David Martinez's blog

Rehearsal Tonight Boys!

So, okay, not really the normal rehearsal, but what the heck is normal in 2021. What we do now is we check in on each other, talk about some the great times in the past, watch a video or two and really are starting to get into when we can re-enter the new normal singing world. There are people working hard on getting to that point to be sure, more on that soon!

We should mention the hard work of the music team, and especially the champion Gil on getting new music selected, purchased and distributed to the chapter. Brilliant gentlemen! So if you haven't gotten the charts and the tracks, please do so, you need it, trust me, listening to music will help you get back into the swing of things!

Re-Entry Getting Closer

Good Day Gentlemen, and Denny!

We Are on Hold Through April

Due to the ongoing Coronavirus emergency order from the Governor Sununu, the Chapter Meetings for the Granite Statesmen have been cancelled through the end of April. Meetings in May and going forward will be discussed by the Board of Directors at the appropreiate time as more information and direction from the State of New Hampshire is available. Please continue to sing when you can, as we all know singing is a healthy thing for our minds, everyone keep yourself as safe as possible, we will get through this together, even if we are not technically together right now.

Second Chants tonight, Voices of the 603 Friday

We have a lot going on the Chapter right now, last week we had Tomatos Staccato with us for a great set of tunes, a big thank you to them for driving up from the big city to entertain the guys. This week we are equally busy with a Chapter Quartet singing tonight, we have Second Chants, a mixed foursome, a couple of couples. We continue to work on new music, 2 new songs and we are preparing for our Spring show (March 28th) Tickets here. We are also getting ready for a singout this Friday, the Voices of the (603), this year held at the Dana Center, Saint Anselm College in Manchester, consider coming up to support Arts in New Hampshire.

Tomato Staccato

We had a great night with Jordan Travis and the marvelous coaching he did for the Chapter. He lead sectionals with leads on "I Wonder As You Wonder" and the leads were able to "lead" when the chorus returned from sectionals and everyone noticed the difference with the confidence and attention to details from the leads. Next Jordan worked with the baritones on a new song to the chorus and although they were concerned with their part and Jordan got them some confidence, direction and they sang pretty well after the sectionals were complete. It is always nice to have a different set of ears and skills in front of the chapter which allows us to grow and improve, thank you Jordan.

Coaching with Jordan Travis Next!

We are excited to have Jordan Travis with us this week coming up to help us with some high level coaching and instruction on four of our songs including two new charts for 2020. Jordan will work in a sectional with the leads as well as the chorus during the course of the evening. Jordan has a gold medal as assistant director with Toronto Northern Lights in 2013, the infamous "Veggie Set", https://youtu.be/WONjhOwI5qc.

We look forward to a great night of singing and learning with Jordan!

Great Start To The Year

We've had a great start to the year we are off sheets on a new song that will hopefully be performing this spring in Worcester, we are introducing the next song for this year on the 19th and many of the guys are excited about the tune. Ronny Menard has continued with the Quartet Program and he has some great out of Chapter Quartets coming in, as well as out favorite Quartet Inside Track treating us each week, pick ups and just more guys wanted to sing in foursome. Ronny has also put together a VLQ (Photo) for the Chapter and they will be performing this spring.

Special Night

It was great to have Daily Special at our recent rehearsal as they continue to prepare for International

in Salt Lake City! They are onstage on Wednesday at 11:18am, Quartet Finals Session #3.

We wish, Ben, Cay, Chad and Issac a fun and successful week at International and thank them for

stopping by to entertain the guys.

More about daily Special can be found at:

https://www.dailyspecialquartet.com/

The Barbershopper of the Year

The Barbershopper of the Year Award was handed out at the annual meeting (first Wednesday in January) and we just the plaque updated

with Matt Kopser's name, as he was the 2017 The Barbershopper of the Year! Matt had an amazing year as a section leader, assistant

director, President of Chapter, and finally was the chair for the very successful Chirstmas Cabaret. Not too shabby. Last years winner,

The Ringland Trophy

The Ringland Trophy was presented at the annual meeting and we finally took a proper photograph

as the entire quartet was available, congratulations to Parts Unknown! Left to right, on Tenor,

Jean-Marc Ledoux, Lead, Matt Kopser, Bass, Paul Dellaire and on Baritone, John Potelle.