Harmonies

We went to the Barbershop Harmony Society's Mid-Winter Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada, last month. The convention included the seniors quartet competition and the youth chorus festival, as well as a performance that included the top five quartets from the international competition last July. And we really enjoyed it. Yes, there were times we agreed with the judges, and times we didn't. But we really enjoyed it.

What did we enjoy the most? These:

• Senior Quartet Competition: We enjoyed a lot of the seniors quartet competition, and we enjoyed last year's winner of that competition, Resisting A-Rest. They were great! (We liked them a lot better than this year's winners. This year's winners were good, but ....)

• Youth Chorus Festival: We largely agreed with the judges here. The two non-US choruses especially impressed us. Those were the Saints Chorus from Saint Patrick's College (what we would call a high school) in New Zealand, and the Cross Canada Chorus.

• International Quartets: Storm Front was fantastic! (See their own web site, too.) The other quartet that impressed us was this year's fourth place finisher, the Musical Island Boys from New Zealand.

Why did we like these? It's simple: The harmonies are excellent. And they're great to listen to. Check them out for yourselves.