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Richard Lewellen has made hamony the focal
point of his life. He isn’t a diplomat
negotiating peace traties, although the
National University graduate might be right
at home doing so, with degrees in Psychology
and Political Science. Lewellen creates his
harmony by singing barbershop with the Empire State
Quartet and by serving as
Master Director of the award winning
barbershop chorus, The Friends of
Harmony.
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Barbershop harmony is not new to Richard.
He began singing in his first year at
Beverly Hills High School. “During my
first year of high school I met a guy who
became my best friend”, Lewellen recalled.
“He had just started barbershopping and
his dad had started a few months earlier.
I’ve enjoyed being a part of the
Barbershop Harmony Society ever since.”
Lewellen’s mother was the first musical
influence in his life. She studied piano in
college, and Lewellen and his sister both
took a few years of piano as children.
Lewellen has fond memories of the beginning
of his love for music. As a child one of his
favorite possessions was a recording of the
story of Aladdin. The background music was
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheharizade”,
which Richard still claims has favorite
piece of music.
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Disney also proved to be a large
musical influence as “Fantasia”
had a large impact on Lewellen. It
was Disney’s adaptation of Kipling,
however, that had the tie to
Lewellen’s future. “ 'Jungle
Book' featured a vulture barbershop
quartet and I couldn’t get enough
of them,” Lewellen said.
Since making the step into the
barbershop life, Lewellen has stayed
busy. He has sung with quartets or
choruses in Southern California,
Georgia, the DC area and now in
Western New York. He has sung
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Bass, Baritone and/or Lead in the award
winning groups Masters of Harmony (SanteFe
Springs, CA), Atlanta Power Company
(Marietta, GA) and Riptide (Marieta, GA). In
2003, he became the Musical Director of the
Alexandria Harmonizers, a Virginia based
chorus serving the Metro DC area. He led the
Harmonizers to 4th place finishes at both
the 2004 and 2005 International Chorus
Competitions.
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Lewellen came to Western New York in December
of 2006, when he and his family moved to his
wife’s hometown of Warsaw, NY to be close to
her parents while she completed her Executive
MBA at Rochester Institute of Technology. When
asked what he knew about Buffalo before coming
to Western New York, Lewellen said, “I knew
abit about the Buffalo Bills, the football
team, and alot about the Buffalo Bills, the
International champion barbershop quartet who
won in 1950 and starred in “The Music
Man”.
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“Absolutely, Tim Russert,” the
Poli Sci major answered, when asked
if he had any Western New York
heroes. “Like many of us, I was
really shaken up when he was taken
so suddenly. He lived a life to be
greatly admired.”
As Master Director of the Friends
of Harmony, Lewellen works weekly
with the 65 man a capella chorus.
Not only do they present a large
stage show in the spring of each
year, but they also perform at many
different “sing outs” around
Western New York. They regularly
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perform at venues like the Naval Park, where
they are the official chorus, or to
entertain at Children’s Hospital, ECMC or
Roswell Park. They also perform a Christmas
show each year and offer “Singing
Valentines” in February. The Friends of
Harmony are also an award winning chorus
that competes twice annually with a chance
to move on to International Barbershop
Convention, as they did in 2005.
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Dick Wagner, a member of the Friends of
Harmony Board of Directors said, “It was
fate that we got Richard, and he is absolutely
one of the best directors in all of
barbershop”.
Working with the large chorus
is only part of his daily dose of barbershop.
Lewellen sings with the Empire State Quartet
and coaches other quartets towards the
excellence that he has enjoyed throughout his
career.
The only thing that ranks higher than
barbershop in Lewellen’s life is family,
although there is not much of a separation.
Lewellen’s wife, Christine, is a talented
singer, as well, and she is the daughter of
a well known barbershopper. The Lewellen’s
have two daughters who also love to “sing
barbershop at the top of their lungs”.
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photos by tim marchinda
contact peter herr at peter@buffalostuff.net
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Friends of Harmony
Meets every Tuesday at
Southeast Community Center
181 Lincoln Street
Depew, NY 14043
Singing begins at 7:30 pm
All are welcome
www.friendsofharmony.com
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