Quartet beat - (cont. from previous page)
take a train to Streator, Ill. We sang their Show and got back on a train at 5:30 PM and into Chicago to take Pullman to Pittsburgh to arrive at 7:00 AM (Monday) just in time to go back to work on our regular jobs...."
It was humorous to note that Conte was a "white knuckle flyer" and had to be practically dragged onto the plane by the balance of the quartet.
Reviewing the summary of their tour year travels outlined in Bill Conway's letter, I noted that the quartet did 50 "traveling" appearances throughout 15 states, Washington DC, and Canada. In addition, they made 147 Pittsburgh area appearances.
My thanks to Bob Brandl for providing me with the historical material presented in this article.
From your Director and VP of Music & Performance ~ Joe Veltre
As your director and VP of Music & Performance, I would like to say how pleased I am with all of you trying to do your best to sing better. There is always room for improvement, so we must strive to put a little more effort into accomplishing this goal. One of our biggest problems is keeping the pitch on our songs. In order to improve on this, we must learn the basics in singing. One major way to help us in this is to learn discipline. For instance:
I. At rehearsals, all talking must stop as soon as rehearsal, teaching, training, etc., starts. Whoever is up front must have your full attention.
2. Hold down the unnecessary comments and jokes. It's very disruptive.
3. Do not talk while one of the sections is being helped.
4. While performing at shows and contests, keep eyes on the director at all times unless told otherwise.
5. At section rehearsals, pay attention to whoever is in charge.
Other ways for improvement are:
1. If a coach or teacher comes to help us on a day other than Tuesday, every effort must be made to be present.
2. In learning music, it is your responsibility to use the tools given to you by the director, teacher and/or music team.
3. When a singing performance is booked, you must make every effort to be there.
If close attention is paid to all of the above items, it will be a big step in reaching our goal of singing better. As director, I have a big part in accomplishing this. To help me do this, I plan to attend as many director schools offered by the District and the Society as I can. I intend to have coaches and music men come to the chapter meetings whenever possible to help us with some of our problems. I already made arrangements with the District to participate in the Standing Ovation Program. Someone representing the District will attend out May 1st show and will give us his expert evaluation in writing. No one will see the evaluation but us.
For your information, our Music Team is:
Joe Veltre - Director & Chairman
Lou Vlahos - Assistant Director
Mark Pascarella - Tenor Section Leader
Rich Stevens - Bari Section Leader
Gordon Knapp/Russ Keyser - Lead Section Leaders
John Power - Bass Section Leader
As you may or may not know, Guy Russo will not be able to be with us until sometime in March. This is a setback for us but not the end of the world. I will do my best to keep the rehearsals as interesting as possible. Hopefully, when Guy does come back, we will be able to show him some improvement.
In closing, remember to "keep the whole world singing" and "keep it barbershop."
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