BOOK YOUR ROOM FOR THE FALL CONVENTION:
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Convention Registrations (tickets) are available here!

Contestant Registration Opens August 8th

As you have already heard, we will be hosting a convention this fall (Oct 1, 2) in Lancaster, PA. Please continue to monitor the Convention Page for more information as it becomes available. The ensemble sign up process has changed. Instead of entering your quartet or chorus information in Barberscore, you'll need to enter the information directly into Member Center. The process is simple and a 'how to' video will be available before registration is open. Your quartet of chorus will be able to register starting on August 8 and the registration will close on Sept. 8. As in years past, you can choose to compete for awards or just for score and evaluation simply by checking a box. If you choose the score/eval option, your score details will NOT appear on any scoring summaries. Only your ensemble will receive the information. While we are currently planning to have evaluations for those who want them, it is not a requirement for either the ensembles that are competing or for those that are participating for score only. More detail on evals will follow once we know how many ensembles want to have evals. If you simply wish to sing for our fabulous MAD audience without being scored or evaluated, please follow the same sign up process and add 'we don't want to be scored or evaluated' in the notes section at the bottom of the registration form. Please contact me if you have any questions. --- Ig Jakovac VP, Contest and Judging

COVID FAQ:

Members of the Events Team were asked to investigate some best practices and to come up with a set of FAQs that may be helpful to all of us. Before presenting the FAQ's, be advised that we asked the folks at the Lancaster Convention Center about their ventilation system. We were informed that the ventilation system involves the use of HEPA filtration, and is now certified by the Global Biorisk Advisory Council. This is one of only two PA facilities so certified. That is very good news for us. It is unlikely that COVID will be completely gone by Oct. 1,2 so each of us needs to weigh any risks because the risk is not zero. Below is the best information that our team was able to gather in the form of FAQs. We will be following current CDC, State and local guidelines, which indicate that meeting indoors is expected to represent a low risk to vaccinated individuals, with a higher risk to the unvaccinated. At this point, while masks are no longer mandatory indoors at the Convention site, vaccinated attendees can be mask free but we will ask that unvaccinated members wear masks for their protection. Things are changing quickly, and this may change in the coming months. For now, we feel this is the prudent course to be taken. So, as promised, I'm attaching a list of FAQs for your consideration. Q&A 1. Are the vaccines working? Yes. The chances of infection to a vaccinated person are low. Recent data suggest that the large majority of new cases experiencing significant illness are occurring in the unvaccinated population. 2. Can I still get COVID even if I am vaccinated? Yes, but the likelihood is low. Recent data suggest that those infected who have been fully vaccinated tend to have either asymptomatic or very mild cases. The vast majority of recent COVID hospitalizations and deaths have been unvaccinated people. 3. Can I spread COVID if I am fully vaccinated? It is possible for a vaccinated person to infect an unvaccinated person. It's possible at a very low level that a vaccinated person can infect another vaccinated person, but protection from the vaccine is still effective regarding disease. 4. Should I be worried about singing indoors without a mask? CDC guidelines suggest that this activity is safe for vaccinated people. If there are unvaccinated people present without a mask, those who have been fully vaccinated are immune and have a very low chance of becoming ill. The unvaccinated people are at risk of infection from other unvaccinated people or even from asymptomatic vaccinated folks. 5. Should I be worried about variants? The evidence indicates that the vaccines are proving effective in protection against disease, hospitalization, and death. The unvaccinated are at greater risk; some variants like the Delta variant appear to be more contagious. There have been breakthrough cases (vaccinated people getting infected) with the Delta variant. The vaccines appear to be protective as evidenced by significant difference between vaccinated and non-vaccinated individuals in hospitalizations and deaths. Most breakthrough cases appear to be asymptomatic or mild, but CDC does report vaccinated persons can shed Delta variant virus that can cause infections in others. Studies are ongoing and we continue to monitor the data. 6. Is it true that while variants may be more contagious, they are less virulent? Viruses survive by changing to stay ahead of the host's immune system and that is what drives these variants. As the population of immune people gets larger, the virus adapts, and in some cases, this could result in more virulent or more transmissible outcomes. 7. What about long-haul symptoms in vaccinated and mildly or asymptomatic infected individuals? A study in health care workers that had acquired infection after being fully vaccinated but were asymptomatic and would only therefore have been picked up because of the clinical testing protocol indicated very low levels of this general phenomenon and no symptoms. This is a small set of observations but is perhaps indicative of very little expectation of long haul COVID infection chances.

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FREE Feedback from Judges!!

Chapter Leaders, We're reaching out to chapters that haven't competed in the past 5 years with an exciting new collaboration between Harmony Hall and members of our Contest and Judging Community. While our chapters are still socially distanced and working via virtual rehearsals, we will provide a BHS judge to work with your group and provide content for your virtual meeting. Judges will watch and evaluate a video recording of your chorus in advance and then do a "coaching under glass" based on that performance with your members in an online call. This does NOT need to be from a contest stage or even "contestable" music selections. If a recording is unavailable, we can use one of another chorus of similar size/age/quality. This is a program that will eventually be rolled out as an option for all 671 of our chapters, but we're giving you the early opportunity ahead of the rest of the choruses that have competed recently and therefore have already received coaching from judges. We have a team of volunteers ready to help if technology is an issue as we want to ensure that there are no obstacles or barriers to being able to make use of this program. If this is something your chorus would be interested in, please fill out this form out as soon as you can - first come first serve! Thank you and we look forward to serving you! See this video from Ig Jakovac

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Contest Scores Archive!!!