Member Organization
A Cappella Northwest ACNW: (Bellevue Chapter, Barbershop Harmony Society)
PO Box 3471
Bellevue, WA 98009
Contact our VP's of Music and Membership VP for further details.
Dues are to Barbershop Harmony Society
Northwest Sound (Wednesdays) Northwest Mix (Sundays)
Upcoming Events
Description
A Cappella Northwest (ACNW) was formerly the Bellevue Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society, which was chartered in 1985. The Bellevue Chapter was synonymous until 2018 with the Northwest Sound Men’s Chorus, which has placed in the top ten three times at the Barbershop International Contest, won numerous Evergreen District championships, and toured Europe. That tradition of excellence continues today. In addition, as the Barbershop Society opened its membership to women in the 2010s, the Bellevue Chapter created a chorus for both women and men called Northwest Mix. The Chapter also includes a number of men’s, women’s and mixed quartets.
In addition to the expansion of membership to include women, the style of music sung by barbershop groups has changed enormously over the last 40 years, and especially in the last 10 or 15 years. There are still rules of arrangement and performance applied to songs used in barbershop competitions, but they are much less rigid than they were in the “old days”. Lots of modern songs have been arranged in the barbershop style, and, in any event, Northwest Sound and Northwest Mix both sing a cappella music that does not conform to barbershop “rules” at all. For all of these reasons, it was decided by the members of the chapter to change its name to ACNW to reflect the fact that our music and our membership are no longer bound by the old connotations of “barbershop”. We’re still proud members of the Barbershop Society, which has been around since 1938, but we are also increasingly a part of the larger a cappella movement that has grown up alongside barbershop in the last 30 years.
Northwest Sound and Northwest Mix welcome singers or prospective singers of all ages. The choruses rehearse at the Temple B’nai Torah, at 15727 N. E. 4th Street in Bellevue. Northwest Sound meets at 7PM on Wednesdays and Northwest Mix meets at 6PM on Sundays. Guests are welcome to drop in any time, and there is a program called “Sing, Sing, Sing” that is regularly offered to give singers a chance to sing a cappella and learn a few songs for performance in an ACNW show. A new “Sing, Sing, Sing” program will be offered this fall.
For more information:
Northwest Sound Men's Chorus:
http://www.northwestsound.org
Northwest Mix Chorus:
http://www.northwestmix.org
Ensemble Photos
