St. Louis quartet captures Varsity championship on its home turf
Hometown heroes GATEWAY, a young barbershop quartet from St. Louis, earned the top prize in the 2026 Next Generation Barbershop Varsity Quartet contest, presented Tuesday night by the Barbershop Harmony Society.
Gateway continues a proud history of barbershop in St. Louis, which is home to two past world champion quartets, and the five-time chorus champion AMBASSADORS OF HARMONY.
The Varsity contest is open to quartets with singers aged 25 and under — and the quality of these quartets continues to grow. Gateway’s winning performance was comparable to the qualifying score for the main world championship contest, which opens Wednesday — a reflection of the ever-increasing competitiveness of the Varsity contest.
Third place quartet TRILOGY won the $10,000 prize for highest-placing quartet with at least two members new to the barbershop style.
The true international reach of the Varsity contest was shown by the fourth and fifth place finishes of quartets from New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
The top quartets were:
Gateway — 80.8%
St. Louis, and Tampa, FL
Rob Abbott, Stephen Reynolds, Cole Williamson, Johnny Padigos
Cruise Control — 80.5%
MIchigan
Shoshana Sprecher, Catie Carey, Kayla Reed, Cole Carey
Trilogy — 80.4%
Tampa, FL
Jesus Pacheco, Bryan Adames, Kevin Osano, Ben Anderson
Promenade — 79.9%
New Zealand
Will Harris, Will Lynch, Harry Burt, Kieran King
Ami Quartet — 79.2%
United Kingdom
