Sheryl Brook - thoughts on Harmony 500 Directorship
Sometimes, in this world, it just helps to be clueless. Truly it does. Ignorance can be bliss, as it was in my case. I had completely forgotten that there was such a category as a “Harmony 500 Director”, so going into competition last year, I had plenty of goals regarding our contest package, but achieving that wasn't one of them!
Hearts of Harmony had worked super hard on our package, and I was delighted to be able to say, weeks ahead, that they were consistently producing the level of sound I had wanted to hear for that year's stage; they were bringing the skills I expected to stage, all of us knowing that we had lots yet to learn, and they were breaking fresh ground emotionally with every package run-through. So I knew they were going to do well, and when they did, I was completely satisfied (for the moment).
When I saw the scoresheets, I actually thought I was reading the wrong line – had to go back and check it again, then cry a few tears because our efforts had actually produced what I'd hoped for! When the scores leaked out, the chorus was all super-excited. I couldn't understand it. Sure they'd done great, and I wanted them to “get” that, and celebrate it! But this was something extra, and I wasn't sure what it was. When we all came together that evening to go through the scoresheets, finally at the end, someone said, “And we made you a Harmony 500 Director!!!” and I finally clued in. I honestly had forgotten that was even a thing, so that was just a marvelous extra to what they'd already done.
Now, of course, the chorus has to put up with me saying things like, “Now that you're a B chorus, we need to......” And yes, I changed some of my passwords to reflect last year's score! As we have worked together since then, the whole idea of the sound being chorus-driven at this level is increasingly apparent, and Hearts of Harmony members are welcoming the challenge and growing into it. So actually, I'm NOT a Harmony 500 Director, I'm the director of a Harmony 500 Chorus.
