Brooke MacCallum Communications Coordinator ARTA
It’ s late Thursday evening at the Aldergrove Community League Hall, and rich harmonies can be heard carrying through the hallways.
Inside, the Grove City Chorus is mid-rehearsal, practising their a cappella rendition of the classic Christmas tune“ It’ s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” Dressed in matching holiday attire of red sparkly vests and bow ties, their voices blend in a barbershopstyle harmony that transports the room to another time.
Barbershop-style singing first began in the United States in the late 1800s, rooted in the African – American improvisational traditions of the South. This style of singing was later adopted and popularized by White male quartets in the early 1900s, who helped shape it into the musical genre known today as“ barbershop harmony.” However, by the 1930s, the barbershop style began to fade in popularity in favour of rising genres like blues and jazz.
Then in 1938, the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America( SPEBSQSA) was founded in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with a mission to revive the barbershop style. This non-profit has since rebranded as the Barbershop Harmony Society( BHS), with more than 20,000 members in choruses and quartets around the globe, including chapters in Canada.
Grove City Chorus was formed in Edmonton in 1992, affiliated with the Evergreen District of the BHS. Today, it comprises gentlemen of all ages and backgrounds who gather weekly in their shared passion for barbershop harmony. They rehearse songs both old and new and perform at baseball games, churches,
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