What is a Harmony Brigade? 

A Harmony Brigade Rally is an annual invitational weekend event for barbershop singers with significant quartet experience who are vocally capable, committed to learning challenging arrangements, and who are prepared to enjoy success in rally activities.  The charts are of championship caliber, and somewhat challenging.  It is not a chorus-oriented event, although a chorus performance of repertoire songs is always part of the Saturday night public show.

At a Harmony Brigade Rally, there is a two-round random quartet contest, time for open singing in random combinations, a show for the public, and group activities designed to maximize everyone's singing time.  Although a Harmony Brigade Rally is not for beginning or novice singers, you don't have a be a District or International champion, either.  A solid background in quartet singing or a capella singing is important, as is the ability to learn and perform challenging vocal arrangements. 

Harmony Brigades are events at which competent barbershop quartet singers meet to spend an entire weekend singing in many different quartet combinations. Each participant learns and prepares a shared repertoire of 10 or 12 songs in the months prior to the Brigade. At the event, singers can then simply pick any three people of the other voice parts and sing any of these songs. Then switch partners and do it over again with different participants.  There are currently 12 Harmony Brigade Rallies around the world, 10 in the US, one in Europe and one in the UK.  The Harmony University Brigade, the Mixed Harmony Brigade of New England, the Atlantic Harmony Brigade, the European Harmony Brigade, and the UK Harmony Brigade are a mix of male and female singers.  All other Brigade are male only singers. 

Although all Harmony Brigade follow a similar format, there are individual differences at each Rally in how they are operated, giving each their own personality.  Each US Brigade is a 501(c)3 organization and the fee includes music, learning tracks, hotel accommodations, and meals.  Several Brigades have scholarships available for promising young singers of college age.