New England Harmony Brigade
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Each Harmony Brigade officially meets just one weekend a year, (known as "the Rally Weekend").  which begins on Friday afternoon around 3:00 pm.  For those arriving on Thursday evening, the organizers often arrange informal performance opportunities on Friday morning at local schools.  (Note: early arrival is optional and an additional hotel night payment will be required.)

Just after hotel registration you receive a name badge that lists your name, vocal part, and each song with the key signature.  From then until dinner you are on your own to quartet in as many different quartet combinations as possible. 
If you can stop singing long enough to eat, dinner is served around 6:00 pm and is an excellent time for enjoying fellowship with old friends and meeting new ones.  After dinner attendees are randomly assigned to a quartet.  Each foursome selects a name and another random draw assigns your quartet’s contest song.  Quartets then have about an hour to hone their skills on the assigned song.

Every quartet competes on Friday evening for a panel of judges.  The preliminary round runs from around 9:00 pm to 11:00 pm.  The ten finalist quartets are announced for the Saturday Evening Finals, which are open to the public.  After the contest there is more quartetting late into the night.

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Following breakfast on Saturday morning an official Brigade business meeting is held.  After lunch the Brigade reports to the venue to rehearse for the evening show. Dinner is served after which everyone returns to the venue for the evening performance.  The show is similar to most barbershop shows, combining the Brigade chorus, step-out quartets and other performers whom the organizers may invite.  While the chorus is not the focus of the Brigade, the thrill of this large, wonderfully prepared gathering is a chorus experience that many men have yet to experience. After the show, you’ll head back to the hotel for the quartet finals. Finalists from Friday evening and a "Wild Card" quartet of four guys randomly selected from quartets not making the Finals sing another randomly selected song. The Finals and afterglow are open to friends and family of Brigaders at no charge.  The top three quartets are announced and awards are presented, followed by a pizza party and quartetting into the early morning hours.

Sunday morning there is breakfast, time for good-byes and a few more songs, then wishing everyone a safe trip home.

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