NED Collegiate Champions
About
Historically, 'collegiate' quartets have vied for the opportunity to compete in the Barbershop Harmony Society's international-level Collegiate Barbershop Quartet Contest. Prior to the 2016 contest season, a group was categorized as a collegiate quartet when all four singers were within 15-25 years of age (inclusive), regardless of affiliation with an educational institution. Early in that competition's history, quartets could have no more than two BHS members, but this restriction has since been lifted. As of the 2016 contest season, the minimum age requirement floor for a collegiate quartet has also been eliminated, allowing members younger than 15 to compete. Perhaps as a result of this change (coupled with a perceived misnomer falsely implying the necessity of affiliation with an educational institution), the contest was rebranded as the Youth Barbershop Quartet Contest. Following this change, all such quartets have been more accurately referred to as youth quartets rather than as collegiate quartets.
In 2018, the YBQC was rebranded once again and re-named the NextGen Varsity Quartet Contest. Since 2020, the abbreviated term "NextGen" has been eschewed in favor of "Next Generation".
All groups seeking to qualify for the Next Generation Quartet Contest must register their quartet name and personnel with a BHS official coordinating the international-level youth contest. Notably, this registration as a youth quartet is a separate process from a quartet's registration with the Society at large and from any registrations to participate in contest outside of the NGQC and its qualifiers—this is to preserve the independence of the NGQC from other Society contests, so that non-BHS-member quartets may also participate. With that said, a quartet's registration in a district- or division-level contest as a quartet within a youth/collegiate age bracket is not to be confused with registration for a NGQC qualifier—this is because some districts may hold separate contests that award district- or division-level youth/collegiate championships, which are distinct from the NGQC qualification process. A youth quartet's home district in the NGQC (regardless of Society membership or lack thereof) has historically been determined by the location of its singers' educational institution(s) and/or permanent residence(s). However, in light of the 2016 changes to the nature of the contest, competing quartets are no longer referenced as having district representation. [1]
As the Northeastern District did not officially award a district-level youth/collegiate championship prior to 2017, the lower of the two tables shown below lists the highest-scoring quartets that have qualified for the international-level NGQC (formerly CBQC and YBQC) each year with the NED as their home district. At the time, these quartets were known colloquially as NED Collegiate/Youth Champions. Notably, it is possible for a quartet within the youth/collegiate age bracket in the district to score higher than another NED youth/collegiate quartet and, if they have not registered separately as NGQC competitors, still not be listed with the unofficial title of NED Youth/Collegiate Champion.
2017 Changes
For the 2017 cycle, the Barbershop Harmony Society made a number of changes to the youth contests. The deadline to register for the International-level Youth Barbershop Quartet Contest was moved earlier in the year than was previously customary. The early deadline predated the majority of Society districts' spring division and International preliminary contests, where aspiring competitors may have competed in front of live judges. Most were thereby forced to submit remote video qualification in front of a live audience of their choosing. With a judging panel scoring all video submissions simultaneously at a later date, the video qualification process remained as it was since its 2015 inception.
In addition to the deadline shift, the "raw" qualifying score was abolished from the YBQC, meaning that there was no score a competing quartet could attain in the preliminary round that would guarantee them a place in the finals for International's YBQC. A score of 73.0% or higher had previously guaranteed International qualification. The former policy of automatic qualification for the quartet achieving the highest score in each district, regardless of score, was also discontinued for the 2017 cycle. In fact, references to district representation were essentially removed from the 2017 YBQC, likely in order to highlight the contest's independence from Society districts. This change meant that some regions, despite having competing youth quartets, nonetheless went unrepresented in the 2017 YBQC. In direct response to this change, many districts, including the NED, began holding their own, separate contests for youth quartets to compete for the official title of NED Youth Quartet Champion. The upper of the two tables shown below lists the winners of this new contest.
In place of the previous qualification process utilizing district qualifications and raw qualifying scores, an entirely new system was put in place. First, a hard cap of 25 finals quartet competitors was instituted. Secondly, finals qualification was offered to the highest-scoring quartets in the following brackets: Varsity Experienced (2 or more members having previously participated in the C/YBQC and members 19-25 years old), Varsity Novice (fewer than 2 members having previously participated in the C/YBQC and members 19-25 years old), Junior Experienced (2 or more members having previously participated in the C/YBQC and members 18 years old or younger), and Junior Novice (fewer than 2 members having previously participated in the C/YBQC and members 18 years old or younger). Each bracket was capped at a certain number, with Varsity Experienced being the most represented in the finals. Regardless of finals qualification status, however, every youth competitor received an invitation to International and a stipend to attend courtesy of Harmony Foundation. Quartets not qualifying for the contest finals instead had the option to participate in a youth honor chorus. Finals competitors were also encouraged to participate in the honor chorus, which eventually grew into a C/YBQC reunion chorus.
District-Level Youth Quartet Champions
| Year | Quartet | From | Tenor, Lead, Baritone, Bass | NED Contest Score | Int'l Score, Placement (If Applicable) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Greenlight | Concord, MA; New Bedford, MA; Hartford, CT | Louis Ades, Sebastian Massa, Will Rogers, Chris Cutler | 73.7% | 74.2%, 12 |
Highest-Scoring NED Youth/Collegiate International Representatives‡
| Year | Quartet | From | Tenor, Lead, Baritone, Bass | Int'l | Int'l Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | The Reunion | Concord MA; Caldwell, NJ; San Marcos, TX | Nick Ruiz, Francesco Logozzo, Rodrigo Alvarez, Travis Roy | 8 | 76.1% |
| 2016 | Last Chance | Boston University, Providence, RI | Antonio Lombardi, Chad Putka, John Castonguay, Cay Outerbridge | 19 | 72.4% |
| 2015 | Key of H† | Hanover High School | John Kotz, Fletcher Passow, Isaac Jacobs, Max Greenwald | -- | -- |
| 2014 | Timepiece | Boston University, Brandeis University | Francesco Logozzo, Kadin-Seth Binkley, Rodrigo Alvarez, Travis Roy | 11 | 73.8% |
| 2013 | Epic Jazz | Berklee College of Music, Boston University | Nick Ruiz, Jayde Mitchell, Rodrigo Alvarez, Tracy Robertson | 26 | 67.9% |
| 2012 | Timely Gents | Fordham University, Boston University, Skidmore College | John Castonguay, Sebastian Massa, Schuyler Borden, Rodrigo Alvarez | 20 | 66.3% |
| 2011 | Timely Gents | Fordham University, Boston University, Farmington Senior High School | Benjamin Spar, Sebastian Massa, Schuyler Borden, Rodrigo Alvarez | -- | -- |
| 2010 | SnapShot! | Providence, RI; Lowell, MA; Appleton, WI; Concord, MA | Antonio Lombardi, Alex Kuen, Joey Constantine, Ed Forman | 24 | 68.7% |
| 2009 | Blend Tech | McGill University | Joshua Beswick, Drew Wheaton, Daniel Allison, Chris Jones | 16 | 72.5% |
| 2008 | Storrs Four | University of Connecticut | Jordan England, Mark Bachiochi, Patrick Reardon, Daniel Allison | 15 | 67.4% |
| 2007 | Storrs Four | University of Connecticut | Jordan England, Mark Bachiochi, Patrick Reardon, Daniel Allison | 20 | 60.3% |
| 2006 | The Penn Fifteen Club | 21 | 59.3% | ||
| 2005 | Men In Black | University of Hartford | Tony Nasto, Oliver Merrill, Ray Johnson, Karl Hudson | 1 | 79.8% |
| 2004 | Men In Black | University of Hartford | Tony Nasto, Oliver Merrill, Ray Johnson, Karl Hudson | 8 | 72.2% |
| 2003 | Men In Black | University of Hartford | Tony Nasto, Oliver Merrill, Ray Johnson, Karl Hudson | 13 | 66.0% |
| 2002 | Men In Black | University of Hartford | Graham Nelson, Oliver Merrill, Ray Johnson, Karl Hudson | 21 | 56.9% |
| 2001 | The Cutting Edge | Western Connecticut State University, Norwalk Community College | -- | -- | |
| 2000 | Dean's List | University of Connecticut | 14 | 61.5% | |
| 1999 | Basil's Boys | Yale University | 14 | 57.2% | |
| 1998 | Minor Chords | Memorial University of Newfoundland |
† Key of H did not attend the 2015 International CBQC; The Reunion was the lone representative of NED as a wild card to that contest, having been invited as a result of achieving the highest score among the CBQC video qualifier submissions, representing Boston University, Brandeis University, and Texas Christian University. Members: Nick Ruiz, Francesco Logozzo, Rodrigo Alvarez, Travis Roy. Qualifying score: 72.4% (via video submission). International score, placement: 76.6%, 10
‡ Prior to the 2017 changes to the YBQC, the quartets in this table were colloquially known as NED collegiate/youth champions. From 2017 onward, official reference to district representation was not a part of the YBQC. Quartets' inclusion in this table from 2017 onward are therefore based on unofficial district affiliation.
External Links
- NED website: contest archive
- Harmonet: contest archive
- ↑ Barbershop Harmony Society. "Official Rules of the Harmony Foundation Youth Barbershop Quartet Contest." PDF file. 27 March 2016. <http://www.barbershop.org/files/documents/contestandjudging/YBQC_Rules_2016.pdf>.