November 2001
Volume 24
Number 3
AMCA OFFICERS

President
Norm Goodling

1st Vice President
Tom Rayner

2nd Vice President
Joel McLay

3rd Vice President
George Pecor

Treasurer
Norb Lehmann

Executive Secretary
William Bates

Past President
Joe Love

Legal Counsel
Paul M. Hassett, Jr.

Common Repertoire & Reviewer
Don Crouch

Music Contest Chair
Harry Learoyd

Historian
Robert Woodland

Scholarship Chair
Tom Rayner

Promotional Items
Norm Goodling

Meeting Coordinator
Jim Egan

Chorister Editor
Dan Plunkett

Associated Male Choruses of America

November 2001
Volume 24 Number 3

ALWAYS REMEMBER

My mother told me that my father went to Europe in the Second World War as a young man and returned as an old man; he never spoke to me about his experiences. I am certain that I was a disappointment to him ­ not enlisting in the Armed Forces (except for a brief stint in the Signals Reserve), having long hair and always speaking out against the establishment.

At my father's funeral, Monsignor Hanley spoke about the violence of war and especially the violence of war on a global scale and I started to understand things about my father a little better, including his alcoholism. The Canadian Legion conducted a ceremony at the grave that was very moving and I recalled the one time my father and I marched together at the Cenotaph during Remembrance Day Services. All of the veterans marched together and I was participating as a Cub; I was very proud when my father came to march with me at the parade.

As a Cub Leader, I make sure that my pack has an opportunity to participate in a Church Parade every Remembrance Day; we need these events so that we can all remember that our freedom is a costly freedom and to honour those who paid the price for our freedom.

One thing that I know my father enjoyed was music and he was always fairly tolerant of the music that I grew to enjoy in the 1960's. Apparently there was music in our background. The Plunkett Dumbbells were the Bob Hope's of their era (WWI) and entertained troops around the world. The Dumbbells was the first Canadian Act to appear on Broadway. I have a friend at Fort George in Niagara-on-the-Lake who collects their music. When I was younger, my father's friends at the Legion would always tell me about the Dumbbells and it used to bother me ­ but now I am quite proud of my namesakes as I appreciate how much God has blessed each one of us with the Gift of Song and how these men used their gift to enrich the lives of others.

As we gather together at our concerts this year, a number of people will be touched by our music; we will make them laugh and we will make them cry; we will give them comfort and we will challenge them ­ all using the gift of song.

"Hail friends of music!"

Dan Plunkett
28 Ameer Drive
St. Catharines, Ontario
L2N 3S8
dplunkett4(A)cogeco.ca

 

A Visit to the E-Chorister

Dave Thomas has been a tireless promoter of AMCA and has been very generous with his time and considerable talent by managing the AMCA Web Site. You can find it at the address in our masthead and I encourage you to have a look.

If you are a regular visitor, you know that the Chorister is available on line well in advance of the mailed hard copies. It's a lot less expensive on line and probable better for our environment as well. I would like to see more choristers be on-line subscribers.

Dave made a suggestion that we use an issue of the Chorister to promote the Website and so here we are. Thanks for the suggestion Dave.

AMCA Notable Items

This is a page on our website with current information. It is compiled by Executive Secretary, Bill Bates. The following are interesting items

New Historian

AMCA is pleased to announce the appointment of Robert Woodland as our new historian.

Robert is well experienced and is currently historian for three other organizations including the Kawartha Male Chorus. He has been a member of AMCA for twenty years and sang with the Queensmen of Toronto before joining the Kawartha Male Chorus eleven years ago.

Delegates will have an opportunity to meet their new historian at our spring meeting in Lansing, Michigan. We welcome Robert Woodland and appreciate his willingness to serve in this capacity.

You can communicate with him at and hard copies of concert programs, etc., can be mailed to his home address: 37 Adams Court, Uxbridge, Ontario, Canada. K9P 1G3. Why not drop Robert a line and make him welcome! Robert's E-mail address is woodrowe(A)sympatico.ca.

Student Chorus Joins AMCA

Occasionally pleasant surprises arrive in the mail to brighten your day. We should all feel heartened by the following news.

Sometime ago, in response to a query, I forwarded information regarding our "Student Male Chorus" membership to Ms Cheryl Valentine. Today I received a, a l cheque from Ms Valentine enrolling her high school male chorus in the AMCA. This male chorus of 33 members is from the Detroit High School for the Performing Arts and is directed by Ms. Valentine with Accompanist, Robert Sanders. The student members are in Grades 9 to 12. Both Ms. Valentine and Mr. Sanders also joined as Associate members. We welcome them to our Association!

What a wonderful opportunity for the New York Penn District and the Gentlemen Songsters chorus of Detroit in particular, to both encourage these young singers and to involve this group in future concerts and activities. I suggest that they contact Ms Valentine at the school (4333 Rosa Parks Blvd, Detroit, MI 48208) and welcome them as members.

I would also suggest that there might be some very qualified potential AMCA scholarship candidates in this group worth consideration.



Choruses On-Line

The following are choruses that have a presence on the Internet. You can link to them from the AMCA site.
  • Greater Lansing Orpheus Male Chorus, Lansing, MI
  • Men of Music, Midland, MI
  • Norton Male Chorus, Mt. Morris, MI
  • Amherst Male Glee Club, Snyder, NY
  • Kawartha Male Chorus, Lindsay, ON
  • Niagara Men's Chorus, Niagara Falls, ON
  • The Queensmen of Toronto, Toronto, ON
  • 3M Male Chorus, Lake Elmo, MN
  • Eagan Men's Chorus, Eagan, MN
  • Marshall Area Men's Chorus, Marshall, MN
  • Rochester Male Chorus, Rochester, MN
  • Singing Statesmen (student chorus), Eau Claire, WI
  • South St. Paul Male Chorus, South St. Paul, MN
  • Milwaukee Male Chorus, Milwaukee, WI

Visit these sites and see how busy our choruses are and the many creative ways our member choruses present themselves to the electronic community.

Music Talk with Don

This is a page in which members may correspond with Don Crouch, AMCA music reviewer and keeper of the Common Repertoire. This is in addition to the extensive list of reviews and is an excellent resource for our choristers.

Publishers and Suppliers

Dave Thomas has provided links to a variety of music publishers and providers on the AMCA Website.
  • Agape Hope Publishing
  • American Society of Composers and Publishers (ASCAP)
  • Cantus Quercus Press
  • G. Schirmer
  • Hal Leonard Music
  • J.W. Pepper
  • Malecki Music
  • Music Mart
  • Sheet Music Plus
  • Music Plus Corp.
  • Modrana Music
George Pecor sent the following important information. I myself have nothing against cheeseheads, but I did find this amusing. You know you're in Wisconsin when:
  • Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waiting to pass a tractor on the highway.
  • You measure distance in hours.
  • You often switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day and back again!
  • Your whole family wears green and gold to church on Sunday.
  • You can drive 65 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard, without flinching.
  • You see people wearing hunting clothes at social events.
  • You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked.
  • You think of the major food groups as cheese, beer, fish, and venison.
  • You carry jumper cables in your car and your girlfriend knows how to use them.
  • You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.
  • Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow.
  • You refer to the Packers as "we".
  • You know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction
  • Your idea of creative landscaping is a statue of a cow next to your blue spruce.
  • Down South to you means Chicago.
  • A brat is something you eat.
  • Your neighbour throws a party to celebrate his new machine shed.
  • You go out for a fish fry every Friday.
  • You know how to polka.
  • Your 4th of July Family Picnic was moved indoors due to frost.
  • You have more miles on your snowblower than your car.
  • You find 0 degrees "a little chilly."
  • You know what to do with a Blatz...
[Chorister]

The Chorister is the official newsletter of the Associated Male Choruses of America, Inc. You are encouraged to participate in the creation of this newsletter by submitting articles, letters, photographs and pictures.
Dan Plunkett
28 Ameer Drive
St. Catharines, Ontario
L2N 3S8
(905) 646-1445
dplunkett4(A)home.com

The Associated Male Choruses is an organization dedicated to the principles of good music, fellowship and service to others. We have been together for more than 75 years and have provided countless people with the joy of hearing male voice choirs, uplifted spirits at concerts and Big Sings, and helped provide promising music students with thousands of dollars in scholarships. I thank AMCA for giving me the opportunity to be involved in this type of work.