Education
OPEN DIVISION Q&A WITH PAULA DAVIS
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hat is your favorite contest memory with your quartet or chorus? While medals are always exciting, for many their favorite moments are memories of fun, storytelling and connecting with the audience—all elements of the Open Division! If you’ve never given it a try, here are some answers to questions you might have: 1.What are the benefits of participating in the Open Division? Open Division was originally created to provide an option for quartets or choruses that were happiest performing in their communities rather than in the competitive International Division of our regional contests. Open Division was designed to provide education for barbershop growth (by including a barbershop contest-worthy song in the format) as well as helpful education in the area of entertainment, where these community performers spend much of their time and energies during the year. The reach and effect of the Open Division has broadened, however. Groups that have tried the Open Division have found greater comfort on stage during contest. Some have moved back into the International Division with greater confidence and success. Other ensembles that have little interest in rankings have found a niche that provides them with growth opportunities in entertainment as well as the fun of barbershop. They explore their creativity and other talents while honing their entertainment value for their community. Some groups have made the Open Division performances their focus. This different approach to convention performance preparation comes as a result of each group’s goals and vision. Some use it as a break from the intensity of preparing for the International Division (ranking and medals). While creating and preparing for a 10-minute entertainment package is fun, it is not necessarily easy! It teaches different kinds of skills and concepts that can benefit every group while letting them stretch their
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| April 2019
performance “muscles” in a different way. Knowing the goals and vision of your group will help you make the choice of which division you would like to participate in—International Division or Open Division. 2. Why do Open Division competitors only receive a letter score? Because the Open Division was intended to provide opportunities to sing on the regional stage without ranking pressures, a letter score was chosen to convey the overall scoring area. If number scores were used, ranking would naturally happen. Even if these scores were not included in the ranking list of the contest, the pressure of placement in the contest would still impact the competitor. Now that we have groups that choose Open Division repeatedly because of their vision and goals, they would love to know their numerical scores and be able to figure out where they would fall in the rankings for their own feelings of success. Because of the original purpose of this division, we are not revising the scoring method. However, the Judge Specialists are working toward finding further methods of recognition for performers who would like to participate.
