The First Chorus Contests

By 1952, a new facet in Barbershop competition was gaining steam--chorus contests. In the summer of 1952, both the Land O' Lakes District and the Johnny Appleseed District held chorus contests with more than 1,000 barbershoppers and members of their families attending each. These were not the first chorus contests in those districts but they were indications of the growing enthusiasm. Others of the 14 districts had chorus contests scheduled for the late summer and early fall months. The first Michigan District chorus contest was held in July of 1952 with nine choruses competing and roughly 2,100 barbershoppers and their families attending.

The first international chorus contest was held in Detroit at the 1953 convention. The winners, the Great Lakes Chorus of Grand Rapids, Michigan, were acclaimed the "1953 International Convention Championship Chorus." Fifteen other choruses competed, and the affair was considered a big success. It was an experiment to test the popularity of the chorus contest idea, but not all districts were represented, so it was not until 1954 in Washington, D.C., that the winning chorus, the Singing Capital Chorus of the host chapter, could be crowned the "SPEBSQSA International Chorus Champions." Some 889 men in 23 choruses wre involved in that contest, which from then on became an official part of the annual convention program.

--From Heritage of Harmony, edited by Val Hicks, published by SPEBSQSA, 1988, for the 50th anniversary of the Society

back to History
back to Aids to Bulletin Editors page