Quartet registration now open to women's and mixed harmony quartets

This timeline follows the Roadmap and Milestones progression shared in 2018, under the Scale Assets and Scale Participation and Engagement workstreams. You can view that detailed information and video here.

Everyone in Harmony is all about getting more people singing barbershop. The Strategic Vision document states: "We will re-invest in and revitalize quartet singing." This requires us to be able to grow our quartet program from our current 1,200 quartets to 12,000... 20,000... 100,000 in the future. The goal, as identified in the Strategic Vision Roadmap and Milestones, is that by 2028 there are 1.2 million people engaged in barbershop in the BHS universe. Imagine how many quartets that might be! We want to make it as easy as possible to get as many people singing as possible, without a lot of limitations and exclusions as barriers.

To register a quartet, all 4 individuals must be members of the Barbershop Harmony Society. In order to compete, all 4 members must meet the contest eligibility requirements, which may include being members of a district and chapter according to the contest rules. More information about entering contests is available here.

BHS acknowledges self-identification by individuals, as each person chooses to list in the member database.

In general:

• A men’s quartet consists of individuals listed as male.
• A women’s quartet consists of individuals listed as female.
• A mixed harmony quartet consists of any four individuals, who are not all listed as male or female as noted above.

However, as noted in previous questions, a quartet may reserve a name in more than one category if desired, as registering and reserving a name does not necessarily translate to contest eligibility. Current contest rules require that any quartet competing in the men’s contest must consist of four individuals who identify as male. More information about entering contests is available here.

Many district conventions are already planning to include mixed harmony or women’s quartet awards as part of their 2019 quartet contest sessions. Specific contest award opportunities are determined by individual districts. In addition, most districts allow for quartets to perform on the contest stage for “score and evaluation only,” even when they are not eligible for any available awards. Reference the individual district website or contact the respective District Representative for Contest and Judging (DRCJ) for more information.

Still to be determined. BHS is working with the Society Contest & Judging Committee (SCJC) and other stakeholders to provide guidance in 2019.

Registration as a BHS quartet is one of the requirements of contest eligibility in an official BHS contest. The other requirements depend on the contest and might include achieving a qualifying score in a preliminary contest or other eligibility factors such as age. More information about entering contests is available here.

Yes. Any quartet who wishes to secure complete name exclusivity may register in more than one category if desired, assuming that the name is available in both/all categories. (See above for details and costs.)

The new quartet program guidelines do not specifically prohibit multiple quartets with the same name in multiple categories. However, in practice, BHS will endeavor to limit confusion that may be caused by more than one active quartet with the same name serving the same geographic area.

Yes, if any quartet wanted to reserve name exclusivity across categories, the quartet could reserve their name in all categories. However, reserving a name in the men’s category does not make a quartet eligible to compete in the men’s quartet contest -- the quartet must also meet the other eligibility requirements. More information about entering contests is available here.

No, the quartet must also meet the other eligibility requirements. Registering as a men’s quartet is not the only requirement and alone does not make a quartet eligible to compete in a men’s quartet contest. More information about entering contests is available here.

The new quartet program guidelines do not specifically prohibit multiple quartets with the same name in multiple categories. However, in practice, BHS will endeavor to limit confusion that may be caused by more than one active quartet with the same name serving the same geographic area.

BHS reserves the right to refuse to register quartet names that might cause confusion, such as a women’s quartet with the same name as a men’s quartet serving the same geographical area. By the same token, a men’s quartet wishing to register the same name as a current champion women’s quartet (even if not registered with BHS) is likely to be refused -- and has been in the past.

The new quartet program guidelines do not specifically prohibit multiple quartets with the same name in multiple categories. However, in practice, BHS will endeavor to limit confusion that may be caused by more than one active quartet with the same name serving the same geographic area -- especially in the near term.

“Everyone in Harmony” is all about getting more people singing barbershop. The Strategic Vision document states: "We will re-invest in and revitalize quartet singing." This means being able to scale our quartet program from our current 1,200 quartets to 12,000... 20,000... 100,000 quartets in the future. As we build toward a day when we register not a few thousand quartets, but tens or even hundreds of thousands of quartets, our thinking about quartet names must allow for that level of growth.

Yes, the names of the three International gold medalist champions (in the Seniors, Open, and NextGen Varsity contests) will be retired in the men’s category. Should BHS offer mixed harmony or women’s contests in the future, we anticipate those gold medalist quartet names will also be retired in their respective categories.

Yes. All previously retired men’s medalist quartet names continue to be retired in the men’s category.