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Barbers in harmony with Whistler

Hundreds of barbershop enthusiasts descend on Whistler for regional annual convention
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What: Harmonize in Whistler

When: Oct. 30 & 31

Where: Telus Whistler Conference Centre

Cost: Free mass sing, other events $20 to $35

Whistler sees its share of street performers, thanks to the folks at the Whistler Arts Council, but this coming week, a visiting group of musicians has a special show in store.

On Friday, Oct. 30 and Saturday, Oct. 31 the Telus Whistler Conference Centre will be taken over by a crowd of almost 600 barbershop performers, as they gather for an annual regional district convention.

Moe Jones is a member of the Gentlemen of Fortune chorus, one of five large choruses in the Lower Mainland, boasting a membership of 75 people who perform at hospitals and nursing homes throughout the year, and special Christmas shows during the holiday season.

Jones' interest in the world of barbershop quartets and choruses was actually sparked while he was in high school.

"Basically, singing in a quartet with that four-part harmony is just really a thrill to sing to, and it's a hobby, but it's a real participation thing, where you can hear that chord ring in your ears, and it's very, very exciting, particularly when you're making the music and there are no instruments behind you as a band making the music."

This a capella style of purely vocal music emerged at the turn of the 20 th century.

"In those early days the barbershop was sort of a place of entertainment," Jones explained. "When men went to get their shaves done, they would hang around and play instruments and they'd sing songs, and it was sort of a social club, almost."

The tradition almost disappeared over the next 20 years or so, only to be resurrected in 1939 by a man named O.C. Cash.

"They originally called it the Society for the Preservation of Quartet Singing in America."

Rolls off the tongue nicely, doesn't it? Since then, that society has been renamed the Barbershop Harmony Society, and grown to a membership of almost 33,000 men. There's another society, Sweet Adeline International, with a membership of almost 20,000 members, for the female counterpart of the barbershop quartet and chorus.

"When you get some of these big choruses from Florida and California and so forth, and there's one in Toronto too, they are fantastic," Jones said. "You get 120 guys on stage all performing an a capella in costume and doing all the choreo, and it's fantastic!"

Jones is co-chairing this year's convention for the Society's Evergreen District, which includes Alaska, British Columbia, Alberta, Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.

"Within that district, there are 62 chapters, and then in the springtime, there are what we call division contests, so within... that district, there are sort of preliminary chorus and quartet contests and you have to score so many points and then those choruses and quartets that reach the number of points are then invited to this Evergreen District convention to compete in the fall," he explained.

While the convention has been held in Vancouver and New Westminster in previous years, this time around, at the suggestion of a member's wife, they decided to bring the event to Whistler.

Organizers expect 1,000 people to attend the convention - barber shoppers and their family members - and 11 judges from across North America. Whistler Mayor, Ken Melamed has proclaimed Oct. 26 to 31 as Barbershop Harmony Week in honour of the people who are coming to town for the convention.

Twenty choruses are taking part in this year's competition, which will see the winning chorus move onto the international finals, which are held in Philadelphia in July. The winning quartet, from a field of 32, will walk away with the honour of being named the champion quartet of the district for the year.

Friday night, the 32 quartets will compete with the top eight moving onto the finals, which are held on Saturday evening. The chorus competition starts Saturday morning and wraps up in the afternoon. Then, the top three choruses and the top three quartets take part in the show of champions. All of the events are open to members of the public, with a special free mass sing with over 600 barber shoppers being held in the Village Square on Saturday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. (provided the weather co-operates).

"We're hoping a lot of the families will bring the kids because we have got a Halloween project in mind where the kids can be bused to Tapley's Farm," Jones said, adding that they also hope surrounding vendors will come out and enjoy the show.

"People are sort of in awe about it because, wow, they haven't seen this kind of format before and the emcee entertains and explains all these things and how it works, and so forth. And then the second half is the show of champions, so it's a regular show. From what I've seen in the past, they're very impressed."

Tickets to the quartet contest on Friday night at 6 p.m. are $25; tickets for the chorus contest on Saturday are $20. A ticket to the quarterfinals and show of champions on Saturday evening is $35. Tickets are available at Tourism Whistler and at the Conference Centre on the day of the show.