As part of the Barbershop Harmony Society’s “Youth in Harmony” program, the Lehigh Valley Harmonizers, a local chorus, is hosting its fourth annual Young Singers Quartet Contest. The goal is to give students the unique experience of singing in a barbershop quartet and to offer an opportunity to improve their singing skills through the medium of close harmony a cappella singing. To date, ten quartets are entered from Freedom, Northern Lehigh and Phillipsburg High Schools. Deadline for entries is January 24th.

Each quartet will be asked to sing one song arranged in the barbershop style. The Harmonizers will assist with song selection and will provide music and learning CD’s at no cost to the participants, as well as quartet coaching. While the quartets will be adjudicated, the judges’ emphasis will be on recommendations for improvement, not criticism. Joining us this year to assist with judging and to perform is the award-winning quartet “Up All Night” (bigapplechorus.org/quartet/up-all-night). Cash prizes will be awarded to the music department of the top quartets, along with an invitation to sing in the Harmonizers’ annual show in May.

The competition will be held at 1:00 PM on Sunday, January 27th, in Lipkin Theatre, Kopacek Hall at Northampton Community College in Bethlehem and is open to the public at no charge.