Still school #1 – same school year that ‘no one was allowed to take over night trips’… you know, unless there’s an election coming and you get bum rushed by the band parents…
The Church Lady had run several barbershop quartets during our ‘homeroom’ period every morning. (She’d taken the liberty of auditioning and selecting those for me, too.). I had a mens quartet and maybe 2 ladies quartets.
I have no problem with barbershop. It’s fun and can be amazingly well-done. It can also be sloppy and bad, just like anything else, if you aren’t willing to put time and effort into it. My kids were supposed to be putting in their time and effort during homeroom. Problem was, it’s really hard to teach barbershop music with only half a quartet. Homeroom time was also when all the clubs and activity groups in the entire school had meetings. Sports teams had meetings. AP classes would have meetings. There were meetings to prepare for other meetings. Kids had passes to meet with teachers to plan meetings….
I tried to assign a day to each quartet that everyone could practice and use Thursdays as a make-up day (Friday there was no homeroom because we had pep rallies. Yes, every Friday.). Only, no one could commit to a day of the week, and the minute the loudspeaker came on, off they went. Until 2 weeks before any concert, when they realized that they hadn’t learned anything since I helped them pick out music and then it became my emergency to help them learn a song. If it couldn’t be done, I would tell them that we would table it for the next concert and to remember this lesson when I asked who wanted to sing that morning (they also really liked Homeroom time to finish homework they didn’t finish at home – since it wasn’t a class, there were no grades and I really had no leverage to make them do anything). Sometimes, they would try to learn a song – and I would help them as much as I could – and they would decide they weren’t ready and didn’t want to get up and sing unprepared. I applauded their maturity. Sometimes they worked and learned a song and it was awesome and the other quartets got jealous (and snotty when I reminded them that awesome performances don’t happen without practice).
Sometimes, they insisted that they were going to practice at one of the member’s houses until they got it down. Specifically, one of the ladies quartets. I made them sing it for me before I would put them on the program and they always said that they were happy and proud of their performance (which was always lack-luster at best, especially considering the talent of each of these young ladies). I would tell them they could perform, but tell them I heard much more potential in their performance and dedicated practice time together earlier in the process would really make people’s heads turn.
But what did I know?
After several months of fighting with the quartets every morning in this manner, one of the girls from the ladies procrastination quartet brought me a flyer about the ladies barbershop quartet competition in Indianapolis, said that The Church Lady had taken them in the past, they always really enjoyed it and wanted to know if I would sponsor them this year. (Does this trip sound familiar to you? Because it should…) I told her that I was glad they had had positive experiences there in the past, but due to the board resolutions banning overnight trips, I wouldn’t be able to sponsor them. I would let them use our music, I would help them prepare, I would help them with registration paperwork, but I wouldn’t be able to travel with them or help with any travel arrangements. If they wanted to get their parents together and go as an independent quartet, with a parent chaperoning them to Indy, that would be between them and their parents. Procrastination Quartet Sop I smiled sweetly, said she understood and said she and the other girls would talk to their parents.
The next week, she let me know that she had emailed the district barbershop people and were looking into registering as an independent quartet. I told her I was glad and reminded her that we had quite a bit of music that the girls could choose from, if they didn’t have a song in mind yet.
Another week later, I received a concerned email from my undergrad advisor (who also happens to direct a women’s barbershop chorus affiliated with the competition (I can’t remember the acronym and I’m not looking it up – you know the one)). She was concerned and knew that something must have been taken out of context, this didn’t sound like me at all – was there another choral director at my school? That was my school, right? All it took was a quick Google search and you could find my name on the school website – there were close to 50 people on this email list and they all knew my name now (you don’t forget Donitas, in my experience).
My advisor had forwarded an email from her Lady Barbershop district president, saying she had received an email from a young, aspiring barbershopper who’s high school music teacher at [School #1] wouldn’t let them participate in barbershop events anymore. The new director didn’t like barbershop and wouldn’t share any school resources to help the girls get to competition and was there any way Lady Barbershop President could help her? The girls were all really passionate and dedicated to their quartet and were heartbroken they couldn’t come and learn from all the other great quartets who would be in Indy. The original email had been omitted, as the young lady was afraid of retailiation from the dictatorial new music director and didn’t want her name shared. (Any guesses who that was??). Lady Barbershop President went on, vilifying me, wanting to know if anyone knew me, wanting to know what kind of a monster of a music teacher discourages eager young musicians, asking the other directors to reach out and figure out why I was such a hater, basically.
::blinks:: Yup, libeled to the whole western half of Ohio just like that (or at least all the lady barbershoppers, anyway, most of whom are involved in ALL areas of vocal music – and they ALL know each other and they ALL gossip like the day is long).
I wanted to puke. Also, I wanted someone to give Little Miss Soprano I the spanking she so obviously missed as a child. To blatently lie on someone like that? Especially considering she was an outspoken Christian, who wore a purity ring and was the president of Student Club Against Impure Thoughts (or something like that). Also, to say all those complete lies in an email, that could (and would) be forwarded and then tell me herself that she emailed the district president for help? Are you kidding? How thick can you get?
At the advice of my undergrad advisor, I emailed the Lady Barbershop President from my work email, with my full signature included, and kindly explained the situation and the miscommunication. She didn’t even give me the dignity of a response.
That was the day the barbershop died. Or something. And it was ALL. MY. FAULT.
Irony: My advisor didn’t say anything else about the situation until after the competition (she was there with her chorus). She saw the Procrastination Quartet perform. They were lack-luster and ill-prepared, and the judges said that while their performance showed potential, they weren’t competition ready and their score reflected that. Wonder if any of that sounded familiar?
Donita Westman 