Notable achievements
2018 – 9th place chorus – 2018 BHS International Convention
2017 – Pan Pacific chorus champions – 2017 Pan Pacific Convention (SYDNEY)
2016 – 6th place chorus – 2016 BHS International Convention
2011 – 7th place chorus – 2011 BHS International Convention [1]
2010 – New Zealand Barbershop [NZABS] chorus champions [2]
2009 – New Zealand Barberhop [NZABS] chorus champions [3]
2009 – 10th place chorus – 2009 BHS International Convention [4]
2007 – New Zealand Barbershop [NZABS] chorus champions [5]
2007 – New Zealand Barbershop [NZABS] Small Chorus champions [5]
2007 – 11th place chorus – 2007 BHS International Convention [6]
2006 – New Zealand Barbershop [NZABS] chorus champions [7]
2005 – New Zealand Barbershop [NZABS] third place chorus [8]
Vocal FX has competed in national and international competitions.
The chorus was evaluated for the first time in Christchurch in 2004, performing "Royal Garden Blues" and "My Wonderful One".
Vocal FX competed for the first time at Napier in 2005, singing "My Wonderful One" and "Royal Garden Blues". The chorus placed third.
In 2006 with just over 20 members, the chorus competed with the songs "When My Sugar Walks Down The Street" and "Come Fly With Me" at the national convention, placing first.
Vocal FX traveled to the international convention in Denver, Colorado in 2007. The chorus had grown to 29 members and was awarded eleventh place [out of 39 choruses] at the international convention.
The chorus returned to the stage in Dunedin at the 2007 National NZABS convention, and retained their first place status in New Zealand.
In 2008 the NZABS did not hold a national convention.
Vocal FX competed in the 2009 international BHS convention held in Anaheim, Los Angeles, placing tenth.
At the 2009 National Convention held in their hometown of Wellington city, Vocal FX won the gold and retained their title as a National champion chorus. NZABS 2009 Convention results sheet
In 2011 Vocal FX competed at the international BHS convention in Kansas City, Missouri, placing seventh, matching the highest placement for a non-BHS chorus.
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.
Acoustix is a Dallas, Texas-based quartet that won the 1990 International Quartet Championship of SPEBSQSA. They have all, at different times, been members of the Dallas-based Vocal Majority chorus.
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.
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, 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 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.
The Great Northern Union is a men's chorus based in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. They perform four-part harmony, particularly in the barbershop style. Officially, they are the Hilltop, Minnesota chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS), and are very active in competition. The chorus has won 11 medals in BHS International Chorus competitions, including consecutive second-place silver medals in 2011 and 2012.
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.
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.
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.
The Far Western District is a geographical district of the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS).
The Heralds of Harmony is a Tampa, Florida-based men's a cappella chorus that has been entertaining Florida audiences in the barbershop style continuously since 1945, and is currently ranked among the nation's best male vocal ensembles. The Tampa Bay Heralds of Harmony is a semi-professional chorus affiliated with the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS). The Heralds of Harmony are multiple-time Florida state barbershop chorus champions, and consistently represent the state at the BHS international chorus contest. The Heralds have ranked as high as 6th in the world.
The Northwest Vocal Project (NVP) is a men's a cappella chorus based in Seattle, Washington. Founded by young singers in the area, the chorus placed first in the Barbershop Harmony Society Youth Chorus Festival twice, and have grown from a small fraternity of young singers to a full-fledged chorus who compete internationally.
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 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.
Musical Island Boys is the barbershop quartet that won the International Quartet Championship for 2014 at the Barbershop Harmony Society's annual international convention, in Las Vegas, Nevada. From Wellington, New Zealand, the quartet began in 2002 at Tawa College, and competed in its first international barbershop contest in 2004. They won the international collegiate contest in 2006 at Indianapolis, and won second-place silver medals in the 2011, 2012, and 2013 international contests. Other awards include the New Zealand and Pan-Pacific Open Gold Medals at the 4th Pan Pacific Barbershop Convention in 2004, and second place in the International Open Barbershop Championships in 2011.
Main Street is a barbershop quartet that started singing as a group on March 20, 2011.
James 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.
