“There’s an x-factor of this camp that keeps me coming back every year, 5 years now. It’s the community, it’s the talent, it’s the experience. There’s nothing I would change and I am forever grateful to be a part of this.” – 2018 camper feedback
The 2018 MountainTown Harmony Explosion Camp brought together over 50 campers and staff for a memorable camp at Central Michigan University. Forty four attendees gathered on Wednesday, July 18 for camp orientation, social activities and performances by the MountainTown Singers and others.
Rehearsals commenced Thursday morning under the direction of Erin Cook and David Zimmerman. Cook returned for her 8th consecutive camp to lead the girls’ chorus and was assisted by Glamour Quartet. She led a chorus of 21 — including 15 returning vocalists. Zimmerman, tenor of gold medal quartet, Instant Classic, and a music educator, was assisted by Frontier Quartet. He led a 23-man chorus that included eleven first-year singers.
Another favorite event was a show put on in honor of the campers on Thursday night. It featured the MountianTown Singers, Sweet Adeline choruses, Crossroads Harmony and Heart of Michigan plus the two visiting camp quartets, Frontier and Glamour.
The camp’s grand finale show on Saturday evening for families, friends and the community featured:
- Traditional barbershop songs like “After You’ve Gone;”
- A barbershop ballad standard, “Ebb Tide;”
- “What a Wonderful World”; made famous by Louis Armstrong;
- An Irving Berlin classic “Blue Skies;”
- A Darmon Meader arrangement of, “That Ever I Saw,” and
- “If There’s Anybody Here From Out of Town”, first made popular by Bing Crosby and Donald O’Connor
2018 Camp Chorus
Additional camper comments;
“I learned a lot about how to get the right sound and I felt very musically encouraged.”
“This camp opened my eyes more on barbershop quartets & the amount of technique it requires as well as how fun it is”.
“I just love singing in an amazing environment.”
The camp is made possible by the efforts of the MountainTown Singers and the financial support of the Pioneer District and a number of barbershop chapters and individuals from around Michigan. Locally, a group was supported by scholarships from The Morey Foundation.
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