The Great Lakes Chorus was established in 1947 as part of the international organization the Barbershop Harmony Society. We are an all male barbershop chorus for the Grand Rapids, Michigan area community with members from all over Michigan. We are a non-profit and do community, competition and contracted performances. Below is the organization's history. Also visit the GreatLakesChorus.org website's Join page for more information.


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Director Aaron Bouwman

Current Board Members & Past Chapter Presidents

Honor Roll



GRAND RAPIDS CHAPTER HISTORY

The Grand Rapids Barbershop Chapter is a not for profit singing organization dedicated to preserving and spreading barbershop harmony throughout Michigan and the Grand Rapids area. The Chapter is chartered as a member of the Barbershop Harmony Society, also known as S.P.E.B.S.Q.S.A. or the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America

Although Barbershop harmony, a native art form, was sung for many years, the Barbershop Society was not formed until April 11, 1938 when an informational meeting was held at a rooftop garden at the Muelenbach Hotel in Tulsa, OK . The National headquarters were established in Detroit, Michigan and remained there until 1957 when they were moved to a mansion on the shores of Lake Michigan in Kenosha, Wisconsin where they remain today.

The Grand Rapids Barbershop Chapter was formed about nineteen months later in November, 1939. It was created as the result of a joint meeting held at the Pantlind Hotel (now the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel) between men that enjoyed singing barbershop and the members of the Schubert Club. Meetings were held at the Pantlind for a number of years. The Chapter became a part of the Pioneer District of the Society. The Pioneer District now is comprised of all of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula and the eastern half of its Upper Peninsula as well as parts of Ontario, Canada.

Although there were National Quartet Champions crowned beginning in 1939, The Harmony Halls from Grand Rapids won the first truly “International” Quartet championship in 1944 as Canadian Chapters were added to the Society. In 1950, the Harmony Halls were one of the first quartets to tour Europe and entertain servicemen at the request of the U.S. Government.

The Great Lakes Chorus was formed in 1947 as the official choral singing group of the Grand Rapids Chapter to offer men an opportunity to learn barbershop harmony in a large group so they could develop their skills to enable them to sing in quartets. In 1952 the Chorus entered the first Pioneer District chorus competition and came away the winners. They represented the Pioneer District in the first ever SPEBSQSA (now the Barbershop Harmony Society) International Chorus Convention Contest. The Great Lakes Chorus won this contest and was crowned the very first International Chorus Convention Champions in 1953.  Because of a change in the rules all future competitions were considered a separate competition from the 1953 one and the 1953 win was relegated in history.  But in 2010 on behalf of the BHS the surviving members of the 1953 Great Lakes Chorus were presented with their Gold Medal pins, 57 years later, and also made available posthumously to the rest of the 1953 members' families.*  

(as of 2010) The Great Lakes Chorus has been crowned District Champions 11 times since 1953.** The Chorus has represented the Pioneer District 15 times at the International Contest from 1981 through 2002, more times than any other Pioneer District Chapter in the history of the Society. We last competed in the International Chorus Contest in Portland, Oregon in July, 2002.

To put the Great Lakes Chorus’ achievements in perspective, the Grand Rapids Chapter is one of some 32 barbershop chapters in Pioneer District and the Great Lakes Chorus placed 22nd at the Portland International Contest when the preliminary contests held to qualify for the International Contest included over 800 choruses in the United States alone. When you think of our placement in the entire Barbershop Society, you realize that the Great Lakes Chorus is clearly one of Michigan’s and America’s best barbershop singing groups.

The Chapter can also boast a number of District Championship quartets including Wildcard in 2004, Shades of Grey (Seniors) in 1999, Flipside (Seniors) in 1997, fermata in 1996, Genuine Blend in 1994, Opening Night in 1992, Legacy in 1988, Touch of Clash in 1986, The Ritz in 1984, The Galaxies in 1973, The Extension Chords in 1952 and The Harmony Halls in 1943.

Both the Ritz and the Harmony Halls went on to become International Quartet Champions.

Come join us any Tuesday night at 7:00 PM at the Forest Hills Presbyterian Church, 36th Street & Cascade Road in Cascade, Michigan – No experience is necessary. Or call us at our Harmony Hotline (447-8338) for more information.

*
BHS Intl Chorus Contest 1953
Award To 1953 Chorus Champ Survivors And Their Families

**Choruses winning the Pioneer District Chorus Championship have to sit out for two consecutive years before competing for the District Championship again.