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27-752: 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 2011, 2012, and 2013 international contests. Other awards include

54-432: A barbershop quartet is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a New Zealand band or other musical ensemble is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Barbershop quartet A barbershop quartet is a group of four singers who sing music in the barbershop style , characterized by four-part harmony without instrumental accompaniment, or a cappella . The four voices are:

81-509: A tenor 's range in Classical repertoire, often being more in the range of the classical countertenor range. Lead: The lead, often a lower or second tenor or even more recently a higher or lighter baritone, usually sings the main melody . Baritone: The baritone often completes the chord with a medium voice, usually slightly below the lead, but sometimes above it. While the baritone's part by itself does not sound as "melodious" as

108-568: 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 the Old Songs Library. Holding over 100,000 titles (750,000 sheets) this

135-419: A general rule, barbershop quartets use a TTBB (tenor—tenor—baritone—bass) arrangement, with the second tenor singing the lead. Since the 1940s, barbershop singers have tuned their seventh chords with just intonation to maximize the overtones , yielding a distinctive "ringing" sound. Tenor: The tenor generally harmonizes above the lead, making the part the highest in the quartet. So as not to overpower

162-547: 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 a remodeled HHW. In 2006 the Society announced plans to move its headquarters to Nashville, Tennessee . In August 2007,

189-529: 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 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

216-408: 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 a barber and three clients enjoying

243-609: 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 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

270-456: 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 a booklet upon joining the society. The purpose of this collection

297-517: 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 the gala, including Hall of Fame, Honorary Membership, Harmony Fellows (50-year members) and

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324-405: The lead , the vocal part which typically carries the melody ; a bass , the part which provides the bass line to the melody; a tenor , the part which harmonizes above the lead; and a baritone , the part that frequently completes the chord . The baritone normally sings just below the lead singer, sometimes just above as the harmony requires. Barbershop music is typified by close harmony —

351-417: The tag end of two others, are: In competition, barbershop quartets generally wear coordinated outfits to mark them as members of the same group. The Society Contest and Judging Committee of the Barbershop Harmony Society notes in their rule book that aesthetics are important to competitive success: "The judge responds to both the vocal and visual aspects of the performance, but the judge principally evaluates

378-522: 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 a whole. For purposes of administration, particularly of local education and contests,

405-624: 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. Bass singer Matt Gifford is self-described as "half Cook Island and half New Zealand Māori ", lead singer Marcellus (Lusa) Washburn is from Samoa , and Jeff and Will Hunkin (tenor and baritone, respectively) are both half-Samoan and half- Niuean . This article about

432-523: 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, the society annually runs international and district-level contests for choruses and quartets . When

459-636: The interaction of those aspects as they work together to create the image of the song." Traditionally, barbershop quartet attire consisted of: vest, straw hat , and spats, often with bow tie and sleeve garters; this is known as the Gay Nineties style. In popular culture, this style exemplifies the stereotypical barbershop quartet. Several Walt Disney theme parks feature a dedicated barbershop quartet called The Dapper Dans (Disney World version pictured). The outfits worn by these performers vary depending on location but do feature vests and straw hats. As

486-550: The late 19th and early 20th centuries in the United States of America, some maintain that the origins of barbershop singing are "obscure". The style is considered a blend of White and African American musical styles. Although the African American influence is sometimes overlooked, these quartets had a formative role in the development of the style. By the 1920s, the popularity of the style had begun to fade. It

513-450: The lead singer, who carries the tune, the part is often sung in falsetto , which is of a softer quality than singing in the modal register , though some quartets do make use of tenors with a softer full voice quality. Notable examples of barbershop quartets which made use of the full-voiced tenor include The Buffalo Bills and Boston Common . The range of a tenor in barbershop music does not necessarily closely correspond to that of

540-404: 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 was the official name, while the Barbershop Harmony Society

567-448: The other three, the baritone is a fundamental role in the quartet to filling in the missing notes and giving each chord a fuller sound. Bass: The bass always sings and harmonizes the lowest notes , often setting the root of the chord for root position chords, or singing the lowest note of the chord for inverted chords . Barbershop Harmony Society A parallel women's singing organization, Sweet Adelines International (SAI)

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594-821: The roles perform similar functions in the quartet although the vocal ranges may be different. While the regional origins of barbershop quartet singing are not wholly agreed upon, current organizations that promote the style typify it as an "old American institution." While the style is most popular in the United States, barbershop organizations exist in the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, South Africa, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, New Zealand, Australia, and Canada. Barbershop quartets have been featured in popular culture in musical theater productions such as The Music Man , or lampooned in television series such as The Simpsons and Family Guy . While many sources claim that barbershop singing originated in

621-419: The upper three voices generally remain within one octave of each other. While the traditional barbershop quartet included only male singers, contemporary quartets can include any gender combination. All-female barbershop quartets were often called beauty shop quartets , a term that has fallen out of favor. The voice parts for women's and mixed barbershop groups use the same names as those for male groups since

648-486: 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 the old name for certain legal purposes. The old official name spelled "barber shop" as two words, while barbershop

675-473: Was established in Rhode Island in 1959. In 1971, president of BHS Ralph Ribble launched the "Barberpole Cat Program" to encourage barbershop singing as widely as possible. Well-known and popular barbershop songs were published and promoted in order to provide a core set of pieces for barbershop quartets. The current list of 12 songs, commonly known as "polecats", was selected in 1987. These songs, plus

702-464: 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 the world, add their own flavor to the signature sound of barbershop harmony . Since November 1941,

729-744: Was revived in the late 1930s along with the founding of the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America (SPEBSQSA), now known as the Barbershop Harmony Society , or BHS. The society's first meeting was held at the Tulsa Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on April 11, 1938, and it was open only to male singers. In 1945, a parallel organization for women was also founded in Tulsa, called Sweet Adelines International (SAI). Harmony, Incorporated (HI), also serving women,

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