Masters of Harmony - 2008 International Barbershop Chorus Champions

Ladies and Gentlemen,
The Barbershop Harmony Society is proud to present your 2008 International Chorus Champions!
Representing the Far Western District....
THE MASTERS OF HARMONY!
They're performing two Public Domain songs! "Wonderful One" arranged by David Wright, and "Yona, From Arizona" arranged by Aaron Dale.
Visit www.barbershop.org to get information on choruses in your area, and visit the Masters of Harmony at their web page: www.mastersofharmony.org!
Also, while you're on barbershop.org check out the registration are for the 2009 International Convention in Anaheim, where the Masters of Harmony are surely going to wow the crowd with their Swan Set.

[@JRCOLBERT67]

Being from a vocal background my whole life I know what kind of dedication it takes to do something like this, This was an absolutely great vocal performance, anyone that says otherwise just doesn't appreciate it or just plainly isn't into this type of thing.

[@BlueDeanCarcione]

this defines the word "performance" in the highest and most noble possible way. must be a tremendous honor to partake in something like that. respect.

[@vanceperry]

Amazing! Love it! And in HD!

[@thecartmans]

everyone really feels the music the make. just beautiful.

[@amybee40]

I love seeing a group with such a wide range of ages represented!

[@ChildMine]

Wow. The sound is amazing, and the choreography of the second song is...amazing!!

[@02Jonah]

Just fabulous xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[@AntiPrep789]

I was blown away at the passion, how amazing that sounded!

[@thelonearranger1]

I love the energy they exhibit in the upbeat number.

[@66gardener]

Sorry guys, Danny doesn't have a clue. MOH once again present themselves exquisitely, both musically and wonderful stage presence.

[@thelonearranger1]

Amen!

[@Solstaro]

Great stuff

[@firsttenor76]

Absolutely beautiful, gave me chills!

[@BarbershopHarmony]

I checked, it's in the same format as the Ringmasters one I put up, so it should be HD. I also want to apologize for having to take Ringmasters down. I assumed that Yes Sir, That's My Baby was PD, and it was not. So I had to take it down. Thanks for understanding, Jesse

[@ldavidp]

i was jut watching this and a car alarm went off outside - LOL!!

[@N365PA]

Wonderful work, awesome video!

[@kezwhiterosette81]

A full on performance! Superb!!!

[@XuinMCM]

For any reason i believe in the future of the humanity watching something like this.... But then.... I start a new day and i see the News... U_U.... Really Wonderfull!!.

[@Silory12]

Really really trasspasing my feelings, i really love it!

[@masterjedi343]

Awesome. amazing job guys.

[@apr28]

Count the future members of Westminster Chorus! I see at least 5.

[@CorneelHolland]

Geweldige voorstelling!!

[@SAMIX777]

wonderfull!!!!!!!

[@PockASqueeno]

This HD is taking forever to load...I'm going to keep this open and watch it tomorrow.

[@DanishCartoonist]

That bit from 7:39-8:00 is spine-tingling to anyone who loves those barbershop chords!!

[@sgtsonny]

Four things I absolutely loved about this performance: 1. The way they all nod their heads at the end of a song as a sign of gratefulness :) 2. The crescendos... how cool were those? 3. The choreo 4. The choreo.. again!

[@entra55]

It is amazing itself. Truly astonished.

[@MrPete81]

@thelonearranger1 every time I hear that it gives me goosebumps all over! awesome stuffs! :D

[@thelonearranger1]

I think the progression from the F major chord to the A dominant seventh at 7:46 is awesome, and the wave created by the hands further accentuates the effect of the change of harmony and slide from one inversion to another. There are not many amateur groups that can do what these choruses do. It is amazing how they sing with musicality and good intonation while they are doing all that crazy choreography, and, by the way, THAT WAS VERY COOL when they hoisted the guy up!

[@MichaelMontague]

Excellent!

[@tsaeshyan]

So much facial expression on everyone's face. This is a good way for the choral performance.. much more lively and attractive.

[@luvingChen]

unbelievable

[@Guthrief87]

Too right!

[@alvaroruizvalde]

wonderful

[@Wegster64]

i like this

[@rossi3200]

i saw barber shop! i couldnt wait annother century for this :S

[@supersingerevan]

@LilKroog Yeah, there's a very strong connection between the Masters and Westminster, many members of Westminster sing and compete in both groups.

[@PopperNazi]

@guibox3 As a chorus and quartet contestant I've heard several judges agree with what you say and some who think the complete opposite. That goes for any doctors as well. They were the champions that year for a reason and I would imagine that personal facial expressions like the one at 0:54 were a huge reason why the presentation judges love this chorus as well as any other large chorus and scored them high for it. So obviously I'm all for it! :) And yes these guys are top notch!

[@DLF1651]

You are entitled to your opinion. As a former member of the Dapper Dan's of Harmony ('70 chorus champions) our focus was on balance/blend, arrangements, harmonies and crispness. We let our voices do "the talking". I still do appreciate the singing quality of the quartets and choruses..not taking that away at all..just no longer care for all the swaying and swooning and over the top "smiles". Keep America Singing !

[@throwerfan22]

this was AMAZING!!! but 7:30 to 8:00 was my favorite part! :]

[@DLF1651]

Years ago I sang barbershop and REALLY enjoyed it.. then someone decided just the quality of voices were no longer enough...the fake enthusiasm and contorted facial expressions have demoralized me. I'll often just listen to postings..but no longer watch. Maybe someday, a chorus will emphasize their singing talent and not worry about trying to replicate child beauty pagents. Phenominal singing talent MOH...no one can take that away from you !

[@PianoFatso]

I thought the tuning issue was just one Baritone going slightly sharp. I still think these guys are superb. It must be a huge amount of work to get so many voices to the required standard. They entertain with performance as well as singing.

[@BarbershopHarmony]

At the same time, the woman you'd be talking to in real life wouldn't be as far away as the audience is from the MOH here. You have to keep in mind, on stage your movements and facial expressions must be exaggerated so the audience can see them.

[@watchtowerdai]

wonderful====as my guiding active songs

[@PsychosisGnome]

The one at the very end? Yes, I believe so. Very specifically, I think it was around a D7. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

[@vanish129]

My favorite "RHYTHMS" were in 8:22-8:27 and in 8:32-8:37

[@Jackman24601]

Yep, I think Cory's on the far right of the front row of the risers.

[@TransFormersPrime09]

Is it me or is Ray Proscia a member of the chorus?

[@Antilles1974]

Bit of tuning problems in the tenors on the final Chord of Wonderful One.

[@niremetal]

Apples and oranges. The MoH choreography/presentation is crisper and they produce a fuller sound, though AoH has a flashier performance that also is impressive just because of the size of the chorus. Which I prefer depends on my mood.

[@sesamestreet1980]

on the first line, there is the conductor of westminster chorus :):)

[@TromboneMachine]

God.

[@fabsterg]

i think its funny how everyone leans in to the coordinater

[@AKunasekArts]

@sesamestreet1980 there are 4 or 5 wc members in the front row.

[@Agrumin]

that's one lucky girl...

[@LilKroog]

Never knew the current Westminster director was in this...

[@DLF1651]

I can identify with "feeling" the song, Step. You're right that we can't be maniquens on stage. And I appreciate the intracacies and synchonicity of the choreography. But I see the faces of some of these guys and think, if that's the face they'd be making when actually singing to a woman, that lady would be walking away! :) Likewise as everyone is doing their own thing, I find it distracting from the performance. Last time I saw someone being hoisted up on four people's hands were cheerleaders

[@DanCourse]

omg

[@LilKroog]

6:58 = OC Times, minus their bass...right?

[@KAT7musicDEFINED1995]

im not crying...your crying...

[@guibox3]

Very pretty. Some of the guys like the one at 0:54 are overdoing the expressions something fierce. Dr. Greg Lyne on his instructional video on a better sounding chorus warned against that over emphasis. There is a difference between emoting and looking like you're constipated. Masters of Harmony is a top notch chorus no doubt!

[@naorsilva]

Hoe many voices we have here??

[@JessCat606]

extra room for runnin' around? :)

[@jmiller823]

@Theman112222 So why comment at all?

[@mpampakos]

****watch this stoned and without sound for a different experience***

[@Theman112222]

@The6double Hey i was just being honest.. Oh and to how hard it is... so??? it's not easy to do music period so.... that's besides the point.

[@Antilles1974]

Scratch that, problem is with the leads (?) I don't know, the last chord is all off.

[@ldavidp]

The most wasted ad in the history of KZbin !!!

[@pe1rdw]

very good chores but for me it misses the barbershop magic a bit because there are to many tones to create the fibration you get with a good quartet, don't get me wrong tho, it takes masters to stay in sync like they do and it definatly has the barbershop dynamic

[@hollandsalomon3272]

11 tone deaf people watched this

[@JJayHawk9]

It's better they have over-the-top smiles than dead faces. Dead faces=dead sound. Believe me, they wouldn't sing as well without the stage presence which is not the same as choreography. I would much rather listen to singing from live active singers than from dead-panned dummies singing notes and words. You can choose to just listen to it, but when you are listening realize how it would not sound good without the live faces and energy they produce. -JJ

[@RyanFlynn91]

It's clear that Sean Devine does anything in his power to make his vowels sound perfect... But his faces get goofy :-P.

[@slimphotog]

Expression is all good, but the guy at :52 looks like he's trying to pass a stone.

[@The6double]

@Theman112222 Honestly, and I'll remind you, I'm just being honest, this was a terrible comment to put down. if you have any knowledge of music at all, you would know that it is very difficult to achieve a perfect balance in an all men's chorus.

[@Theman112222]

@The6double and i can understand why it would be difficult with a bunch of terrible amateur singers. ---- JUST BEING HONEST!

[@rockerdeej]

i saw a lot of jizz faces O.o

[@holnrew]

But they look silly

[@Dannys99887]

Very nice for a chorus. (Quartets are better.) But I hate competition performance of barbershop music. The "choreography" and the vocal acrobatics to impress the judges just come across as phony and contrived. This doesn't even sound like traditional barbershop. I wan't to hear something like "Coney Island Baby" in "C".,...a bouncy "C".......with no more than one key change, and without the hand gestures and phony choreography.

[@ethanwolfe4339]

I agree that sometimes chorus choreography is distracting, but I think when quartets emote in contest their movements come off as far less phony than a chorus's might, and add to the performance a great deal. Crossroads "Lucky Old Sun" wouldn't have been spectacular without the emotion behind it. Regardless, contest performances are phenomenal to listen to from either choruses or quartets, I think. Gotta love MOH.

[@DanPlaysPiano]

I totally agree. I was thinking of joining a barbershop chorus, because I love to sing. The choreography seems cheesy and distracting, and is convincing me not to join.

[@ldavidp]

Yeah. It sucked. We won with the highest score ever written, as I recall! "Phony and contrived"?! LOL!! Couldn't care less about the Judges. The goal is to perform the music at optimum in all categories. Also, Quartets are not "better", they are just different. If you don't know what you're talking about, it's probably best to not comment. Otherwise, ya just look silly.

[@Theman112222]

Honestly, and I'll remind you, I'm just being honest, this was terrible... I'm just putting it out there that I would never listen to this ever. It doesn't sound good at all.