know what Carol would say about that!" which tells me that my evil plan is working!
• We will spend some time in quartets on Monday to be sure everyone who plans to sing for Valentine's Day is ready to go make someone's day!
• Keep bringing your best and we will continue to grow, learn and make great music together!

3. Ben's Buzz

10 Steps to a Note,

Step 1 - Hear a Pitch. Covered on Nov 25. Click here

Step 2 - Find Your Note. Covered on Nov 30. Click here

Step 3 - Part 1: Check Your Posture, Basic Stance. Covered on Dec 7. Click here. 

Step 3 - Part 2: Check Your Posture, Balance. Covered on Dec 14. Click here. 

Step 3 - Part 3: Check Your Posture, Straight and Tall on Jan 18. Click here. 

This week ....

Step 4 - Drop the Jaw! 

• The fourth step is to Drop the Jaw.  This does not mean to just open your mouth wide, like an alligator. In fact, you can drop your jaw while leaving your front teeth close together.  
• It means separating your TMJ (temperomandibular joint) as if you had a couple of marbles between your back molars. Practice that.  It’s an odd feeling at first, and you’ll get used to it.
• Dropping the jaw helps to increase the volume in your vocal chamber, and as you also raise your soft palette your can create music with great resonance. It’s easy to do, yet most singers just don’t do it. 

4. Future Notes

• Still working with Cambridge Village Retirement Center in Apex to schedule a concert sometime between Feb - April. Stay tuned.
• February 12 to 14 - plan to run Singing Valentines again this year. February 14 is a Tuesday, so we'll look for opportunities on the previous weekend as well.
  • Think about how maybe you can help out in the planning and management of this little enterprise!
  • Mike is making the website packages available for people to select for ordering. Hopefully, we will be able to limit how many could be sold at particular times, but that probably won't work.
  • It will be finish on Friday and have it live for orders. 
  • We will just have all-day, morning, after noon (not just afternoon), and a name-your-time ticket for Tuesday, and probably similar for Monday. Sunday will have just after noon and specific. Note again that they are not “afternoon”. I think we will let it be till through dinner, though two quartets on Tuesday will be at Springmoor (or where the group that hired us is).
• March 10 and 11, 2023: Carolinas District Spring Convention in Spartanburg, SC. 
  • Our contest song set: Almost Like Being in Love and Ova the Rainbow.
  • All contests and performances will be held at Spartanburg High School in the state-of-the-art District 7 Fine Arts Center.
  • Early Bird registrations are $75 for the weekend (rates increase to $95 on February 17). 
  • All attendees are expected as a matter of goodwill toward our singing community to:
    • Take a PCR test (regular or rapid/NAAT) no earlier than the day before picking up credentials (48 hours); or 
    • Take an antigen test the day of event.
  • All fellowship events (Greek Night and District Afterglow) will be hosted at the Marriott in the Presidential Suite.
  • Two steps to register:
    • To register for the convention, go to https://www.tickettailor.com/events/carolinasdistrictbarbershopharmonysociety/835475 and click the Buy Tickets button on the upper right. Select Full Registration - Early Bird.
    • To get a hotel room, go to https://www.marriott.com/event-reservations/reservation-link.mi?id=1674064449570&key=GRP&app=resvlink 
    • Do not delay any longer!

5. Long Range

• March 20 - Our next guest night. Our focus will be on reaching out to the Hispanic community. 
• August 4 to 6, 2023. At Clemson University Campus in Clemson, SC. The Carolinas District is now partnering with the Dixie District to run a single Harmony Education Program ("HEP") in the summer for both NSC and DIX districts. This tot fab educational weekend will be held at Clemson University in Clemson, SC. Absolutely top-tier faculty is assembled for this training event. I can personally attest that this is a GREAT weekend of singing education, for individual singers, quartets, entire choruses, and chorus directors. Pencil this weekend into your calendar for now. Over the winter, we as a chorus will develop plans, as appropriate and beneficial, to attend this, if possible.
• October 2023 - Carolinas District leadership has decided to permanently eliminate the Fall Convention and Contest, going forward. 

6. Champagne Room

• 2022 Awards given out at the Chapter Annual Banquet on Jan 20::
  • Above and Beyond Awards: Nic Cols, Larry Hill, Warren Fuson, Tim Kinsey. and John Zweighaft.
  • Beyond at Large Awards: Michael Field and Andy Fuson.
  • Rookie of the Year Award: Vern Pike.
  • Special Best Director Award: Carol Stephenson
  • Barbershop Spirit Award: Bob Inskeep
• Barbershopper of the Year -- was awarded to Mike Muha for the tremendous hours he expended last year in building and maintaining the Music program for OCS, plus his creative talent in putting together all the details for our performances.