Wombat/VM in Orlando - July 2018

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BRWombat
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Wombat/VM in Orlando - July 2018

Post by BRWombat » Tue Jan 23, 2018 11:49 am

Hey all! The international convention and competition for the Barbershop Harmony Society will be in Orlando this summer, and I will be traveling with Vocal Majority to compete!

The gathering will be at the Orange County Convention Center during the first week of July. Cost for full convention attendance with admission to all of the quartet and chorus competitions is steep -- around $279 per person for early registration -- but single event admission usually goes on sale a month or two out, and that's t5pically $30-45. The chorus contest is held over two sessions, all on Friday, July 6, and VM will be on stage about halfway through the first session.

In addition, we will be rehearsing at the Hyatt Regency there, and our rehearsals are always open to the public and free. Typically our in-town rehearsals are on Wednesday night and Thursday during the day. I'll post more schedule details as they become available.

Click the image below to be taken to the Society's convention page for more details. Hope some of you can stop by while I'm in town!

Image
Orlando International - convention/contest home page



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BRWombat
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Re: Wombat/VM in Orlando - July 2018

Post by BRWombat » Tue Jun 26, 2018 3:30 pm

UPDATE: The convention and contests are next week, and I have details for anyone in the Orlando area who might want to see any of the performances or just stop by and meet me at a rehearsal and hear VM for free.

To witness some amazing performances (not free), click here for details on the various shows and contests available during the week. Vocal Majority will be in the first session of the chorus contest on Friday, July 6, appearing onstage around 1:00 pm local time. There is a day pass available, and also live streaming for those not in Orlando. The page linked above has the schedule and all the details.

To meet me and get to hear Vocal Majority rehearse (and it will be worth your time -- we'll have scores of spectators at some of our rehearsals): we are rehearsing at the Hyatt Regency at the Orange County Convention Center (the former Peabody Hotel), in their own convention rooms at the east end of the hotel, in Windemere W & X. We'll be there:
  • Wednesday July 4 - 10pm-Midnight
  • Thursday, July 5 - 9-11am &
  • Thursday, July 5 - 4-6:30pm
All of our rehearsals are free and open to the public.

Let me know if you have any questions, and feel free to message me if you might make it there -- I'd love to know you're coming so I can look for you!



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BRWombat
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Re: Wombat/VM in Orlando - July 2018

Post by BRWombat » Tue Jul 24, 2018 3:57 pm

For whoever is still around -- got back from Orlando two weeks ago and I'm still smiling. The trip could not have gone better if I'd scripted it.

(1) Vocal Majority won the world championship again on Friday, July 6 -- the group's 13th gold medal and my second. There's a lot I could say about the experience, but I'll sum it up in these four words: winning does not suck.

Here's one of the songs from our performance:



(2) We spend several hours on Saturday the 7th recording a video of A Million Dreams with Voctave. Dang, but they're good. No word yet on when the video will be released, but I'll try to remember to post it here.

(3) Since VM won the gold, we performed again at the Convention Center on Saturday evening. This was one of the rare downsides of winning, since I really wanted to see the hour-long show that came before we went on -- it featured Return2Zero (a/k/a "Four for a Dollar" from the B&tB preshow at the Studios), the Humdingers (a/k/a the Dapper Dans -- Disney can be so proprietary about their group names!), and Voctave. We had to settle for listening to the last half of Voctave's set from backstage.

On the plus side, since we did get to perform right after Voctave, and had our joint arrangement of A Million Dreams ready to go, we got to surprise the audience by bringing Voctave back out to perform with us live. Likely the only time we'll ever get to perform the song together for a live audience!

(4) After all the competitions were over and we were singing just for fun (which went well into the wee hours of Sunday morning), we (my wife, my parents and I) headed to WDW for a few hours. We knew going into this trip that we would not have the energy for the parks -- contests and conventions are incredibly draining -- but my parents had never been at all so I wanted to introduce them to our favorite vacation destination. We had lunch at Whispering Canyon Cafe since I knew they'd love the Wilderness Lodge, then we rented a pontoon boat and I drove them around Bay Lake and Seven Seas Lagoon for a while. I also drive our rental SUV around the World (a first for me; I'd never driven on-property before) and played tour guide. Great fun.

My dad, who turned 81 this year, had the best line when I took he and my mom to the Guest Services desk at Wilderness Lodge to get a "1st Visit" button. He gestured to me and my wife and said, "They waited to take us (to WDW) until we were old enough to appreciate it."

All in all, a phenomenal trip -- great family time, phenomenal experiences shared with my VM brothers, lots of camaraderie and excellent music at the convention, and another nice, shiny piece of hardware to enjoy.



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Re: Wombat/VM in Orlando - July 2018

Post by felinefan » Tue Jul 24, 2018 5:21 pm

Congratulations Wombat! :thumbsup:



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