Anybody who knows me well will probably realise that when it comes to Barbershop, I really can't get enough of it. This amazing hobby has pretty much taken over my life, and I try my hardest to get involved with it in every way that I can.

Now, when it comes to money, I really can't get enough of that! I am a full time university student, and although I have a part-time job, most of this is spent on my living costs, and getting to and from barbershop! Therefore, I was extremely grateful when the association decided to award me with the Joe Liles scholarship, which meant that my fees for attending Harmony College were paid for in its entirety.

The fact that I received the Joe Liles scholarship was particularly apt, as at my very first convention (Brighton '97), I was luckily enough to meet and sing with Joe, as well as get his autograph on a copy of one of his songs 'Teach the Children to Sing'. Who would have thought that, nearly a decade later, I would be doing exactly that as the tenor section leader of the Youth Chorus?!
For me, Harmony College started a couple of days early, as on Tuesday, Rick Spencer (the guest American Educator) was visiting my local chorus, the Telfordaires. As I had the house to myself, I offered to put Rick up for the night, and this meant that we had the opportunity to exchange our ideas, and for me to learn individually from one of the best in the world. Over dinner we discussed what was being done in the States to entice young people into barbershop, and also had a good old chinwag about this year's International Convention, which I was lucky enough to be able to attend with my chorus, The Cottontown Chorus, from Bolton, who were representing BABS in the chorus competition. As well as this, I was able to get some individual voice coaching from Rick, who sings the same voice part as me, and this opportunity, as you can imagine, was very worthwhile.

Despite my age, I am no stranger to Harmony College. In past years I have sung with the chorus stream, been on the arranging stream, and of course last year I sang with the Youth Chorus at their inaugural meeting. I can honestly say that year upon year, my experience just gets better and better (and I am sure that this has absolutely nothing to do with the nights spent in the bar!).

The educational aspect of the College is second to none. The youth chorus is lucky enough to have four of the most knowledgeable young(ish) men from the barbershop world to guide us on our way. As you may have noticed from our performance on the Saturday night show, these weren't with us, and the chorus was made up entirely of men aged 25 and under. The fact that the chorus tackled two of the trickiest arrangements there are, and that the weekend was several of the guys first exposure to barbershop, proves undoubtedly that we were lucky enough to work with some of the best coaches British Barbershop has to offer.

We were also lucky enough to grab a couple of sessions with Rick Spencer, whose knowledge and personality took the level of the chorus up an extra couple of notches, particularly when it comes to adding musicality and personality to a song. It was also inspiring to hear the man who directs the collegiate chorus in the US, and is also at the forefront of promoting youth barbershop over there, complimenting us on what we were doing!

I also took the opportunity to attend the 'Be a Singing Judge' seminar, presented with expertise by Paula Williams and Mike Taylor. Both interesting and educational, this session provided a good insight into the strange, unfathomable world of a judge's mind, which confuses all of us as singers!
When it came to the Saturday night show, the chorus were just about ready to cram two days of learning into a five minute performance, singing the college song 'Once Upon a Time', and a youth chorus song 'Good luck Charm'. It was hard to remember everything we had been taught over the weekend, but judging by the audience's response, I think we just about managed this.

I also had the chance to sing with my quartet, This Way Up, on the show. This was a good opportunity to throw two days of learning completely out of the window! (Anybody who saw our performance will know what I mean). I think we got away with it okay.

Anybody who has been to Harmony College will know how much anyone who hasn't been is missing out on! Not only did I have an absolute blast and make some really good friends, I learnt a lot from some of the best coaches in the country, and worldwide. Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to thank wholeheartedly the BABS Executive team, and those who fund it, for allowing me to be able to attend the event. I look forward to share the knowledge I gained with my chorus and quartet, and also to help the Youth Chorus as we continue to grow.

Alan Hughes (Bolton)