SUNSHINE DISTRICT HARMONY PLATOON
Last update (June 23, 2026)
Last update (June 23, 2026)
Our Harmony Platoon happens on the Thursday evening and Friday morning before the formal part of the convention begins. This means the Harmony Platoon itself will run on October 15-16 while the Sunshine District Convention will run October 16-17, 2026.
Due to the encouraging support of the Sunshine District, the quartet winning the Harmony Platoon has traditionally become the Mic Tester Quartet for the Quartet Semifinal Contest on Friday evening. In addition, everyone who participated in the Platoon has the opportunity to sing as the Mic Tester Chorus for the Saturday morning Chorus Contest if doing so would not conflict with their own chorus’s performance.
All participants in the SUN Harmony Platoon are expected to have purchased full registration passes for the SUN District Convention.
Please make sure you check the Sunshine District Website regularly for updates.
Harmony Platoons are only successful when everyone is 100% confident in their notes and words for the songs. You will be given only 3-4 rounds to sing with others in pick up quartets. It can be very frustrating when everyone else in your quartet has worked hard to ensure they can confidently sing their part alone in a quartet only to find that one person didn't know their notes and words properly.
If you're not quite sure if you're ready to sing in Round One, come a little early and 'warm up' with some social pick up quarteting/VLQ-ing. Sing in the mass chorus warmup and rehearsal. That will give you a good idea of how well prepared you are.
It's okay also to sit out a round if you're not sure and just 'throw your card/name' in the hat for the next quartet draw round.
Besides using the provided learning tracks, finding some others to rehearse with prior to the Harmony Platoon is also another great idea. The more you practice singing with others prior to the actual Platoon, the more confident you will be.
SHEET MUSIC OR LEARNING TRACKS?
If there is a discrepancy between the sheet music and the learning tracks when it comes to notes, words, and interpretation defer to the learning tracks, especially since many do not read sheet music.
CHANGING WORDS to match Gender
Some of our songs include reference to a particular gender (he/she). In these cases the Lead has the prerogative to change the Gender in the pick up quartet. Please make sure you discuss this with the quartet beforehand to make sure you are all on the same page.
CHANGING STARTING PITCH
If some of the songs chosen are a bit low or high for you, it is perfectly acceptable to change the starting pitch, by consensus, to a pitch that works best for all members of the quartet.
QUESTIONS? Please contact this year's coordinator at platoon@sunshinedistrict.org
Thursday, October 15
6:00 pm Set Up
6:30 pm Check-in begins. Gather, socialize, warm-up, informal singing.
7:00 pm 5-10 minute warm up & Run through all 5 songs as a Chorus
7:30 pm (ish) Quartet Draws (Round 1), Begin Break-out Rehearsals
8:00 pm (ish) Round 1 Begins
If time permits, we will hold a second round. If not, we will keep singing and quarteting until 9pm.
9:00 pm Session 1 Ends
Friday, October 16
8:30 am Check-in begins. Gather, socialize, warm-up, informal singing.
9:00 am 10 minute warm-up & Mass Chorus Rehearsal of our TWO Mic Tester Chorus songs
9:30 am Quartet Draws (Round 2)
10:05 am ROUND 2 Begins – with our Platoon Contest Judges, Radiant.
Round 3 Quartet Draws will happen ASAP after the completion of Round 2 with breakout rehearsals following.
10:40 am (ish) ROUND 3 Begins.
11:10 am (ish) Winning quartet announced.
~2:00 pm Winning quartet reports to main ballroom for preliminary sound checks.
~10:00 pm After the Semifinal contest concludes, there will be a Mic Testing Chorus Rehearsal
Saturday, October 17
~9:30 am 30 minute warm-up/rehearsal for Mic Testing Chorus