Let me finish by saying, Thank you by Greg Roembke, Chapter President

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1 Vol. 47, Issue 11 Winner, PROBE International Bulletin Contest, 2011 and 2014 News and views from the Greater Indianapolis Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society Our chapter mission: To enhance lives by performing with excellence and encouraging singing within our community. Let me finish by saying, Thank you by Greg Roembke, Chapter President As I prepared to write this, my final article as your Chapter President, I took a look back at the first article I wrote as your brand new chapter president. And while it will never be confused with great literature of any type, here is how it began: After some thought, it seems that the best way to start this journey is by saying Thank you to a number of people. Two years later, that seems like the appropriate way to end as well. To the members of CCS: Please know that, despite my joking about this role, I am truly humbled and proud to have had this opportunity. It has been an honor to represent this great chapter, and your support of the things we are doing has been appreciated. Your willingness to give new things a try demonstrates your commitment to our chapter. We really are a large family, and I m so proud to be part of it. To our chapter leadership, past and present: I m grateful for all of the work and effort you give to make our chapter excellent in everything that we do. I know that I speak for everyone when I say thanks for giving of your talents and time in order to keep the business side of our hobby on track. While there were times that we didn t see eye to eye on everything, you never lost sight that everything you did was for the betterment of CCS. To our Music Team: I challenge anyone to find a better group of people leading the musical side of any chapter. Skills aside, the thing that is most impressive to me is your commitment and passion that you have for our hobby and this chapter. From my travels, I know that you are held in high regard across the Society and that our future is bright with you out in front of us. Thank you for everything you have done to make our chapter excellent. (Continued on page 4)

2 Page 2 THE BEAT Looking forward to 2017 by Kyle Kitzmiller, VP Music and Performance, Chapter President-elect Jerry E. Troxel, Editor Member, PROBE (Public Relations Officers and Bulletin Editors) 129 Yorkshire Blvd. E Indianapolis, IN jerry@troxels.com The BEAT is published monthly by the Greater Indianapolis, Indiana, Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society, a proud member of the Cardinal District. Chapter Leadership 2016 President Greg Roembke Secretary Frank Bynum Treasurer Jerry Troxel VP Chapter Development Steve Erdosy VP Music & Performance Kyle Kitzmiller VP PR & Marketing Larry Anthony VP Program Don Brown Board Members at Large Norman Dew, Steve King, David Sanders Immediate Past President Skipp Kropp Director Theo Hicks Assistant Director David Zimmerman Circle City Sound meets every Monday at 7:00 p.m. at Christ Lutheran Church Indianapolis, Indiana Guests are always welcome! As we finish out the rest of the 2016 calendar year, we find ourselves transitioning to a new Board with many new faces (Scott Bradford VP Music and Performance, Ryan Smith VP Program, Craig Johnson VP PR & Marketing, Kevin Cline Member at Large, Josh Hamilton Member at Large). In addition, we have two more who have moved to a new position on the Board (Greg Roembke Immediate Past President, and myself President). Like rotating crops, this evolution of the Board will offer an opportunity to rejuvenate the chapter soil with new mental nutrients, if you will. As President-elect, I am proud to help lead this chapter to the best of my ability, and I can t think of an organization I would be more honored to be a part of and help. As you can imagine, I have no formal training when it comes to being President, but I have ideas and a whole lot of drive, and I ll do whatever I can to move us forward. I ll also be leaning heavily on Greg to make sure I m doing the right thing, but I suppose that is partly why we have an Immediate Past President! We have done a great job of trying to bring new ideas into our processes to encourage collaboration, most notably with the Show Management Team concept (Artistic, Production, Logistics). My goal for the next year is to help break down events and tasks needed so they are manageable, thereby lowering the stress level of whoever is in charge. We will be planning ahead further, accomplishing things earlier, and worrying less. The mantra for the year will be Stress Less Because We Planned Better (working title), and we will do everything we can to live that at every chapter meeting and every time we interact with each other. We are a team, and we will support each other like a team, because we know we always have each other s backs. Who knows? You may even be asked to help with something you haven t done before, but please don t worry, we will make sure everything needed is well defined, and will support you in any way we can. I am so excited to begin 2017 with the whole chapter supporting each other and all of us united in both accomplishing things quickly and knowing the stress will be lessened all the while. Please know that my door is always open, and I am always available to listen. Looking forward to a great year!

3 THE BEAT Page 3 Strolling down harmony lane A monthly look back at our chapter s history by Lew Gillespie, Chapter Historian Five Years Ago (2011) On Sunday, November 27, 2011, CCS presented its annual Christmas Show at the Ransburg Auditorium on the campus of the University of Indianapolis. The main character of the show this year was Ernie (played by Steve McCullough), a distant relative of Ebenezer Scrooge. Other characters were Jerry Troxel, Keith Leavell, Scott Beverley and Logan Sejas (grandson of Greg Roembke). Chorus songs included It s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, Jingle Bells, and The Christmas Song. At that show, 2011 Cardinal District quartet champions Instant Classic sang Auld Lang Syne, Class Menagerie provided I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas, and Smilin Through sang a parody about The 12 Days After Christmas. Kyle Kitzmiller sang the solo on Ring De Christmas Bells. The final number was Silent Night, with the Anthem quartet providing the lead-in with their rendition of It Came Upon A Midnight Clear. The annual Christmas Party was held on Monday, December 19, 2011, at the rehearsal hall. A catered meal was served at 7:00 p.m. with appetizers provided at 6:30 p.m. Program Chairman Larry Klein made all of the arrangements for the catering of the food. A Thanksgiving-style meal was served with all of the trimmings. (Material taken from The Beat, Vol. 42, Issue 12, December 2011, Jerry Troxel, editor). Ten Years Ago (2006) Chapter President Jim Rosenau shared a few of the highlights of the past year in the monthly chapter bulletin. The chapter received $33,000+ from hosting the International Convention in Indianapolis the past July. One of his goals for 2007 was to average one chorus performance (paid or gratis) each month in the next year. The chapter performed a Holiday Show on December 16, 2006 at the Artsgarden in downtown Indy. The chapter Holiday Party was held on December 18, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. For the second year, Drew Stainbrook and CCS organized a very successful High School Quartet contest on Monday, October 30, 2006, in the Masonic Temple Auditorium in downtown Indy. After the contest, the audience was entertained by a mass chorus of all participating quartets and the 2005 Cardinal District Quartet Champions, Quartizzle, from our chapter. Quartet members included Aaron Rosenau (tenor), Dave Bjork (lead), Drew Stainbrook (bass), and Jeff Braun (baritone). (Notes taken from The Beat, Vol. 37, Issue 8, December 2006, R. Duane Henry, editor). Calendar of Events VLQ at Crestwood Thursday, December 8 6:00 pm Cresetwood Village East 1123 N. Edmondson Indianapolis, Indiana CCS Christmas Shows Saturday, December 10 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm Ben Davis High School 1200 N. Girls School Road Indianapolis, Indiana Visual Package Retreat Friday, Dec. 16 (key players) Saturday, Dec. 17 (all) Christ Lutheran Church Indianapolis, Indiana Cardinal District Leadership Academy January 14, 2017 Columbus North High School 1400 E. 25th Street Columbus, Indiana Cardinal District Convention and Contests March 24-25, 2017 Ben Davis High School 1200 N. Girls School Road Indianapolis, Indiana CCS Annual Show June 10, 2017, 7:00 pm The Palladium at the Center for the Performing Arts One Center Green Carmel, Indiana Members: For detailed information on all chapter performances check your Yahoo! Group s or go to: and visit the Members Only section The deadline for the January issue of The BEAT is Wednesday, December 28. Send articles to: jerry@troxels.com

4 Page 4 THE BEAT Thank you (Continued from page 1) To our International Champions, Instant Classic: I still get chills remembering the wonderful journey that you took us all on in Pittsburgh on your way to gold. Thank you for allowing all of us to travel with you. It was and remains a textbook example of involving the audience in the performance, and it has to be one of the highlights of my barbershop career. In addition to the passion and commitment you give to our chapter, you have become four very special people to me and my family, and I thank you. To my Dad: One person that I need to acknowledge is no longer with us, and that is my father. As many of you know, dad was a member of our Society for fifty years and spent most of that time with CCS. He would often say that being a barbershopper was a life-changing event for him and his family and I couldn t agree more. Even now Harry Roembke when people talk about him, his time as a barbershopper is front and center. There are times when it s really bittersweet singing without him, but I truly treasure the time that we were able to spend together doing something that we both loved. Dad was part of ten Internationals, almost 100 district contests, hundreds of shows and other events and was able to travel all over as part of our hobby. Yet he would always say that, while all of that was nice, the best part of what we do is the people. Over the past two years, I ve tried to keep that in mind. To my wife: And there is no way that I can t acknowledge the love and support of my wife Janie. Barbershop has been a part of our life since we first met many years ago. She has always been supportive and encouraging of what I ve been able to do and has played a major role in my success over the years. From writing scripts to building props to sitting though countless chorus and quartet shows, she has been my partner. Please know that when you take the time to say thanks to me, more times than not you are also thanking her. In the past two years, she has spent a lot of time making sure that I did what was right even if it wasn t easy. And she has spent a lot more time trying to make sure that I didn t say or do anything that I would regret later on. I m happy to say that she is not only my wife but my best friend, as well. There are a lot more things that I could say, but eventually I d get to this same point. I m grateful for the opportunity to serve as the President of this wonderful organization. It is something that I never imagined and that I will never forget. Throughout the countless good times and the few bad, it has been an exciting and wonderful journey, and I m glad that we could all share it together. So let me finish by saying, thank you. Around the District and Society

5 THE BEAT Page 5 Another article on breathing by Jim DeBusman, CCS PVI Coordinator Why, you ask, do we have yet another article on breathing? That s a good question, unless you stand out in front of our very good chorus and realize that everyone in our chorus could be doing it even better. When Steve Scott was here as our clinician for our recent retreat, he was very pleased with many of the vocal things we were doing correctly. Many of us remember that posture was the greatest emphasis of the weekend, along with riser stacking and singing with more resonance. The development of Circle City Sound to reach the higher levels of performance we would love to attain will come only from a higher skillset of habits. One of these important skillsets is breathing correctly all the time. When singing a song, we must always take in as much air as we can in as short a span of time as possible. This must be done in such a way that our individual exhalation can be completely controlled by the correct muscles at all times. The following is nothing more than a review for many of us. It does not hurt for us to review what we already know, and, if we did not know, then all the better. Here are some ideas to help you remember how to breathe correctly: Posture Let your neck be free and your head back and up; don t look down. Allow your knees to flex slightly. Breathing Breathe in and fill your lungs from the bottom up, through a relaxed, open throat. Do this by making no noise. Did you know that our lungs are pear-shaped? Therefore, the more air the bottom half receives, the more air we will have to access. Do not become a Chest Breather - the air one takes in will be shallow and you will only be able to sing very short phrases. Do not allow your upper chest area to move. Keep the air under your tone constant, with steady pressure when singing. Always sing with warm air, never with cold air. Try to develop as much support for each pitch as is required for a quality tone and steadiness (coordination and balance between breath support and management of the vocal folds, so air is not wasted). Keep your rib cage expanded while singing; do not allow the singer's posture to collapse at, or especially near, the end of a phrase. Resonation Use your head-voice (i.e., proper focus, and we don t mean the singing through your nose) throughout your range. Allow the body to lengthen up and widen out high chest and expanded rib-cage. Allow your shoulders to relax down and back a little. Allow your hips and pelvis to tuck under and forward. Always sing in your best voice, not one that you have manufactured. Our goal is to make a maximum amount of beautiful, resonant tone with a minimum amount of effort. (Continued on page 6)

6 Page 6 THE BEAT Breathing (Continued from page 5) Anything that enhances the tone qualities should be pursued. Anything that diminishes these qualities should be discouraged. Learning to sing correctly is a gradual process of discovery, not a stumbling onto a finished solution. Pushing and muscle will take away the flexibility and freedom in your voice. A beautiful tone is made with breath support (warm air) and good breath management, not muscle. suffer; if it is too dark, ring and brilliancy will be lost. Falsetto and head-voice should be melded, so they reinforce and refine each other. If you re not singing freely, you cannot cope with other challenges, such as adjusting to everchanging pitches and vowels, in the songs we sing. I hope this article reinforces your awareness of how important proper breathing/support is to the entire chorus. As individuals, we have a responsibility to be the best singers we can be, since we have made this commitment to Circle City Sound. If a tone is too bright, depth and roundness will Thank you. Board Meeting Summary by Frank Bynum, Chapter Secretary The Board of Directors did not meet in regular session in November. The next scheduled meeting of the Board will be Thursday, December 29 at Christ Lutheran Church. This is the annual planning session, and it will begin at 5:00 pm. All board meetings are open to all of our chapter members. Our Chapter Quartets Late Shift Instant Classic 2015 International Quartet Champions The Rush 2014 Cardinal District Quartet Champions (L to R): Tim Martin (TE), Andrew Myer (LD), Adam Winans (BS), Bob Kendall (BR) Contact: Andrew Myer, (765) Photo by Ann McAlexander (L to R): Kohl Kitzmiller (BR), Kyle Kitzmiller (BS), Theo Hicks (LD), David Zimmerman (TE) Contact: Theo Hicks, (248) Photo by Shawn York (L to R): Sonny Griffith (BR), Larry Anthony (BS), Don Brown (LD), Steve McCullough (TE) Contact: Larry Anthony, (317) Photo by Miller Photography

7 THE BEAT Page 7 The Songs We Sing: Welcome Christmas from Wikipedia Welcome Christmas (also entitled Fah Who Foraze, Dah Who Doraze ) is the opening and closing song for the 1966 animated television Christmas special How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and also the finale for 2000 s live-action remake starring Jim Carrey. It was composed by Theodor S. Giesel (Dr. Seuss) and Albert Hague. It plays three times in the animated story: at the very beginning as a prologue during the Grinch's monologue in the traditional verse style of Dr. Seuss' books, and on Christmas morning, when the Grinch believes he has ruined Christmas for Whoville but, in fact, they celebrate Christmas anyway, even though he stole all their presents, decorations, and food. It is also incorporated within the final few lines of the final stanza of the poem. 12/3 Steven Harris 12/13 Jimmy Hinkle 12/5 Craig Johnson 12/15 Steve McCullough 12/6 Steve Cline 12/23 Allen Korty 12/7 Steve Warner 12/27 Drew Stainbrook 12/11 David Meade 12/13 Chris Elmore 12/30 Jack Shaffer In the final scene of the live-action version, Cindy Lou Who intones the song after she discovers that the Grinch's icy heart has been melted, and soon all of Whoville excluding Mayor Augustus May Who, who has just recently had his engagement to Martha May Whovier broken, because she had feelings for the Grinch begin to join in. The Grinch (played by Jim Carrey) adds his own personal twist to the nonsense words by singing at first, Fah Who Ray Moo, Yah Who Yee Haw. From the 1990s up until the present day, the song has been included in Radio City Music Hall's Christmas Spectacular, before the show culminates and concludes with the story of the One Solitary Life. Chapter statistics as of December 1, 2016 Chapter members: 121 Average member age: 53 Average years of service: 18 Number of active chorus members: 74 (61%)

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