For Immediate Release
MAX Q WINS INTERNATIONAL BARBERSHOP QUARTET CONTEST
DENVER (July 8)…Powerhouse quartet Max Q won the Barbershop Harmony Society’s international quartet competition here Saturday night by a commanding 286 points.
The quartet led all three rounds of competition that began July 4 with a field of 49 quartets from throughout North America and overseas. With the championship, they earn medals, trophies and bragging rights. There are no cash prizes or recording contracts as prizes.
Members of Max Q, who hail from Dallas, Toledo, Ohio, and Tampa, Fla., are tenor Greg Clancy, lead Tony DeRosa, baritone Gary Lewis and bass Jeff Oxley. They first competed together in 2004 and have won silver medals every year until now.
Rounding out the top five medalist positions were:
• OC Times from Westminster, Calif., second place. Members are tenor Shawn York, lead Sean Devine, baritone Pat Claypool, and bass Cory Hunt.
• Storm Front from Denver, third place. Members are tenor David J. Ellis, lead James R. Clark, baritone Darin Drown, and bass Sydney S. Libsack.
• State Line Grocery from Stone Mountain, Ga., fourth place. Members are tenor Dylan Oxford, lead Tim Brooks, baritone Mark Lamback, and bass Drew McMillin.
• Flipside from Salem, Oregon, and Nashville, Tenn., fifth place. Members are tenor Rick Spencer, lead Mike McCormic, baritone Tim McCormic, and bass Kevin Stinson.
Competing quartets all have “day jobs.” In Max Q’s case, Clancy owns Healthy Living Hit Music, a fitness music company, DeRosa is a studio vocalist and coach of many barbershop quartets and choruses, Lewis is a choral music educator, and Oxley is actively employed as a studio vocalist in Dallas’ jingle community.
A panel of 15 judges, five in each of three categories, scores the competitors. Society judges undergo a rigorous three-year training process leading to certification in one of three scoring categories: singing, presentation and music.
The contest was the concluding event of the Barbershop Harmony Society’s international convention and competitions.
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About barbershop-style a cappella music: Barbershop harmony is a uniquely American musical art form. It is known for its four-part harmony and the “expanded sound” created by its unique chord structure. Sharing roots with gospel and jazz, it is part of the continuum of American music.
About the Barbershop Harmony Society: Founded in 1938 in Tulsa, Okla., the Barbershop Harmony Society is the largest all-male singing organization in the world. There are eight official foreign affiliates of the Society, but barbershop harmony is sung in more than 40 countries including Japan, Russia and China.
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Photos at www.barbershop.org/newsroom
Score sheet at www.barbershop.org/ID_106699
