Owen Clifton “OC” Cash was nostalgic for the music of his childhood, the old songs sung in improvised a cappella on curbstones and in barbershops, when he, with acquaintance Rupert Hall, invited 14 singers to gather on the roof of the Tulsa Club for a songfest. The April 1938 meeting launched the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America, now known as the Barbershop Harmony Society. Today, the Society has 22,000 members in 17 Districts across the United States with a mission, their motto, to keep the whole world singing.

[aesop_quote type=”pull” background=”#804040″ text=”#ffffff” width=”content” align=”left” size=”1″ quote=”What is barbershop harmony?
“…barber shop harmony is obviously vocal rather than instrumental. And when it is remembered that barbers were originally surgeons as well, perhaps a barbershop chord is, after all, merely one which mutilates or dresses up some conventional formula of music. Its harmony tugs and strains in every direction, just as ragtime and its jazz offspring rip orthodox melody and rhythm into tatters.”
” cite=”Sigmund Spaeth, Barbershop Ballads, 1925″ parallax=”off” direction=”left” revealfx=”off”]

The Northeastern District will be bringing this bit of Americana to Lake George Friday, May 5 and Saturday, May 6 for its 2017 Western Regional Spring Convention and Contests. To date, 44 quartets, choruses and V.L.Q.s (very large quartets) have registered to compete in the event, which will be held in the auditorium of the Lake George Jr. /Sr. High School on Canada Street. Contestants are judged in three categories: Music, performance and singing. Each judge awards a score from one to 100 for each song.

Saturday evening, following the day’s contests, the Big Show will feature top International Finalists including Voices of Gotham, 2016 International Champions Forefront and Category 4, a new arrangement of A Mighty Wind quartet.  Tickets for the contests and Big Show are available online at Eventbrite and at the Lake George Regional Chamber of Commerce, 2176 Route 9, Lake George. Ticket prices start at $15. Phone (518) 668-5755 for more information.

(Tentative) Schedule of Events at the Lake George Jr./Sr. High School

Friday, May 5, 2017 (Mountain & Yankee Quartet & Int’l Prelims Semi-Finals)

6:30 p.m.: Auditorium doors open for the audience/attendees
7:00 – 10:15 p.m.: Mountain & Yankee Quartet & Int’l Prelims Semi-Finals
10:45 p.m.:  Announcements*

Saturday, May 6, 2017 (Mountain & Yankee Divisions Chorus Finals)

11:30 a.m.:  Auditorium doors open for the audience/attendees
Noon – 1:50 p.m.: Mountain & Yankee Divisions Chorus Finals Contest
2:10 p.m.:  Announcements*
2:30 – 4:10 p.m.: Chorus Evaluations*

Saturday, May 6, 2017 (International Quartet Finals)

5:15 PM:  auditorium doors open for the audience/attendees
5:45 – 7:25 p.m.: International Prelims Finals
7:30 p.m.:  Announcements*
8:15 – 10:00 p.m.: The BIG Show!
* Note: start times dependent on the previous event’s ending time (via contest length)

Feature image provided by Voices of Gotham courtesy of Dan Wright Photography