Barbershop Harmony returning to Lake George

Four-part harmony will take the stage at the Lake George Jr/Sr High School Auditorium May 4 – 6 as the Barbershop Harmony Society’s Northeastern District Western Region Convention returns for a second year. District members will compete in quartet and chorus finals with top- placing groups advancing to the Barbershop Harmony Society’s 2018 International Convention contests, which will be held in Orlando, Florida this July. The public is invited to attend the Friday and Saturday contests.

Saturday evening, May 5, international a cappella champions Crossroads Quartet and Storm Front will perform in The Big Show. Advance tickets are $15 and available online or may be purchased at the Lake George Regional Chamber of Commerce office, 2176 State Route 9, Lake George, New York. Tickets will be $20 at the door. The concert begins at 8 p.m. Doors open 7:30 p.m.

The Barbershop Harmony Society was launched in 1938 as the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America. Founder Owen Clifton “OC” Cash, with Rupert Hall, organized the first gathering of singers seeking to bring back the a cappella music he remembered from his childhood. Today the society, the largest all-male organization in the world, boasts 22,000 members across the country. Their simple mission is “to keep America singing.”

Closely aligned are women barbershop harmony organizations. One such group, Saratoga Soundtrack Chorus, a local chapter of Sweet Adelines International, is assisting with the NED Convention in Lake George.