CONTEST
Barbershop Quartet Tag Contest
Our Contest Rules
The Quartet
- All members of the quartet must actively be attending school and be in grades 6 – 12.
- There can be only one Teacher/Director and school listed per quartet.
- The School District must serve one of the 9 Counties making up the Houston TX area – Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery, and Waller Counties.
- The maximum of tags submitted by one quartet is one.
- An individual singer may be a member of only one quartet per category.
- A school may submit entries from more than one quartet.
The Submission
- Submit by March 24, 2025.
- The tag must be 100% a cappella and in the barbershop style.
- Barbershop Tag sources may include, but are not limited to:
- Download tags from the Barbershop Harmony Society.
- Download tags from Barbershop Tags.
- SmartPhone Apps
- Record the video and post the tag as an Unlisted YouTube.
- A tag may be entered into one of three categories – Mixed, Tenor-Bass, or Treble Quartets.
- Mastering or alteration shall not be made to the recordings, including the addition of reverb.
- The preferred method is that the tag be recorded “live” with all four singers in the same room.
- Musical alterations to a tag are acceptable, so long as they conform to the barbershop style.
- The maximum length of the tag is 45 seconds.
- The Tidelanders will acknowledge receipt of all submissions.
The Judging
- The tags will be judged by a panel of Tidelanders led by our Musical Director.
- Entries will be scored on Tag Difficulty, Healthy Singing, Music Execution, Quartet Balance and Blend, and Visual Performance.
- The judging will be “blind”. Be sure that your submission does not include any school-identifying information in their videos.
- The decision of the judges is final.
The Winners
- Winners will be announced on April 11, 2025.
- Winners will be notified by email to the Director/Teacher on the Submission Form.
- Cash will be distributed:
For High School Quartets:
- For Best in Category: $50 to each singer in the Quartet and $200 to the school’s music program.
- For Second in Category: $25 to each singer and $100 to the school’s music program.
- For Best in Contest: an additional $25 to each singer and $100 to the school’s music Program.
For Middle School Quartets:
- For Best in Category: $50 to each singer in the Quartet and $200 to the school’s music program.
- For Second in Category: $25 to each singer and $100 to the school’s music program.
- For Best in Contest: an additional $25 to each singer and $100 to the school’s music Program.
The Quartet Classification (High or Middle School) will be assigned by the highest grade level of any singer in the quartet.