STILL NEW AFTER 30-SOME YEARS, HARMONY UNIVERSITY IN 2019 GREW, AND CHANGED, AND WAS EXACTLY THE SAME AS EVER
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t sounded the same, with good close harmony—and different, with that music made by men and women in new combinations. It looked the same, with multi-decade HU vets sporting classic Aloha Chapter shirts and patches from past colleges—and different, with young people’s bright blue and fuschia hairstyles smartly setting off the silvered and bald heads. But most importantly, it felt the same: the same total immersion in harmony that wards off daily cares, and makes every singer part of a single tribe. Every activity reinforced the feeling, like keynote speaker Shane Scott’s moving testimony of being sustained by the barbershop family as he grieved the loss of his wife. The 40 young men and women in the Next Generation Mixed Chorus showcased a future of artistry unshackled from any constraints on who can participate. Worldwide friendships sprang up among singers from 13 countries, singing late into the night powered by ice cream, the traditional HU dietary staple. 32 | The Harmonizer | January/February 2020 | barbershop.org
