Land O' Lakes District News:
Graham named as Excalibur's new baritone

(Last modified: $Date: 1999/10/28 15:34:04 $)

As sent to the Harmonet:

Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 16:25:39 -0500
From: Gregory Dolphin
Subject: New Excalibur Baritone!!!!!!
To: BBSHOP@ADMIN.HUMBERC.ON.CA

Fellow Barbershoppers,


Greg Volk

-->


Brent Graham

As we announced on the Harmonet back in August, Greg Volk is leaving the group due to family & business issues. We received tons & tons of inquiries from many of you out there that were interested in filling Greg's shoes. I would like to thank each and every one of you for your interest in Excalibur. The interest certainly was overwhelming. I was able to respond to many of you the direction in which we were heading. To those of you I did not get a chance to respond to, I would like to publicly apologize. The lack of response was not a sign of disinterest in anybody, but a lack of time to get back to so many people.

We auditioned many people in the months of August & September and from that process we ended up with a short list of 5 candidates. Out of the 5, we chose Brent Graham from the Evergreen District. He is the director of the Cascade Chorus, a music judge, an accomplished arranger, and a very nice guy!!!!!!! He had a very difficult time in deciding to become an Excalibur member because of his loyalty to the Cascade Chorus. He was very torn about leaving them and the progress they have made together. At the bottom of this email I have pasted the email that Brent sent to the Evergreen District on 10/26/99.

We are all very excited about starting anew but maintaining the "Excalibur style". Brent is in the process of relocating to Minneapolis, and being the quick study that he is, will sing with Excalibur on the Milwaukee Sweet Adeline Show on November 20, 1999. Please join us in welcoming Brent to Excalibur, and in wishing the best to Greg Volk in his future endeavors. We thank you all for your continued support, and kind words of encouragement!!

Greg Dolphin
Lead
Excalibur
Great Northern Union - Hilltop Chorus (1999 LOL District Champions)


Brent Graham Evergreen District Net Post:

To the Evergreen District:

I'm still coming down from the high of the Cascade Chorus' performance in Spokane. I was so proud of the effort my guys put onto the stage! So many audience members commented that we "gave a gift" -- that means more to me than any numbers put down on a score sheet. And if you haven't read Matt Elliott's post to the Harmonet/Evernet, you should -- it expresses my sentiments precisely about our performance.

One other thing that happened in Spokane was that there was a rumor floating around about me -- here's the real story.

In late July of this year I was called by Greg Dolphin, the lead of Excalibur, a quartet out of Minneapolis who has finished 6th at the International contest the last two years in a row. He told me that their baritone, Greg Volk, was resigning from the quartet due to personal reasons, and asked if I'd be interested in auditioning for the vacant spot. Once I got up off the floor, I told him I'd love to audition, which I did in early August. The audition went well and I had a "call-back" in September, at which time the quartet offered me the spot in the quartet.

As you can imagine, I wanted to accept, but I had a number of questions to answer prior to accepting. Would my family want to move to Minnesota? Could I find work there? And could I give up directing one of the best choruses in the Society?

Barb's answer was immediate: she told me that this was my chance at achieving one of my lifelong dreams and that I should "go for it". Scott's always wanted to live where there was snow, and that should be a possibility in Minnesota!

Finding work is always a hassle, but shouldn't be a problem. I came to Oregon without work, so I know what it means to have to find a job quickly.

I was at the point of decision -- take a risk or play it safe? The last risk I took was coming to Oregon and that one worked out wonderfully. My passion for Barbershop excellence brought me to the Cascade Chorus and the Evergreen District and now my passion will take me away from both, as I have decided to take the risk and join Excalibur.

The logistics and timetable are still being worked out, but I am scheduled to sing my first show with them on November 20 in Milwaukee. The likelihood is that I'll move out there in the dead of winter -- December or January -- and that Barb and Scott will come out next summer. In the meantime, I will remain at the helm of the Cascade Chorus and will work closely with the Music Team and the Board to find a new director that can continue the work we have begun. (Send your resumes to Gary Raze or Marty Bauer!)

I want to take this opportunity to thank the Evergreen District for its warm welcome to this FWD transplant -- you made me feel at home in every way. I will take a piece of you with me to LOL.

Thanks for listening.

In Harmony,
Brent Graham
Director, Cascade Chorus (EVG 3rd Place Dist)
http://www.evg.org/~cascade
Baritone, Excalibur
bgraham@cyber-dyne.com


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