The Barbershop Harmony Society, legally and historically named the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America, Inc. (SPEBSQSA), is the first of several organizations to promote and preserve barbershop music as an art form. Founded by Owen C. Cash and Rupert I. Hall in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1938, the organization quickly grew, promoting barbershop harmony among men of all ages. As of 2014, just under 23,000 men in the United States and Canada were members of this organization whose focus is on a cappella music. The international headquarters was in Kenosha, Wisconsin for fifty years before moving to Nashville, Tennessee in 2007. In June 2018, the society announced it would allow women to join as full members.
Barbershop vocal harmony, as codified during the barbershop revival era (1930s–present), is a style of a cappella close harmony, or unaccompanied vocal music, characterized by consonant four-part chords for every melody note in a primarily homorhythmic texture. Each of the four parts has its own role: generally, the lead sings the melody, the tenor harmonizes above the melody, the bass sings the lowest harmonizing notes, and the baritone completes the chord, usually below the lead. The melody is not usually sung by the tenor or baritone, except for an infrequent note or two to avoid awkward voice leading, in tags or codas, or when some appropriate embellishment can be created. One characteristic feature of barbershop harmony is the use of what is known as "snakes" and "swipes". This is when a chord is altered by a change in one or more non-melodic voices. Occasional passages may be sung by fewer than four voice parts.
Vocal Majority (VM) is a Dallas, Texas-based men's chorus of over 150 singers, who bill themselves with the tagline "Pure Harmony." VM is the performing chorus of the Dallas Metro chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS). Vocal Majority has won thirteen International Chorus Championships, a Barbershop Harmony Society record. The first eleven gold medals were earned under the direction of Jim Clancy, who retired from International competition after 2010. The most recent championships, in 2014 and 2018, came under the direction of Jim's son Greg Clancy, the current Musical Director of VM.
Founded in 1985 with just a few dozen men, the Masters of Harmony is a 110-member men's chorus, based in Greater Los Angeles, California. Winner of eight consecutive gold medals (1990–2011) in international barbershop chorus competitions, the group possesses a diverse repertoire encompassing not only barbershop music but also classical, jazz, patriotic, sacred, standards and Broadway pops, and sings for various groups and organizations throughout the greater Los Angeles, California metropolitan area. The chorus won another barbershop international competition in 2017, bringing their total gold medal count to nine.
Gotcha! is an American barbershop quartet formed in 1996 by four members of the Masters of Harmony chorus.
The Ambassadors of Harmony (AOH) is a 120+ member men's barbershop chorus, based in St. Charles, Missouri. The chorus won International Championship gold medals in 2004, 2009, and 2012 – each time singing two arrangements by David Wright, under the direction of Dr. Jim Henry – and then again in 2016 and 2023, under the co-direction of Jonny Moroni and Dr. Henry. Their 2009 victory broke a nearly three-decade winning streak by the Vocal Majority.
The Westminster Chorus is a men's a cappella chorus based in Westminster, California. International Chorus Champions of the Barbershop Harmony Society in 2007, 2010, 2015, and 2019, and Choir of the World in 2009, they are composed almost entirely of men under the age of 40.
Vocal Spectrum is a barbershop quartet from St. Charles, Missouri. In 2004, Vocal Spectrum won the Barbershop Harmony Society's International Collegiate Quartet Contest, and on July 8, 2006, they became International Champions, winning the society's International Quartet Contest. A distinctive feature of the quartet is tenor Tim Waurick's ability to sustain notes for upwards of 30 seconds, and the tenor's and lead's incredibly high vocal range, featured in many of the group's recordings and live shows.
Bluegrass Student Union is the Louisville, Kentucky barbershop quartet that won the 1978 SPEBSQSA International competition. They distinguished themselves by performing at a high level of proficiency on stage and in the recording studio throughout their 33-year career, and were the second youngest quartet to have won the SPEBSQSA championship, as of that time. The quartet became known for continually improving their art, even after their win. They credited much of their success to their coaches, Mary Jo Hatton Thompson, Don Clause, Ron Riegler, Gene Stickler and Ed Weber, to their chorus Director, Jim Miller, and to their long-time arrangers, Ed Waesche and Walter Latzko.
Metropolis is a barbershop quartet affiliated with the Barbershop Harmony Society. The group won five consecutive medals with the Barbershop Harmony Society at their annual International Convention. Metropolis has performed over 460 stage shows in the United States and in Finland, Russia, England, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Japan and Ireland. They have performed in over 190 cities around the world and over 40 states/provinces in the USA & Canada.
Nightlife are a barbershop quartet that won the BHS International Quartet competition in 1996.
Ringmasters is a Swedish barbershop quartet affiliated with the Society of Nordic Barbershop Singers (SNOBS). The quartet received first place gold medals at the Nordic Barbershop Quartet Contest in Stockholm, and won the Barbershop Harmony Society International Collegiate Championship in July 2008 in Nashville, Tennessee. On July 8, 2012, at the Society's International Convention in Portland, Oregon, they became the first quartet from outside North America to win the prestigious gold medal as International Quartet Champions. The quartet sings non-traditional barbershop harmonies with a contemporary touch. They still tour and perform all over the world.
Joe Connelly is a barbershop quartet lead singer, competition judge, chorus director, and full-time coach for various barbershop quartets. Connelly is the first man ever to have become a Barbershop Harmony Society International Championship gold medalist four times, first with Interstate Rivals in 1987 at the age of 22, then with Keepsake in 1992, with Platinum in 2000, and with Old School in 2011. In 2000, he had already become the first person to win the gold medal three times. Quartet-mate Tony DeRosa joined Connelly as a four-time gold medalist in 2017. A few other singers have achieved the honor of being three-time champions, including quartet-mate Kipp Buckner.
Max Q is the barbershop quartet that won the gold medal Barbershop Harmony Society International Barbershop Quartet Contest at Denver's Pepsi Center July 7, 2007. The quartet's run for the title is featured in the 2009 feature documentary American Harmony.
Crossroads is the barbershop quartet that won the International Quartet Championship for 2009 at the Barbershop Harmony Society's annual international convention, in Anaheim, California. Bass singer Jim Henry also directed the Ambassadors of Harmony chorus to their international championship at the same event with the highest chorus score ever obtained.
Tim Waurick is a barbershop tenor singer, and coach for various barbershop choruses and quartets. Waurick creates learning tracks – recordings in which one part is dominant and the others are sung softly in the background – for the Barbershop Harmony Society, Sweet Adelines International, and various other quartets and choruses around the world. His learning track company is named TimTracks.
Main Street is a barbershop quartet that started singing as a group on March 20, 2011.
James Earl Henry, most commonly referred to as "Jim Henry", is a vocal music professor, barbershop bass singer, and co-director of the Ambassadors of Harmony (AOH). He is a multiple international award-winning quartet member, whose quartets have appeared nationally on the NBC, PBS, and Fox television networks. Henry is the current director of choral studies at the University of Missouri–St. Louis and a contributing author of widely used musical reference works.
David Lee Wright is a mathematics professor, barbershop arranger, and Associate Director of the Ambassadors of Harmony (AOH). He is a noted a cappella historian and arranger, especially in the barbershop style where in 12 of 18 years from 1999 to 2016, his arrangements resulted in chorus gold medals at the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) International Contest. Wright travels the world as a barbershop historian, coach, and mathematics lecturer.
