SWU’s Campbell a ‘barbershop all-star’
Don Campbell, left, professor of music at Southern Wesleyan University, is shown conducting the Directors College Chorus at Harmony University, the international school for barbershoppers.
Don Campbell, professor of music at Southern Wesleyan University, was recognized in “Visions of Excellence,” a book recently published by the Barbershop Harmony Society.
Campbell is among 25 barbershop directors from around the world described in the book as “all stars” who shared a wealth of knowledge from their own education and experiences in a broad range of areas, including auditioning singers, rehearsing and performing.
Campbell has been a member of the society since 1979 and also started a chapter in his California hometown. In his 15 years of serving on Southern Wesleyan University’s Fine Arts faculty, Campbell has actively worked with the university’s choral ensemble, while at the same time lending his talents to choral groups and organizations in the Upstate and beyond. Since 2010, he has conducted the GAMAC (Greater Anderson Musical Arts Consortium) Chorale.
Campbell has led choral groups at the society’s Harmony University, consisting of members from as far away as Australia, New Zealand, Holland and Sweden. He has coached two choruses in Scotland.
Barbershop harmony, according to Campbell, is more than just a quartet of guys performing songs from a bygone era. It is a unique art form that employs a pure form of harmony. He describes a diversity of roles as a choral director in one of the book’s chapters:
“The real-life situation is that we as directors must also assume the mantles of educator, coach, cheerleader, confessor and mentor to effectively lead and guide the men we have the opportunity to serve.”
Currently in its 75th year, the society exists to promote and preserve barbershop music as an art form. Their web address is www.barbershop.org.