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 a beautiful autumn evening last Saturday, September 27, the South Shore Saints (aka Chorale A Cappella South Shore) held their first and only Spaghetti Supper of the year.  Post-pandemic, we have held this fundraising event biannually, once in the spring and again in the fall, to cover registration fees for members participating in the spring regional and fall district conventions, respectively. This year, however, the chorus decided not to attend the spring regional convention in Lake George, NY, in large part because more than a few members were hesitant to travel across the border due to tensions with our neighbours to the south. And because attending the fall district convention is contingent on having qualified in the spring (which we had done for the past 3 years running, returning with the most improved chorus award each time), we had suddenly lost our justification for holding our cherished Spaghetti Suppers.  Yet every seemingly unfortunate event usually comes with...

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...