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Barbershop Quartets Staying Alive

Stephan Brannan has never frequented a soda shoppe, referred to the females at his high school as “gals,” or set a date for his retirement, but he’s found a brotherhood with those who have. At 17 years old, he’s the youngest member of the Hilton Head Island Barbershop Harmony Society by at least a couple of decades—an anomaly in a cappella.

“I don’t think the age difference really matters, because a lot of these guys have the spirits of teenagers, even though they’re a lot older,” he says. “It’s really cool.”

“That perspective and enthusiasm is of members in the aging chorus, who want to attract more young men like Brannan to their music fraternity. Brannan found out about the barbershoppers through his at church, who knew that one of the quartets needed a tenor. The group consists mostly of men in their late 50s to early 60s, with a few outliers, but they are hoping that will soon change.

Getting youth involved

At the end of July, the Hilton Head barber-shoppers planned to send 10 area high school boys to the annual Dixie District Harmony Explosion Camp at Clemson University for barbershop-style singing classes.

“Like every organization in this world, if you don’t get youth involved it’s going to die,” said member Dick Stacy. “[Barbershop] will disappear if there’s not any enthusiasm left behind. … The more young people we get, the better we’re going to be. We need bolstering. Every does.”

Stacy said he first got involved as a barbershopper in New York in 1952, when a friend from work recommended he check out one of the practices. And like most who are now longtime members, he was the music and camaraderie from the start.

Vocabulary Focus

anomaly (n) ---something that is unusual and does not seem right

music to (someone's) ears (idiom) ---something that makes you very happy

bolster (v) ---to support something or make it stronger

chapter (n) ---a local division of a larger organization

Specialized terms

a cappella (adj)--- 无伴奏合唱singing without musical instruments; literally means “in chapel style” in Istalian

fraternity (adj)--- 互助会；兄弟会a group of people who have the same interest