Chorale Barbershop / Barbershop Chorus

On Saturday, November 22, 2025, the South Shore A Cappella Chorus (affectionately known as the South Shore Saints) celebrated its landmark 65-year Anniversary -  A Journey Through Time - one of its most successful in recent memory.   Several factors likely contributed to the success:  1) The chorus secured Roulette as its guest quartet, well before they had been crowned Harmony Queens in 2024. Roulette - 2024 Harmony Inc. Champions 2) It hosted the Harmony eXplosion camp sponsored by the Northeastern District (NED) of the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) for the first time ever in Quebec, at Saint-Lambert International High School on the South Shore. Harmony eXplosion Camp: Saint-Lambert International High School 3) The chorus made a skillful jujutsu move, turning the tense US-Canada relations into an opportunity to take time off from competing at NED conventions, to focus on our annual show. 4) T hree new members - Robert Lepage (baritone), Michel Girard (Bass), and...

On Saturday, November 23, 2024, The South Shore Saints Barbershop Chorus celebrated a memorable annual show, “ Barbershop Is Love .” This year, the chorus took the unusual step of opting out of the Fall District Contest and Convention t o focus on the show . Using the extra time gained, our director Alan Briand and assistant director Steve Wheaton regularly helped us hone our songs, while Morgan Hayes LaCroix coached us on several occasions to improve our song interpretation. The change of schedule apparently led to a number of positive outcomes at showtime. Firstly, the extra preparation seemingly allowed us to focus while staying relaxed. I noticed that we remained calm even when we were backstage, which allowed us to fully enjoy the performance of our guest quartet  SKARmony . (This was not the case from my memory of previous shows .) I for one will not soon forget listening to Both Sides Of The Fence involving Alan Briand and SKARmony ! Secondly , the extra w...

What’s in a Show Title? In November of 2022, after emerging from the long and dark tunnel known as Covid, the South Shore Saints held their first show in more than two years.  The show, titled  “Together Again / À nouveau ensemble” , focused on appreciating the joy of relaxing with friends and family again. Not surprisingly, when the music team got to work on the show concept for 2023, it decided to highlight two songs we were familiar with—“the railroad package”—to inspire hope that the pace of life would soon return to normal.  The idea was to take our audience with us on an emotional train ride filled with thrills, chills, and spills. The show, which was titled “ All aboard! / Tous le monde à bord ! ”, turned out one of biggest audiences in recent memory.  Thanks to an enthusiastic audience, the boundless energy of guest quartet Daily Special — a fast-rising comedic group, and other intangible factors, we found ourselves basking in a lengthy standing ova...