Barbershop Quartet Day

Although barbershop quartet singing is associated with the United States, its origins (in the 19th century) are obscure: it may date from an era when American barbershops formed social and musical centres for men, or it may refer back to the British expression “barber’s music,” denoting an extemporized performance by patrons waiting to be shaved and referring to a barber’s traditional role as a musician. In any event, the modern Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America (SPEBSQSA, Inc.), also called (since 2004) the Barbershop Harmony Society, was founded by Owen Clifton Cash, Rupert I. Hall, and 24 other men who attended a first meeting and songfest at the Tulsa Club in Tulsa, Okla., U.S., on April 11, 1938. The society flourished, and by the early 21st century it had more than 800 chapters with more than 38,000 members. It holds an annual convention and contests, and it publishes the bimonthly magazine The Harmonizer. Headquarters are in Nashville.