This year, The Barbershop Harmony Society celebrates it's 70th year
and it's International convention will be held in the new home of
Nashville, TN

Among the highlights of the covention (besides an appearance and
master classes from Real Group) are the contests. The Choruses and
quartets work all year to produce surprising sounds, great artistry,
and fun performances. This is the best of the best, and you can
watch it on your laptop, or put the webcast on your new plasma tv for
the full effect!

The Contests consist of:

Chorus Contest
28 Choruses ranging in size from 25 to 180 get to sing 2 songs each
and a winner will be named. Last years event was a tie, and the
decision was made by a one point tie breaker in the music category.
By the way, the champions, The Westminster Chorus (California) are a
group of about 50 guys all under the age of 30.

See the Westminster Chorus in Action:
http://www.westminsterchorus.org/w/

Our local favorites will be the Granite Statesmen of Nashua, NH
http://www.granitestatemen.org

Chorus Contest Session # 1 FRIDAY, JULY 4 11 am - 3 pm CST
Chorus Contest Session # 2 FRIDAY, JULY 4 6:30 pm - 10:30 pm CST


Quartet Contest
51 quartets will start with all day session on Wednesday. After
singing 2 songs, the top 20 will sing 2 more on Thursday evening,
with the goal of making the top 10 to compete on Saturday evening.
This years crop is at an all time high for talent, and the title is
very much up for grabs. 2007 Boston Harmony Sweepstakes winners, Men
In Black enter the contest ranked 11th (and you saw how good they
are!). They hope to be the first quartet from the Northeast to break
the top 10 in last 20 years.

Here is a link to last year's champs, MaxQ
http://www.maxquartet.com/
(by the way, I HIGHLY recommend their children's cd)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEzTb7HClt0

Here are our local favorites, Men In Black:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JZkY4_CIEw&feature=related

Bank Of America Collegiate Barbershop Quartet Contest
24 Collegiate Quartets will compete in this one, and again, the
talent level is HIGH. Last year's second place quartet in this
competition was ranked 20th in the men's competition. An amazing
feat. The current champion is Roadtrip and they represent four states
and 3 different colleges, you can learn more about them at this link:

http://www.myspace.com/roadtripquartet

Our local favorite is Storrs Four, from the University of
Connecticut.

This event will be Saturday morning, July 5th at 9:00 am cst

A side note....there has NEVER been representation from a
Massachusetts based college in this competition. I hope you will join
me and me change that for next year. There is too much a cappella in
Boston for this to happen!

Anyway, I hope you get to watch or hear some of this great event.
Listening is free, watching has a variety of purchase packages,
including one that allows you to watch after the event, in case your
holiday plans keep you from being able to partake.

All Details can be found here:

http://www.barbershop.org/web/groups/public/documents/pages/pub_webcas
t_home.hcsp


Thanks for sharing this information with those that you think will
enjoy, and please ask us how The Barbershop Harmony Society can help
you in your musical endeavours.

Stay Tuned!

Michael Klein
The Barbershop Harmony Society
VP Membership Development, Northeast
songstermike@...