For nearly 50 years, the SCV Men Of Harmony Chorus has provided musical, educational and entertaining outreach in the community, and one of their biggest days of the year is around the corner.
Starting around 1971 with public practices at Newhall Park, the group has blossomed, changed lineups, but remains a popular group locally with folks who enjoy vocal harmonies.
“It just makes you feel great to sing and get it out and it’s fun to do something that’s pretty and creative and, I don’t know, it’s just fun,” said member Bob Lang, sharing why he stays involved.
He actually first learned about the group from reading an ad in The Signal, circa 1984. It was just after he had went with his parents to a show by a similar group that was based out of Glendale but performing in La Crescenta at the time.
“I heard the music and I just loved the harmony and the chords,” he said, adding he had no musical training at the time, so he was shocked when he showed up to watch their rehearsal and he was recruited.
“I was living out here, and they had a little classified ad in The Signal,” he said.
Thinking he’d just “get some free barbershop music and enjoy myself,” he showed up to the park and the group members told him, “‘No, no, you come over here,’” Lang recalled.
Rehearsals and practice have been a labor of love ever since for Lang.
“I still don’t know how to read music,” he confessed Friday. “(Through practice), you learn how to do it, and how to make the right sounds and how to get the timing right. … I know when the dots go up I go up, and when they go down, I go down, but it’s mostly ear training.”
For the romantic holiday coming up Wednesday, the quartet offers serenades “with two love songs and a flower for your special Valentine,” according to the nonprofit group’s website.
The group regularly practices inside the recreation room at the Valley Oaks Village apartment complex on Tuesday evenings, sessions that are open to the public, Lang said, if someone is interested in attending.
For information on how to sign up to send someone a Valentine’s Day surprise, you visit the group’s website, SCmenofharmony.com, or reach the group at 661-259-6109.
