Day 2: Collegiate Contest and Preliminary Exploration

Our team awoke this morning and, after taking advantage of the exercise facilities, enjoyed a free breakfast thanks to the hotel. As it turns out, the small bag of marijuana Jamie found underneath a vase (yes, he was turning over vases) when reported to management nets 3 days worth of breakfast for our room.  After a deliciously free breakfast, I went off to rehearse with HHHHHHHHHHHHHH (heretofore referred to as H¹⁴) for the Collegiate Quartet Contest. Our fantastic coaches, Donny and Amy Rose, helped us with the last details that would allow us to score as high as possible on the International stage.

The rest of the crew decided to go explore the city.  However, being Washingtonians, they decided the excursion required coffee. In typical Seattleite fashion, the found their way into a Starbucks where they picked up some manly frappaccinos.  Sated, they headed towards Independence Hall in hopes of seeing the Liberty Bell and connecting with our nations rich history.  Unfortunately the spirit of tourism had already bought all of the tickets to see the interior of the Hall that day, leaving the group with no choice but to take demonstrative pictures out in front of it, then head back to the hotel.

On the way back to the hotel they found a few historic and inspiring artifacts. Because of his intense interest in history, Andrew stopped to educate the public on the under-appreciated origin of the sculptures littering the Philadelphia landscape.  You can find episode one of Great Moments in America with Andrew DeMulling here on YouTube, where he discusses the importance of transportation to George Washington in early America.

Having done their part to better the nation’s knowledge of its illustrious past, the crew headed back to the hotel where they met up with Tim Waurick (who remembered our names!).  Tim was headed to the AIC chorus rehearsal, so the boys decided to tag along. Seeing so much hardware around the necks of the singers gave an accurate indication of how the chorus was going to sound. With the opening chord of the rehearsal, the AIC chorus balanced out a powerful sound that was larger than life. Within a few minutes, the chorus was crafting music that will surely be a treat to hear in full at the AIC show.

At the hotel room they popped Tim Waurick’s new multitrack CD into my computer to give it a listen.  Though I only heard half of a song before I had to go, I was blown away by the production quality and stellar singing on the CD.  I heartily recommend buying the CD and giving it a listen, even if you’re not into barbershop.  Having listened to some recorded vocal goodness, they then headed over to the collegiate quartet competition to indulge in live performances.

Matt's copy of Tim's album – signed by Tim once for every part

Back to the quartet and I. We’d been rehearsing pretty much non-stop since I left the group, with just enough time for food (best cookies I’ve ever eaten in my LIFE) and a short nap before we went to compete.  We went on 3^rd, and so had the opportunity to hear the majority of the contest, and let me tell you, it was one of the most intense competitions we could have hoped for.  The difference between 1^st and 2^nd place came down to a minute 2 points, with Swedish Match winning with an International-quality 82.3.  We were very happy with our score of 76.9 and our 8th place finish, and hope to continue improving in the future.

Afterwards we tagged with several people. H¹⁴ had the opportunity to sing on the Larry Ajer show where we sang our contest set for very appreciative late-night barbershop connoisseurs. A fantastic day of competing and we are only 2 days in. Tomorrow we all look forward to seeing the quartet quarter-finals and further exploring the lovely town of Philadelphia. Go NVP, and go America!