Masters of Harmony

Founded in 1985 with just a few dozen men, the Masters of Harmony is a 110-member men's chorus, based in Santa Fe Springs, California. Winner of eight consecutive gold medals (1990–2011) in international barbershop chorus competitions, the group possesses a diverse repertoire encompassing not only barbershop music but also classical, jazz, patriotic, sacred, standards and Broadway pops, and sings for various groups and organizations throughout the greater Los Angeles, California metropolitan area. The chorus won another barbershop international competition in 2017, bringing their total gold medal count to nine.

The Masters of Harmony began in the mid-1980s when a small group of barbershop singers from the Pasadena, California Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society (SPEBSQSA, Inc.) decided to break away and start a new chapter "dedicated to musical excellence," a phrase that became its slogan. The group obtained a chapter license in the spring of 1985 and then its charter at the Far Western District barbershop singing convention in October 1985. The chapter's original name, Foothill Cities, was derived from the series of towns that ran along the southern base of the San Gabriel Mountains, an area where most of the organizers then lived. In 1987 the chapter relocated its rehearsals to the Town Center in the City of Santa Fe Springs, California, and in 1998 changed its official name to that of the Santa Fe Springs Chapter. Over the course of its existence, the chorus has been led by four different primary music directors: Dr. Greg Lyne (1987–1996), Jeff Oxley (1998–1999), Mark Hale (2000–2012), and Justin Miller (2012–present).

Under the directorship of Dr. Lyne, in October 1988 the Masters of Harmony won the Far Western District chorus contest, thus qualifying for the Society-wide annual competition the following year. In July 1989 the chorus placed fourth at the international contest held in Kansas City, Missouri. The next year, in July 1990 in San Francisco, the chorus won the international chorus championship in a dramatic tiebreaker against the Louisville Thoroughbreds. In July 1993, when the chorus was next eligible to compete, it again won the international championship, this time in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Three years later, in July 1996 in Salt Lake City, Utah, the chorus achieved its third international chorus championship.

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