How to Improve Sight-Reading Skills
How to improve sight-reading skills An Introduction to Sight-Reading What exactly is sight-reading? Sight-reading is the ability to look at a sheet music chart and sing it for the first
After several years of not going to a Southwest District competition, we had the opportunity and inclination to perform on May 7th, 2022. The Houston Tidelanders Chorus have historically gone to many district competitions over the years. In fact, our all Men’s a cappella Barbershop Chorus has won the Southwestern District Competition a total of 17 times!
Placing first in the District Competition also entitles the winning Chorus to compete at the International Convention. The Houston Tidelanders have finished in the top 10 at the International Competition 9 times.
Both competitions are sponsored by the Barbershop Harmony Society, or simply the BHS. They’re also put on during either the Fall and/or Spring Convention.
The SWD Competition Chorus Competition was represented by different choruses from across various cities in the district. There were choruses from Houston, Dallas, Ft. Worth, San Antonio, Austin and more!
The District judges the Chorus Competition in three main categories:
Dr. Ben May is our Musical Director. He has overall responsibility for the musical direction and education of the Houston Tidelanders. Dr. May works with a dedicated Music Leadership Team to select songs for our performances. He also teaches, guides, and works to improve our vocal performances.
The Houston Tidelanders performed two love songs “At Last” and “Mona Lisa” for scores and a spiritual song “Swing Down” just for fun and the experience.
Click below to watch a video of our performance:
The Houston Tidelanders Chorus performs in the Greater Houston Metropolitan area throughout the calendar year. Our organization has performed at charity benefits including Fort Bend Family Promise, Fort Bend ISD Men’s Fest, and the annual Heroes at Home Golf event benefiting the Green Beret Foundation. The Houston Tidelanders offers Singing Valentines, Good Times Shows, and Christmas performances annually.
The Houston Tidelanders have won the Southwestern District of the Barbershop Harmony Society’s competition 17 times and placed in the top 10 in International competition 9 times.
Learn how many times the Houston Tidelanders have competed at the International level.
How to improve sight-reading skills An Introduction to Sight-Reading What exactly is sight-reading? Sight-reading is the ability to look at a sheet music chart and sing it for the first
Generally in most years, the SWD sponsors an annual Chorus and Quartet competition. The exception is the pandemic year we experienced due to Covid-19. There was no competition during the pandemic. The BHS recent resumed chorus competitions in 2022.
The Tidelanders excitedly sponsored our first singing competition. We promoted the contest to over 200 high schools in Harris and Fort Bend counties in Texas. We announced two winners (Men’s and Women’s) mid-April. We are looking forward to planning a bigger contest next year.
The Houston Tidelanders Chorus is pleased that we were able to perform for Clear Lake audiences once again! We’ve been performing in the Clear Lake area for about 25 years and it’s one of favorite shows.
“Smile” continues to be considered timeless. Meaning the message always seems to be relevant. As long as it continues to be popular, artists will continue to cover and interpret it’s meaning in order to continue to have it resonate with audiences. Modern artists like Michael Jackson have arranged and performed it.