It is official – assuming adequate participation, this coming Midwinter Convention in San Antonio, Texas will be the first annual International Youth Barbershop Chorus Festival/Contest!!  This is very exciting, as it is a culmination of all of YOUR efforts in promoting barbershop harmony to youth throughout the United States and Canada.  The convention is the last weekend of January (25-27).

  Specifics of the festival will be coming in the next few weeks, but for now, here are the general guidelines:

1.)    Festival/Contest is open to male choruses of 12 or more singers

2.)    Average age of the chorus must be 25 years old or less, with no one over the age of 30

3.)    Membership in the Society or affiliate organizations is NOT a requirement.  Could be a school-sponsored group (High School or Collegiate Chorus), but this is also NOT a requirement

4.)    Choruses will be judged on 10 minutes of singing (with at least two songs being “contestable barbershop” – other selection must be a cappella)

5.)    Society standards will be used, with some slight alterations to account for “non-contestable” selection

6.)    Choruses will receive audio-taped evaluations from all of the judges, in addition to written evaluation sheets.

7.)    Choruses arrive Friday afternoon/evening, possible pizza party/master class Friday night (TBD), compete Saturday, attend the Midwinter show Saturday night, and depart Sunday.

8.)    Choruses may choose to be simply given a rating (such as superior, excellent, good, etc.), or they may choose to be rated AND ranked against other choruses.  Awards will be given to all participating groups.

9.)    Each Chorus will critique (written) at least one other competitor to give an added educational opportunity to the participants.

So – what now?  The next step is to get participants!  From those of you receiving this e-mail, I’m looking to find out who could organize a group (or groups) from your respective areas to compete/participate in this?!  Some of you are already involved in a youth-chorus of some sort.  Some of you are music educators or college professors who could bring a group of guys to participate.  Here is a great goal to pursue!  For this first festival (and perhaps future festivals), there is no qualifying competition of any kind.

I am happy to answer ANY and ALL questions you may have pertaining to this – but by the end of April, I need to know who’s on-board.  As mentioned before, more “formal” specifics/literature will be coming, but I wanted to get the word out, so you can start planning accordingly!