Food Fun Family

Just Another Barbershop Weekend #PSF Give Me Your Best Shot

Lolli — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 01:39:21 +0000

This past weekend was the yearly Barbershop Youth Adjudications for my daughter’s quartet (along with the adult International Prelims) in Harrisburg, PA. I was lucky enough to be able to spend the weekend as the quartet mom (aka world’s best chaperone), tagging along on all of their adventures in Pennsylvania.

It was exhilarating and exhausting, but as always, very fun. The barbershop crowd is hands-down the friendliest, most supportive crowd I’ve ever had the pleasure to associate with. Although I don’t consider myself a great singer, I have a deep appreciation for music, and I love listening and learning alongside these girls. I am so proud of them.

Afterglow Quartet

Afterglow with their best buddies and mentors, Last Men Standing

A silly little note: I have spent the last 15 minutes trying to copy and paste the code for Photostory Friday/Give Me Your Best Shot, and I’m finally giving up. My computer refuses to copy and paste. So, I’ll just leave it at this….Welcome to Photostory Friday and Give Me Your Best Shot! Feel free to link up your photo posts from this week and have a fantastic weekend!

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Holiday Concerts Galore! #PSF

Lolli — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 21:17:12 +0000

‘Tis the Season…for holiday concerts! Last week, we had 5 nights of play performances, this week is choir (and quartet), and next week is orchestra. For your holiday listening pleasure, here is one of the songs that Afterglow performed at last night’s winter choir concert:

Last week’s middle school performance of How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse:

And the high school performance of The Crucible:

Is your December filled with concerts and parties and performances, too?

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

To play Give Me Your Best Photo Story Friday, check this. Copy this code into your post and sign the link list:
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Harvest of Harmony 2014 #WW

Lolli — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 22:00:58 +0000

I am so proud of Necco, my 15-year-old, and my 3 other “quartet daughters.” The girls’ quartet, Afterglow, was invited to perform at the Harvest of Harmony concert in Washington DC this weekend, and although we couldn’t take photos or video during the concert, I did capture a few videos and pictures after the concert was over. If you know anything about barbershop, you know that the real party starts once the formal concert is done.

The girls had a fantastic time getting to know Last Men Standing, who just won first place in the Barbershop Harmony Society’s competitive Mid-Atlantic District Convention about a week ago.

This is not a song that Afterglow quartet does, but most of the girls learned it in chorus at school, and they learned that Last Men Standing knew the song, too. They got together in the hall after the concert and sang it together, just for fun. This video is the song they sang together – with no practice, no coordination. It’s just a group of people who are passionate about singing and LOVE to do it.

And here’s a little preview of one of Afterglow’s songs from after the concert:

A video posted by Lolli (@1momof5) on Nov 11, 2014 at 8:44am PST

Afterglow is just starting their concert cycle this year, so expect lots more to come!

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My Guy {Afterglow} #PSF

Lolli — Thu, 23 Oct 2014 22:39:48 +0000

Afterglow is back and they are rocking it already this school year!

My daughter’s quartet, Afterglow, performed at their first concert of the year last night, and they brought the house down. I love that in just a year since they first started singing together they have not only improved so much, but they have developed quite a name for themselves among their high school peers and the large Barbershop community in the greater DC area. They already have 2 huge DC concerts coming up in the next month (where they are guest performers at big venues) and I couldn’t be more proud or more excited for them.

Since I accompanied these 4 girls to all of their concerts and camps last year, they call me Mama Laura…and I love them all like daughters. I love that they are so different and yet they mesh together – in voices and in personalities – so perfectly. They just have so much FUN together. It’s contagious.

Here is their second song from last night, their first time performing this song as a quartet in public.

Here’s their performance of Taking a Chance on Love last June, and the very first song they learned together (Jeepers Creepers), performed last winter. My daughter is the tenor (the high voice).

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

To play Give Me Your Best Photo Story Friday, check this. Copy this code into your post and sign the link list:
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Harmony College East 2014 #PSF Give Me Your Best Shot

Lolli — Fri, 20 Jun 2014 00:28:15 +0000

I never really dreamed of becoming a soccer mom. I don’t have much interest in team sports. I imagined that I’d be a piano mom or a dance mom. I never thought that I’d be a barbershop mom.

This past school year, my 2nd daughter, Necco, got involved in her school’s barbershop quartet program. She was beyond excited when she auditioned in the Fall and was placed in a quartet with 3 other girls. She didn’t know any of these girls before she started singing with them, but it became apparent right away that they were a perfect mix. All 4 girls have gorgeous voices, and they get along so well.

During the Winter, I chaperoned their first public performance together at the Youth Adjudications, where they were rated, critiqued, and then coached for a full day.

This past weekend, I chaperoned them again at Harmony College East, where they had 2 full days of coaching and classes, and two nights of concerts. I stayed with the girls in the dorms (yes, I even shared 2 showers between the 10 of us from our school), followed them around all day, listened to their coaching and practicing for hours on end…and was dubbed Mama Laura – an official Barbershop Mom.

I am so proud of my girls, and I can’t wait to see how the next year plays out for them. They already have quite a reputation within the regional barbershop community. I already feel like I belong to the barbershop family. And I love it!

(Please excuse my less-then-stellar video-taking abilities)

PS – my daughter, Necco, is the tenor on the far right, singing the super-high part.

PPS – I have been featuring my #30SummerDays photos each Friday for the last few weeks, but I really couldn’t wait to share these pictures, so I’ll postpone #30SummerDays til Wednesday!

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

To play Give Me Your Best Shot Photo Story Friday, check this. Copy this code into your post and sign the link list:
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Jeepers Creepers! #WW Link Up

Lolli — Tue, 08 Apr 2014 23:00:51 +0000

This past weekend, my 14-year-old daughter spent another fun music-filled day at a youth singing festival with the Alexandria Harmonizers, where she and her barbershop quartet were asked to perform at the evening concert (a first time honor for a high school quartet!). Not only did they get to do a ton of group singing and group training, but their quartet was singled out to receive some one-on-one training. These girls are really going places!

The Alexandria Harmonizers:

The youth festival participants:

“Afterglow”, performing Jeepers Creepers (my daughter is the tenor – the super high voice – on the far right):

Ready for another week of Wordless Wednesday posts? Link up below!

An InLinkz Link-up