We couldn't possibly run every "thank you" we receive (lucky us!), but sometimes it's nice to let the part speak for the whole. The Con Men, a 2014 collegiate medalist, took time out to share their impressions of the Quartet College experience.
Rich Knight coaches The Con Men at Harmony University Quartet College 2014
On behalf of The Con Men, I would like to thank you for the scholarship that we received to Harmony University this year. It was an experience that I know none of us will ever forget. When we arrived at Belmont on Sunday night, we really weren't sure what to expect, but when we left, we knew why people refer to it as "the best week of the entire year!"
The staff was absolutely wonderful! Starting off the week coaching with Rich Knight was absolutely a dream come true for us (little did we know that it was only the tip of the iceberg) and it was so cool to realize that even our biggest barbershop idols can be totally down to Earth people. Across the board, the entire staff was immensely helpful in helping us achieve a new level that none of us could truly grasp the concept of until we experienced it first hand. I can't even tell you how many doors were opened to us through getting to work with or even just talk with the entire staff; especially the coaches in our pod: Rich Knight, David McEachern, Steve Armstrong, and Becki Hine, but also Gary Plaag, Marty Lovick, and Doug Harrington.
Working with the NextGen Chorus was also more incredible than we had ever hoped it would be. We are all huge supporters of YIH, especially since two of us are direct products of The Singing Buckeyes Harmony Camp. We have had our fair share of working with high school and college aged students before, but these guys were absolutely phenomenal! The guys were so responsive to everything that we had a chance to work with them on in the sectionals, and were all very respectful and attentive to both Clay Hine and Debbie Cleveland the entire week. On that note, Clay was a blast to work with. He really had a handle on what he wanted out of the chorus and they delivered without question. We are so proud to have been a part of that group all week.
The amount of knowledge gained from the week was worth more to us than we can ever say so we sincerely want to thank you and everyone involved with Harmony University for giving us this opportunity. Without the scholarship we received this year, we would not have even considered attending. I would love to say that we will come back every year, but we know financially that isn't possible. The truth is, I honestly don't know when we'll have the money to attend again, which makes this past HU even that more special.
If you could, please pass this along to anyone involved in picking the scholarship recipients, whoever they are, because through them and this entire organization, I know that we are all better singers, better musicians, better performers, and better men for attending Harmony University this year.
In Harmony,
The Con Men (David, Matt, Brent, and Russell)