Nanaimo will be alive with the sound of barbershop harmonies this weekend, when the Tidesmen chorus plays host to the 2018 Evergreen District’s Division 1 Barbershop Convention.
This is the second time since 2013 the Tidesmen are hosting the event, which will see 250 singers in quartets and choruses from Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland and northern Washington State face off for the chance to advance to the district and international levels of competitive barbershop.
Although the competition is serious and professional barbershop judges are being flown in from across the United States, Tidesman producer Sandra Walsh said the singers “come together as comrades.”
“We aren’t just here to compete with one another; we’re here to actually spend time with one another. The competition is just kind of a good reason to get together. It’s a lot of fellowship,” she said.
“Even the quartets will coach other quartets before they go on stage just to make sure the art form and the music they’re performing is at the highest standard,” added convention chair Jay Cousins, who will compete with the Tidesmen in the chorus category and as a member of the Fouray quartet.
The quartets kick off the competition on Friday night, followed by the chorus contest on Saturday morning. The top finishers face off on Saturday night at the Show of Champions between performances by special guests Social Insecurity, a quartet from Portland, Ore., and Victoria’s Pacific Edge Chorus.
But before the grand finale, some members of the visiting groups will gather at downtown locations to serenade passing Nanaimoites in the early afternoon.
“An ambassador from the Tidesmen [will] lead them to a spot in the downtown core where they can sing to gathering multitudes,” Cousins said.
The Tidesmen have been preparing all year for the convention and Cousins says to expect an “electric” atmosphere. He said the chorus’ last stint as host was a sell-out success and that visiting singers praised the Port Theatre as a barbershop venue. He said it’s “awesome” to be chosen to host once again.
“It gives us good status in the barbershop community,” he said.
“And the last time we did this, in 2013, we had great reviews. Rave reviews from our peers.”
This weekend the Tidesmen will be hoping for an encore.
WHAT’S ON … The 2018 Evergreen District’s Division 1 Barbershop Convention takes place this weekend at the Port Theatre with the quartet contest on Friday, April 27 at 6:30 p.m., the chorus contest on Saturday April 28 at 10 a.m. (tickets are $15 each) and the Show of Champions ($30) later that night at 7 p.m. Tickets are available at the box office or www.tidesmen.com.
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