Sweet Adelines International is a worldwide organization of women singers, established in 1945, committed to advancing the musical art form of barbershop harmony through education and performances. This independent, nonprofit music education association is one of the world's largest singing organizations for women. "Harmonize the World" is the organization's motto. It has a current membership of 23,000 and holds an annual international singing competition.
Vocal Majority (VM) is a Dallas, Texas-based men's chorus of over 150 singers, who bill themselves with the tagline "Pure Harmony." The VM got its start when founder and first Marketing Director, Bob Arnold, gathered together 12 singers in December of 1971; it has since grown to over 150 members. 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.
The Rich-Tone Chorus is an all-female, barbershop chorus, located in northern Texas in the United States. The group was founded in 1968 in the city of Richardson. Dale Syverson was musical director from 1976 until her death in November 2024.
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, 2019, and 2024, and Choir of the World in 2009, they are composed almost entirely of men under the age of 40.
Pacific Coast Harmony (PCH) is the San Diego, California, chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society. The mixed-gender chorus sings in the a cappella style known as barbershop music. In its origin, PCH was an all-male chorus, placed 19th overall at the chorus competition at the Society's international convention in Indianapolis in 2006, and placed 22nd in Portland in 2012 and Las Vegas in 2017. In 2019, Pacific Coast Harmony converted to mixed-gender membership, and is currently directed by Sweet Adelines member Bonnie McKibben.
The Sound of the Rockies (SOR) is an a cappella men's chorus based in greater Denver, Colorado. They are a multiple-time 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.
Metro Nashville Chorus is a women's a cappella chorus located in Nashville, Tennessee in the United States. The group was founded in 1971 and currently has approximately 50 members. The chorus is led by Master Director Kim Wonders, a chorus member since 1979 and director since 1988.
The Pride of Baltimore Chorus was an all-female, a cappella chorus based in metropolitan Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in the early 1990s, the chorus once boasted over 110 members hailing from 5 different states: Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. They were a chapter of Sweet Adelines International, the world's largest women's singing organization.
Martini is the barbershop quartet that won the Sweet Adelines International Quartet Championship for 2012 on October 21, 2011, in Houston, Texas. SAI, "one of the world's largest singing organizations for women", has members over five continents who belong to more than 1200 quartets.
The Rönninge Show Chorus is an all-female, a cappella chorus based in Rönninge, Sweden.
Main Street is a barbershop quartet that started singing as a group on March 20, 2011.
The Sweet Adelines International Competitions are the annual global championships for women's barbershop harmony a cappella singing – in quartets and choruses – for members of Sweet Adelines International (SAI) and have been held annually between September and November since 1947. They are now the largest women's singing competition in the world with over 8000 participants at the 2014 convention. There are two competitions for choruses, and two competitions for quartets. Currently, the first three of these competitions are held together and form the Sweet Adelines International Convention. Over the course of competition history, the most successful chorus has been Melodeers Chorus from Chicago with seven championship titles, and the most successful quartet singer was Connie Noble who won with four separate quartets. Lustre Quartet from Baltimore holds the record for highest quartet score, and Rönninge Show Chorus from Stockholm for highest ever chorus score.
The results of the Sweet Adelines International competition for choruses in 2010–2019 are as follows.
The results of the Sweet Adelines International competition for quartets in the years 2010–2019 are as follows.
The results of the Sweet Adelines International competition for choruses in the years 2000–2009 are as follows.
Harmony Classic is a women's barbershop competition for small and mid-sized choruses run by Sweet Adelines International as part of the organisation's annual convention since 2010. The results of the competition are as follows. For a full explanation of the scoring system, qualification process, awards and records, see Sweet Adelines International competition.
Harmony, Incorporated, is an international organization of women singers whose purpose is to empower all women through education, friendship and singing. Founded by 1959 by Peggy Rigby, Charlotte Sneddon, Mary Avis Hedges, Jeanne Maino and Mary Perry in Providence, Rhode Island, the organization currently has just under 2000 members in the United States and Canada and is closely affiliated with the Barbershop Harmony Society.
Finest Hour is a British barbershop quartet. It won the 2016 British barbershop quartet championship in 2016, and the 2017 European barbershop quartet championship. The quartet competed in the international Barbershop Harmony Society competitions in 2017 and 2019, where they placed 28th and 22nd respectively. They also hold the UK record for the highest qualifying score of 83%.
Diablo Vista Chorus (DVC) is an amateur women's a cappella singing group, based in the "East Bay" of the San Francisco Bay area. DVC is a chapter of Sweet Adelines International, the world's largest singing organization for women, with over 21,000 members worldwide. DVC primarily performs four-part-harmony works, often in what is traditionally called "barbershop" style.
