Montgomery County is the most populous county in the State of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 1,062,061, increasing by 9.3% from 2010. The county seat and largest municipality is Rockville, although the census-designated place of Germantown is the most populous place within the county. Montgomery County, which adjoins Washington, D.C., is part of the Washington–Arlington–Alexandria, DC–VA–MD–WV metropolitan statistical area, which in turn forms part of the Baltimore–Washington combined statistical area. Most of the county's residents live in unincorporated locales, of which the most urban are Silver Spring and Bethesda, although the incorporated cities of Rockville and Gaithersburg are also large population centers, as are many smaller but significant places.
Darnestown is a United States census-designated place (CDP) and an unincorporated area in Montgomery County, Maryland. The CDP is 17.70 square miles (45.8 km2) with the Potomac River as its southern border and the Muddy Branch as much of its eastern border. Seneca Creek borders portions of its north and west sides. The Travilah, North Potomac, and Germantown census-designated places are adjacent to it, as is the city of Gaithersburg. Land area for the CDP is 16.39 square miles (42.4 km2). The Darnestown CDP has a population of 6,723, while the village of Darnestown is considerably smaller in size and population. Washington, D.C. is about 25 miles (40 km) away.
North Potomac is a census-designated place and unincorporated area in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It is located less than 5 miles (8.0 km) north of the Potomac River, and is about 20 miles (32 km) from Washington, D.C. It has a population of 23,790 as of 2020.
Germantown is an urbanized census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. With a population of 91,249 as of 2019 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, Germantown is the third most populous place in Maryland, after the city of Baltimore, and the census-designated place of Columbia. Germantown is located approximately 25–30 miles (40–48 km) outside the U.S. capital of Washington, D.C. and is an important part of the Washington metropolitan area.
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.
The Alexandria Harmonizers are an international champion barbershop chorus based in Alexandria, Virginia. Numbering 110 men in 2013, the chorus is the performing arm of the Alexandria Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society, under the direction of Joseph Cerutti, Jr. The Harmonizers have performed at the Kennedy Center Honors, Carnegie Hall, Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, the Supreme Court the Great Wall of China, and the White House. It is a member of several choral associations in addition to the Barbershop Harmony Society, including Chorus America and the Contemporary A Cappella Society of America.
Seneca Valley High School (SVHS) is a U.S. public high school in Germantown, Maryland. It is part of the Montgomery County Public Schools system. Its enrollment for the 2019–2020 school year was 1,226 students. A new building is scheduled to be completed in 2021, which will have a capacity of 2,551 students.
Maryland Route 355 (MD 355) is a 36.75-mile (59.14 km) north–south road in western central Maryland in the United States. The southern terminus of the route, Wisconsin Avenue, is located in the Bethesda CDP, at the Washington, D.C. border. It continues south into Washington, D.C. as Wisconsin Avenue NW. The northern terminus is just north of an overpass with Interstate 70 (I-70)/U.S. Route 40 (US 40) in the city of Frederick in Frederick County, where the road continues north as Market Street through Frederick towards MD 26.
The Sound of the Rockies (SOR) is an a cappella men's chorus based in greater Denver, Colorado. They are currently the 4th place International Bronze Medalist Chorus for the Barbershop Harmony Society. In 2007, they co-hosted the International Convention in Denver with the Denver Mountainaires. The chorus comprises between 90-100 voices currently.
The Chorus of the Chesapeake is a men's a cappella chorus, based in Dundalk, Maryland. Chartered in 1957 as the Dundalk chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society, the chorus is rich in both history and accomplishment.
Maryland Route 117 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. The highway runs 12.40 miles (19.96 km) from MD 28 near Dawsonville east to West Diamond Avenue next to MD 355 in Gaithersburg. MD 117 is an L-shaped highway that connects the rural western Montgomery County communities of Dawsonville and Boyds with Germantown, Gaithersburg, and Interstate 270 (I-270) in the suburban central part of the county. The highway also provides access to Seneca Creek State Park, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and several commuter rail stations along MARC's Brunswick Line, which the highway parallels. MD 117 was the inspiration for the 1971 hit song "Take Me Home, Country Roads".
Maryland Route 119 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Also known as Great Seneca Highway, the highway runs 7.47 miles (12.02 km) from MD 28 in Rockville north to Middlebrook Road in Germantown. MD 119 is a four- to six-lane divided highway that connects several residential and commercial neighborhoods in Rockville, Gaithersburg, and Germantown. Great Seneca Highway was planned by Montgomery County in the late 1960s as a local relief route for traffic on parallel Interstate 270 (I-270) between the three communities. By the early 1980s, the highway had become controversial because it was proposed to pass through Seneca Creek State Park. A coalition of civic and environmental groups unsuccessfully pursued litigation to stop the highway. The National Park Service refused permission for the county to build the highway in 1985 but reversed itself two years later, by which time the first segment of the highway in Germantown was nearing completion. The Rockville–Gaithersburg section was completed in 1989 and the controversial segment through the state park was finished in 1990. Almost all of Great Seneca Highway became MD 119 in 1999.
The Bryn Mawr Mainliners is a men's a cappella chorus, based in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Chartered in 1963 as an official chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society, the chorus is rich in both history and accomplishment.
The Mid-Atlantic District is one of 17 districts of the Barbershop Harmony Society. The district, with three regional divisions, has approximately 90 chapters in the following states: VA, MD, PA, NJ, DE, DC, WV, NY.
The Big Orange Chorus is a men's chorus and chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society based in Jacksonville, Florida. The chorus became a chartered member of the Sunshine District in Orange Park, a suburb of Jacksonville in 1980, and also attributes its name to this community. The primary musical focus of the chorus is a cappella music in the style of barbershop harmony, however their repertoire of music spans many styles and difficulty levels in addition to traditional barbershop. Over the years the membership of the chorus has grown to include men from all over the Jacksonville metropolitan area and beyond in the tri-state area of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.
Voices of Gotham (VoG) is a competitive and performing chorus composed of approximately 60 singers from New York City and surrounding areas. VoG represents the 'Hell's Kitchen, New York' chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society, and is the 2013 Mid-Atlantic District Chorus Champion. VoG was most recently designated the 10th best barbershop chorus in the world in the 2017 Barbershop Harmony Society Chorus Competition in Las Vegas, Nevada. Voices of Gotham was founded by 12 'charter members' on January 8, 2008 and holds weekly auditions for prospective singers.
The White Rose Chorus is the York, Pennsylvania, chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society, under the direction of Bob Crist III. It was the second society chapter to be chartered in Pennsylvania (1946), and the first in its district to surpass 100 active members. In 2018, the White Rose Chorus was ranked "Most Improved" among eight competing choruses in its division, and the best in its plateau level.
The Marcsmen are a premier men’s a cappella group based in San Antonio, Texas. Chartered by the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) in 2008, the chorus has qualified for International Chorus competitions of the BHS 6 times, most recently for the 2020 competition in Los Angeles, California. They won their first Southwestern District championship in 2012 and won back-to-back championships in 2018 and 2019.
The Brothers in Harmony (BIH) are a 100-plus member American a cappella chorus based in Hamilton, New Jersey, under the direction of Jack Pinto. The award-winning chorus is part of Mid-Atlantic District of the Barbershop Harmony Society. The Brothers in Harmony were the 1999 Mid-Atlantic Champions and 1999 M-AD Representatives to the International Competition; 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004 M-AD Intermediate Chorus Champions; 2007 and 2008 International Finalists; and 2010 International 9th place Finalists. In 2013 they came in 6th place at the Toronto International Convention. In 2015 they placed 8th at the Pittsburgh International Convention behind the champion Westminster Chorus and other Mid-Atlantic District choruses, The Alexandria Harmonizers and the Voices Of Gotham.
