A Wellington barbershop quartet has won a major competition in the United States, the home of the art form.
The Musical Island Boys - Matthew Gifford, Jeff and Will Hunkin and Marcellus Washburn - won first place in the 76th Annual International Barbershop Singing Convention in Las Vegas over the weekend.
Shona Murray, who was head of the music department at Tawa College when the boys first got together, was part of a party watching the competition live via a web-cast at the college.
For the finals, her former pupils sang Now Is The Hour and Hakuna Matata.