* * * * * * * * * *   C H A U T A U Q U A   * * * * * * * * * *

	RMD FESTIVAL  ... BOULDER
	... The Chautauqua Festival in Boulder

	August 25th, 2013
	    Sunday afternoon  [NOTE: SUNDAY again this year!]

12:00 pm ?	Sign up for Pick-up Quartet Contest
1:00 pm		Pick-up Quartet Contest.

3:00 pm		Massed Chorus Rehearsal ( Jay Dougherty directing)
4:00 pm		Bratwurst & Potato salad Picnic

4:00 - 5:30	Sound checks for choruses

5:30 pm		Doors open
6:00 pm		Evening Show
			Quartets and Choruses
		Intermission
			Quartets, Choruses
			Front Range Massed Chorus
Afterglow immediately following.

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Massed Chorus songs:
	PoleCat Medley (Wild Irish Rose, Down Our Way,
			[continues in Bb] Wait Til' the Sun Shines, Nellie)
	God Bless America
	America The Beautiful (SOR arr.)
Massed Chorus director: Jay Dougherty, from Longmont.

MountainAires chorus songs:
	Caroline
	If The Lord Be Willin'
    "uniform": yellow(gold) polo shirt, khaki trousers, black shoes.

 = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Notes:

    The weather tends to be hot and muggy, with impending rain, even
in the park above Boulder, so the uniform of the day leans towards
shorts and sandals.  

    The BBQ features brats and kraut, yummy.  Potato salad,
beer, soda pop, coffee.   A cookie.   I don't remember the
price from last year, but it's all reasonable.

    Pickup quartet sign-up will either be in the big auditorium
or in the little picnic pavilion next to the auditorium.  Look for
a congestion of barbershopper types, and tell the guy with a pencil
your name, part(s) you sing, and chorus you're from.  Ladies are
welcome (and sometimes necessary to fill missing parts).
    The winner of the pickup quartet contest gets to sing on the
evening show.  They usually sing their entire repertoire, which is
the one song they competed with.
    A general rule is there should not be more than two members of
a pickup quartet from the same chapter.  It pays to learn the polecat
songs, multiple parts, and to be aware of the songs sung by neighboring
choruses.  (Don't know if extra "points" are given if the members are
from four different choruses, but they should.  The whole thing is
kinda loose, in the spirit of true barbershop.)
    You will have from 2:00 to 3:00 to
	-- find the other members of your quartet.  They will have a
		card with the same value as yours (Ace, King, Queen,
		Jack, Ten, Nine,... Deuce).
	-- find a shady place to practice.
	-- decide which songs you may know in common.  Switching parts
		may make things work.
	-- find if someone has a pitchpipe and knows what key is needed.
	-- sing a few songs to recall all the words.
	-- agree on which arrangement, and which version of the arrangement,
		to sing.  Or make up something to fit (That's called
		woodshedding. Go for it).
	-- sing it umpteen times, polish.  Once more for perfect.
	-- decide on a quartet name.  "The Four (Kings, Jacks, Sixes...)" has
		been done.  Overdone.  Ditto variations on "Three Brats
		and a Kraut".  Come with a list of ideas to throw into
		the pot.
	-- sing at a couple of other songs, just because it's so much fun.
	-- remind yourselves, just before you step onto the stage, which
		song it was you actually decided to sing, and what are
		the first words?

    Each chorus gets a percent of the gate, based on the number of
members in the massed chorus.  The count is taken at the START of
the 4 O'CLOCK REHEARSAL, not at the evening show!
    For the massed chorus, stand in sections.  From the audience
viewpoint, left to right: tenors, leads, basses, baris.
		(or maybe reversed, depending on director's preference.)
                                                           On the
show, go ahead and wear your brightest chorus polo shirt, it all
looks so elegant with the shorts, bare knees and flip-flops.
    [ Over the years the show has become
  more formal, with the norm tending towards
  chorus casual costume (even if your chorus
  isn't singing as such), or a quartet
  uniform (even if your registered quartet
  isn't singing as such). ]

For a map, if you didn't come from a page which had a clickable link,
cut and paste the following into the search bar at the top of your
browser:

    http://maps.google.com/maps?q=900+Baseline+Road+Boulder,+CO

The Boulder Chapter website has some photos from (last) year:

	http://www.harmonize.com/timberliners/
	   Hover the mouse cursor over "Pictures"
	   Click on "Chautauqua 2011"
	   (They may have some newer pics up by now,
	    that was two years ago.)