Our goal is to bring men together to enrich lives through the gift of music and for the encouragement, education and preservation of Barbershop harmony in the Edmonton Area. We showcase our joy of singing Barbershop music throughout the year in and around the Edmonton area. We can be enjoyed in our practice facility, at community events, festivals, our annual competition or show.
What is Barbershop Harmony?
Click on the link below to get the musical details about Barbershop Harmony
Our History In Edmonton
The musical world has many different genres such as classical, jazz, country and western, and so forth. Unique among all of these is acappella four-part harmony singing. Originating in the United States, it is a blend of bass, baritone, lead or melody, and tenor voices that unite to form what is commonly known as Barbershop harmony. This musical art form is performed by both men and women in chorus and quartet settings.
While this form of choral music was very popular in the late 1800’s through the early 1900’s, its popularity had begun to fade by the 1930’s. In response to its decline, 26 men gathered at the Roof Garden of the Tulsa Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to share an evening of Barbershop harmony. From that meeting evolved the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America, more commonly known as SPEBSQSA. From this modest beginning, this society, now rebranded as the Barbershop Harmony Society, is the acappella home of over 14,000 members singing with 760 choruses in 14 countries.
Edmonton became part of this musical fellowship in 1954 with the chartering of the Edmonton chapter of SPEBSQSA. Its chorus, the Oil Capital Chorus, performed at various venues with its first show held in May of 1955 at the Victoria High School auditorium. As well, it was one of the inaugural performances for the newly opened Edmonton Jubilee Auditorium in 1957. In later years the chorus name was changed to Klondike Chordsmen in keeping with the Klondike Days theme of Edmonton’s summer-time celebration.
Barbershop harmony continues to be part of the Edmonton musical scene with the Grove City Chorus, chartered in 1992, sharing four-part acappella harmony with appreciative audiences at a variety of public and private performances such baseball games, seniors’ homes, Fort Edmonton Park, church halls, etc. Currently based at Aldergrove Community League Hall, the chorus welcomes invitations to entertain. They also invite men who love to sing to join the chorus and help share the ringing chords of Barbershop harmony.
Statement of Purpose
Click on our formal statement of purpose link below:
Performance
The main purpose of Grove City Chorus is to get out and sing for our community. We sing at annual shows, a number of community events, and at annual competitions.
Education
In addition to sharing our music with others, another great passion of ours is learning more about the art of acapella singing. Vocal instruction is a regular part of chorus rehearsals, and a very important component of the chorus experience. A couple of times a year, we will get coaching from a visiting master in the art of barbershop, where we learn many fabulous tricks of the trade. In addition, we have sent members to Harmony University, which is hosted by the Barbershop Harmony Society.
Competition
In the spring of every year, Grove City Chorus participates in the Evergreen Division III chorus competition which was last hosted by Grove City Chorus in 2017. Competitions are a special time for quartets and choruses from our region to come together to sing for each other, and get some constructive feedback from a panel of judges. The winners of the regional competition in both quartet and chorus categories get to travel to International Competition, which is held in the fall in a city selected each year.
Quartets
Most choruses have a number of members who form their own vocal quartets in addition to singing with the chorus. Grove City Chorus currently is home to a number of wonderful quartets, and we are very proud of them!
Affiliation
Grove City Chorus is a chapter of Barbershop Harmony Society, a non-profit organization of approximately 25,000 members in choruses and quartets, worldwide. The Headquarters is in Nashville, TN.