The big dance in New York is a little over a month away, but the road to get there started long before even this school year for many of the groups who will advance to the stage at PlayStation Theater.

Each day, in schools around the country, students enter a classroom and create music using their voices or any number of instruments. Starting with simple unison songs and plastic recorders, America’s youth can quickly advances to include repertoire from the world’s finest composers. It’s part of everyone’s education at some point, but what does it take to really be the best?

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Incorporating pop music into traditional music education is a hot topic for school teachers as of late. However, the greatest thing about music is that you don't have to love and practice just one style or even just one instrument. In fact, some of the best musicians out there, pop or not, have a deep history with classical and traditional styles.

After nearly a week of barbershop excellence, the curtain has closed on the 2019 Barbershop Harmony Society Midwinter Convention, where singers young and old crossed the Grand Ole Opry stage, historic contests were held and thousands of people had their love of singing renewed.

They may have all been singing the same style of music, but Day Two at the BHS Midwinter Convention was anything but indistinguishable.

In a ballroom full of singers and fans of all ages, the first Next Generation Junior Quartet Contest took the stage at Gaylord Opryland. The BHS Next Generation Program serves the youth population with two divisions: Junior (18 & younger) and Varsity (25 & younger). 

There have been a deluge of studies lately proclaiming the benefits of music. We’ve of course known it all along, but there is now verifiable proof that singing in a group can combat loneliness, keep the mind active and even lead to some physical health benefits. Everything from finding new friends to syncopating heartbeats can happen on the risers.

After 80 years as a men’s organization, the Barbershop Harmony Society announced in 2018 that membership would now be open to all. This year’s Midwinter Convention will be the first since the membership change and as the society descend on Nashville this week, we look back at why the Grand Ole Opry may just be the perfect place for Society to make history.

Final preparations are underway for the Barbershop Harmony Society Midwinter Convention in Nashville next week, and while the competitors are putting on the final polish and everyone is packing their bags, we’re looking ahead to what’s primed to be a fantastic night in barbershop.