Help Madison Compete at the FWD 2025 Contest!

Hello there! My name is Madison and I am a third generation barbershopper getting ready to go to the Far Western District Contest and Convention in Fresno, CA this October! It's an amazing weekend full of friendship, chord-ringing, and memories that last a lifetime. I am a member of a competing chorus called SoCal Mix! They are some of my best friends and essentially a second family. I've been with the chorus for a bit over a year and a half now and our biweekly rehearsals are the highlights of my weeks. We are a small but mighty chorus who puts a lot of important work into our contest preparation. This contest cycle means a lot to me because it marks a milestone for me and my barbershop journey. In preparation for this contest I volunteered to making learning tracks for our new ballad! It was a learning process that was very informative and project that taught me that this is something I can do.

As I mentioned, I am a third generation barbershopper. Both of my grandfathers sung barbershop, then my dad (Rich Hasty), and my mom's brother sang barbershop, and then there's me! A very proud barbershop brat. I was raised on barbershop, and if I'm being fully honest, it's almost all I listen to. Growing up around it gave me the best aunts and uncles and older brothers and sisters I could ever have. Thankfully, the Barbershop Harmony Society opened up membership to anyone of any identity and that let me continue my barbershop journey after coming out as a trans woman in October 2021. The joy of finding 3 other people and singing a tag or song we all know is unmatched, and this amazing weekend is going to be chalked full of those pockets of joy.

Your help will go towards a few things to make this a successful weekend! Those include lodging, contest registration and Barbershop Harmony Society dues (both things are necessary to compete), food, and transportation.

Here's why I need your help. With the recent actions of the current Presidential administration, the vitriol towards people under the LGBTQIA+ umbrella has led to numerous companies and corporations rolling back initiatives which leads to an already atrocious jobs market to be even worse for openly out individuals like myself. Thankfully, I was able to work from August 2024 to this past June for a wonderful and supportive company but due to certain program limitations and funding, my role end and I've been searching for the past couple months. So far, nothing has come up and I'm expanding my searches nearly everyday. Luckily, being in LA, there are great resources for LGBTQIA+ youth that I have been utilizing to either find full time work or be able to do some short term internships to build up my resume.

Thank you for any contributions you are able to make and I deeply appreciate you taking the time to read about my journey and what's coming down the pike! If you'd like to see the schedule of events for this amazing weekend-long experience you can check it out right here!! FWD Fresno 2025

Thank you again for your time and I'll send out updates as we progress!