Who We Are

The Capital City Chorus is the Ottawa Chapter of the Ontario District of the Barbershop Harmony Society, Inc.

The Society:

The Society is now properly referred to as the “Barbershop Harmony Society”.  It was formally known as SPEBSQSA (Society for Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America.

The Society has grown into the world's largest all-male singing organization, with more than 32,000 singers in more than 825 chapters in Canada and the United States. Another 4,000 barbershoppers are members of affiliated organizations in Australia, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, The Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa and Sweden. There are also Barbershop singers in twelve other countries in Asia, Europe, and South America. The Society is governed by an elected board of directors and administered by a 50 person professional staff at “Barbershop Harmony Society”headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee.The first meeting of the Society was on April 11, 1938 at the Roof Garden of the Tulsa Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Society's Motto:           “Keep The Whole World Singing”

Ontario District:

Ontario is one of 17 Districts of the Barbershop Harmony Society Inc. It has over 1,500 members in over 35 Chapters.  The Ontario District is the Society’s only all-Canadian District.  Its Chapters are located in Southern Ontario and as far north as North Bay.

There are Chapters in Northern Ontario and all other provinces of Canada, but they are all part of adjacent Districts in the United States. 

The Ontario District is divided up into 7 divisions: Central, Eastern, Heartland, Northern, Oakridge, Peninsula, and Western.  The Ottawa Chapter is in the Eastern division. Ontario District headquarters is located at Harmony Hall, 2 Gower St. Toronto.

History:

The Ontario District was formed in 1946 (8 years after the Society was formed). Our first Chapter was Windsor, then Chatham, London, Sarnia, and Toronto.  We celebrated our 50^th anniversary in 1996.

Vision Statement:

A fraternal association of barbershop harmony singers that actively supports all chapters in achieving goals. 

The Capital City Chorus (Ottawa Chapter) is associated with three important charities:

“Harmonize for Speech” is the Ontario Barbershoppers’ own charitable fund, headquartered in Toronto.  “H4S” receives applications and approves grants throughout the year to purchase equipment for settings providing services in Speech and Language Pathology and Audiology and to fund scholarships for students in those fields. The motto of “H4S”, expressed in a song of the same title, is “We Sing That They Shall Speak”. Individual Chapters volunteer and frequently partner and donate their services to help raise funds for other local charities. Over four milliondollars have been raised by Ontario Barbershoppers and we are proud of the fact that administration costs average only 2% per year. The Capital City Chorus has helped raise funds towards speech equipment to facilities in Ottawa through this foundation.

“Sing Canada Harmony Scholarship Fund” is a registered charity created to provide financial assistance for educational and training opportunities in singing vocal music performance, vocal music leadership, vocal music administration and vocal music composition, arrangement, adjudication and staging.  Sing Canada Harmony will fund learning opportunities for Canadians, particularly young people, to gain expertise and experience in the field of a cappella vocal music harmony singing in quartets and choruses.

CCC's own Charity: Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa and Camp Smitty

For over 10 years now, the Capital City Chorus has been involved with the Ottawa Boys and Girls Club, a non-profit organization which specializes in after-school, week-end and summer programs for children 6-18 years old. We provide manpower for one week-end every year in September at Camp Smitty, one of the Club’s facilities, to repair, paint, and even build new installations on the camp. This is one of the high moments of our Chorus year, with the fellowship between our members at its best. Lots of work gets done, but also tons of singing happens there every year!