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.
26-437: A parallel women's singing organization, Sweet Adelines International (SAI) was founded in 1945. A second women's barbershop harmony organization, Harmony, Incorporated , broke from SAI in 1959 over an issue of racial exclusion , with SAI (like SPEBSQSA and many other organizations) being white-only at that time; SPEBSQSA officially lifted the requirement in 1963. Several international affiliate organizations, in countries around
52-458: A barber and three clients enjoying a cappella song. The image was adopted by SPEBSQSA in its promotion of the art. In late 2004, the Society established Barbershop Harmony Society as its new "brand name", with a logo and identity program released in 2005. The legal name remained SPEBSQSA, Inc. A key aspect of the Society's mission is in the preservation of barbershop music. To this end, it maintains
78-499: A booklet upon joining the society. The purpose of this collection is so that whenever any barbershoppers meet they will always have something ready to sing. The society has also published collections such as Strictly Barbershop . Harmony Foundation International, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, was incorporated in 1959 as a charitable subsidiary of the Barbershop Harmony Society; it raises financial support for
104-577: A group forum. A contest was held for the best female barbershop quartet in Tulsa, Oklahoma . The winners that first year were the Decaturettes from Decatur, Illinois . The members were Viola Phillips singing Tenor, Mary Minton singing Lead, Myrtle Vest singing Baritone, and Eva Adams singing Bass. In 1973, the organization held its first international chorus competition in Washington, D.C. The contest presented
130-481: A new and exciting experience for all competing Sweet Adelines. With 64 members on stage singing Heart of My Heart/That Old Gang of Mine medley and There's a New Gang on the Corner , Racine Chorus from Racine, Wisconsin were the first chorus to receive the "international champion chorus" title. With Racine Chorus' international win, chorus director Jarmela Speta, member of 1955 International Champion The Nota-Belles, became
156-533: A remodeled HHW. In 2006 the Society announced plans to move its headquarters to Nashville, Tennessee . In August 2007, the Society completed the relocation to 110 Seventh Avenue North, in Nashville. In June 2018, the society announced it would allow women to join as full members, with each chapter deciding whether to remain all-male or add a mixed or all-women's chorus. Since 2009, women had been allowed to join as associates. To promote and improve barbershop singing,
182-485: A whole. For purposes of administration, particularly of local education and contests, the society is organized into 17 geographical districts as follows. (Chapter quantities are as of April 2024.) There are currently two chapters ( Hell's Kitchen, New York and Loveland, Colorado ) that are not part of any district. Sweet Adelines International Sweet Adelines International is a worldwide organization of women singers, established in 1945, committed to advancing
208-663: The Barbershop Harmony Society . By year's end, the first chapter incorporated in Oklahoma with Anderson as its president. It had 85 members and a chapter name, Atomaton (for "an atom of an idea and a ton of energy") that recognized the Atomic Age . Sweet Adelines went international on March 23, 1953, when the first chapter outside the U.S. was chartered in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada. Even though there were international chapters, it
234-516: The Old Songs Library. Holding over 100,000 titles (750,000 sheets) this is the largest sheet music collection in the world excepting only the Library of Congress . The " Barberpole Cat Program" is a collection of 12 songs (commonly known as "polecats") that are considered standard repertoire for every barbershopper (" Let Me Call You Sweetheart ", "My Wild Irish Rose", etc.) Every member receives
260-517: The US, the vast majority of regions are allocated to geographic areas of the US. This is followed by five regions allocated to Canada, one each to Australia and New Zealand, one each to Great Britain, Ireland and the Netherlands, and Finland and Sweden. A final "satellite" region is reserved for anywhere else in the world. In 1947, the organization held a convention as a means to gather all members together in
286-637: The barbershop genre via excellence and service. Award nominations are accepted from January into February, selected nominees announced in April, and winners made known during the black tie gala held early in the week of the international contests. Awards are given for the Barbershopper, Quartet, Ensemble, Arranger, Innovator, Ambassador, Album, and Video of the Year, as well as Lifetime Achievement for an Arranger. Several pre-existent awards and honors are also now announced at
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#1732847594022312-860: The criteria set forth by the organization. List of quartet champions by year This article lists the Barbershop Harmony Society 's international quartet champions by the year in which they won. Quartets can win only once, though up to two members may appear together in another quartet and compete again. In this manner individual singers may win multiple gold medals. Twenty men have won two or more gold medals. Five men have won three or more. One man, Joe Connelly , has won four, and another, Tony DeRosa , has won five. Connelly sang with champion quartets Interstate Rivals (1987), Keepsake (1992), PLATINUM (2000), and Old School (2011); and DeRosa with Keepsake (1992), PLATINUM (2000), Max Q (2007), Main Street (2017), and Three And A Half Men (2024). Connelly
338-647: The first of only six Sweet Adelines to win gold medals as both a chorus director and a quartet member. Sweet Adelines International set the Guinness World Record for Largest Singing Lesson on October 24, 2009, at 7:30 p.m. The record-setting event coincided with the 63rd annual International Convention and Competition held at the Sommet Center in Nashville, Tennessee . Music professional and past Sweet Adelines International Quartet Champion Peggy Gram led
364-510: The gala, including Hall of Fame, Honorary Membership, Harmony Fellows (50-year members) and the Joe Liles Lifetime Achievement Award (for a chorus director). With the inaugural year's international convention canceled due to COVID-19, a virtual awards event was held on September 14, 2020. Since 2004, the society's Hall of Fame recognizes quartets and individual members who have made exceptional contributions to barbershop as
390-569: The globe. The organization includes women from a wide range of backgrounds who love to sing. In 2012, Sweet Adelines International claimed a membership of 24,000 women, all singing in English, includes choruses in most of the fifty United States as well as in Australia, Canada, England, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Scotland, Sweden, Wales and the Netherlands. Headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma,
416-408: The lesson by demonstrating inspiring techniques for integrating the voice into the art form. The venue was filled with sound as 6,651 singers practiced the demonstrated techniques and sang simultaneously for the duration of the 10-minute lesson. Guinness World Records official adjudicator Danny Girton Jr. presided over the certificate ceremony to validate the record and confirm that the achievement met
442-500: 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. Sweet Adelines International was established in 1945 by Edna Mae Anderson of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The aim
468-490: The old name for certain legal purposes. The old official name spelled "barber shop" as two words, while barbershop is generally used elsewhere. In reference to the acronym SPEBSQSA, The Society has said "attempts to pronounce the name are discouraged". Unofficially, it is sometimes pronounced as if it were spelled "Spebsqua". Sharp Harmony , a Norman Rockwell painting, appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post magazine issue dated September 26, 1936; it depicts
494-547: The organization encompasses more than 1,200 registered quartets and 600 choruses. For organizational purposes, all choruses and quartets affiliate to SAI as members of a geographic "region", each region being approximately the same size in terms of total SAI members. The number and boundaries of the regions are adjusted periodically and as of 2015 there are 28 active regions numbered 1–35. (Region numbers 7, 18, 20, 24, 27–29, and 33 no longer exist, and were merged into neighboring regions.) Corresponding to its popularity and origin in
520-407: The society annually runs international and district-level contests for choruses and quartets . When a quartet wins the international gold medal, the foursome is considered champions forever and may not compete again. A chorus that wins the gold must sit out only for the next two competitions. In 2020, the society inaugurated an annual Awards Gala to "amplify and celebrate" those who have impacted
546-582: The society's programs. 36°9′36″N 86°46′52″W / 36.16000°N 86.78111°W / 36.16000; -86.78111 In 2003, in preparation for a new headquarters location, the Society sold both Harmony Hall, a historic lakefront mansion in Kenosha, Wisconsin , and its nearby facility (known as Harmony Hall West) located in a strip mall which the Society purchased in 1976 and renovated. HHW had housed finance, merchandising, IT and membership. Operations and staff from both buildings were consolidated into
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#1732847594022572-442: The world, add their own flavor to the signature sound of barbershop harmony . Since November 1941, the organization has published a bi-monthly magazine titled The Harmonizer . The original name SPEBSQSA was intended as a lampoon on Roosevelt's New Deal alphabet agencies . Because of the name's length and the difficult-to-pronounce acronym, society staff and members often refer to SPEBSQSA as The Society . For decades, SPEBSQSA
598-431: Was the official name, while the Barbershop Harmony Society was an officially recognized and sanctioned alternate. Members were encouraged to use the alternate name, because it was felt that the official name was an in-joke that did not resonate outside the Society. In mid-2004, faced with declining membership, the Society adopted a marketing plan that called for using "Barbershop Harmony Society" consistently and retaining
624-421: Was not until May 1991 that the name officially changed to Sweet Adelines International. In 1957, Harmony, Incorporated split from Sweet Adelines over a dispute regarding admission of Black members. SPEBSQSA and Sweet Adelines at that time restricted their membership to whites, but both opened membership to all races a few years later. Today, Sweet Adelines International has a very diverse membership that spans
650-521: Was the first to achieve both the 3- and 4-time International Quartet Champion milestone, and DeRosa followed by doing so in multiple voice parts. Gary Lewis has won three times on three different parts with PLATINUM (2000, tenor), Max Q (2007, baritone), and Quorum (2022, bass). Though the competition is international, only two quartets from outside North America have so far won the gold medal: Ringmasters from Sweden in 2012 and Musical Island Boys from New Zealand in 2014. The Town and Country Four were
676-515: Was to teach and train its members in music and to create and promote barbershop quartets and other musical groups. She gathered a group of women who wanted to participate in the "chord-ringing, fun-filled harmony" that their husbands, members of the men's Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America (SPEBSQSA), were singing. SPEBSQSA has since changed its name to
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