Sirens of Gotham is joining the Barbershop Harmony Society!
Sirens of Gotham is thrilled to announce our intention to commence a trial dual-charter membership with the Barbershop Harmony Society! We’ll kick this off by competing at the Mid-Atlantic District Northern Division Contest in April representing the Hell's Kitchen Chapter, home of our friends Voices of Gotham. Not only will we perform as an SSAA chorus in the BHS “Women’s” Division, we will share the stage with Voices of Gotham in a brand new, official SATB ensemble in the “Mixed” Division. This will all be in addition to our journey to the Sweet Adelines International Greater NY/NJ Region 15 Convention in May.
It is important to us that we emphasize that we have no intention of leaving our home in Sweet Adelines International, an organization focused on empowerment and learning, and one that has officially been our home for seven years. It is with the skills and confidence we have learned from our fellow Sweet Adelines, along with the support of Voices of Gotham, that we are excited to explore a new arena and join the Hell’s Kitchen Chapter of the BHS in a dual-charter capacity. We are so excited for the future of barbershop and hope our efforts across both of these organizations demonstrate what inclusion can really look like.
It has been a long journey to get to this point. While the decision by Sirens of Gotham to pursue a dual-charter may be the most recent step, the vision of a Gotham community of barbershop singers has been on the horizon for more than a decade. When the Barbershop Harmony Society announced that the next stage of the Everyone in Harmony initiative would open competition to more than just male members, Gotham leadership could not overlook the impact and opportunity this opened to our choruses and community.
The Voices and Sirens leadership teams have been critical in navigating this next stage of history, working diligently to ensure membership across both ensembles felt informed and encouraged to engage in dialogue with their fellow community members. The leadership has curated numerous documents and resources detailing each of the organizations, mediated round-table discussions, and even hosted a webinar to walk members through various detailed proposals put forth by the collective Gotham leadership. Following many rounds of revision, chorus discussion, and a formal motion to membership, both leadership teams are confident as we commence this first stage of Sirens’ trial-membership with the BHS in the Hell’s Kitchen chapter.
This kind of rigorous ambition is nothing new to the Gotham family. In fact, it’s one of the Sirens’ three core values: joy, authenticity, and ambition. The first is part of our essence and always plentiful, because we find joy in singing with each other and sharing our music with the world. That is made possible by the joyous community of supportive, loving individuals, which includes our sibling chorus Voices of Gotham. Our second core value of authenticity is ever-present. For Sirens, authenticity means representing ourselves with honesty and depth so we can make and contribute to choices that resonate with who we are. It also describes the grace and courage necessary to not only bring our truest selves to the table, but to grow and change with our chorus and the world around us. Lastly is ambition, because Sirens of Gotham never ceases in the pursuit of growth and improvement. We embrace the journey more than the reward, constantly seeking deeper meaning and value from our music-making and community building. We do this all by finding joy in the work and in challenging ourselves to offer our most authentic selves while we seek to expand our horizons as artists and musicians.
This decision is definitely ambitious, but it also feels incredibly joyful and authentic to who we are. We can think of nothing more thrilling than to perform at even more barbershop events and be represented on multiple platforms! For more information on how you can see us this season, please keep an eye on our website.
Thank you for the continued love and support that has allowed us to grow and thrive. We cannot wait to share this exciting future with you!
In Harmony,
Anna Chelak
Team Coordinator, Sirens of Gotham
Please direct any questions to info@sirensofgotham.org.