The Yakima Chapter of the BHS was chartered in 1952 when the Barbershop Harmony Society was known as the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of BarberShop Quartet Singing in America, Inc., SPEBSQSA. It still is, but in an effort to modernize, the name was shortened in 2005.

In 1953 the Valley of the Sun Chorus staged its first show, a Parade of Quartets, much to the delight of the audience, and has been doing a show every year for 58 years,  the upcoming show in October will be number 59.

The following year, 1954, a quartet from the chorus, the Evergreen Four, came home with the Gold Medal from the Evergreen District Contest in what I am sure was a very proud moment for every one.

Over the years many talented quartets have appeared on our stage. They have been Barbershoppers, Sweet Adelines and even some mixed quartets. They have been anywhere from college age to Seniors, where the quartet must have a combined age of 240 years with no one under 55 years old. They have been anything from just some really good quartets to International Champions, the cream of the crop. Some of them are:
Sweet Adelines:  Q4 and Radiations. We’ve had Evergreen District Champions Seattle Sound and Fast Track; International Senior Medalist, Golden Opportunity, and Senior Champions, Fatherly Advice. On the top of the heap we had many time International Finalists and Medalists Chordiac Arrest and, after coming in fourth 3 times in a row, the 1999 International Gold Medalists, FRED. Strange name for a quartet, but man, can they WOW a crowd!

The Valley of the Sun Chorus is looking forward to many more years of history making keeping the sound of Barbershop Harmony alive and well in the Yakima Valley.

  Society History: The Society was started by 2 gentlemen, O.C. Cash and Rupert Hall, who wanted to preserve the unique, all-male a cappella close-harmony singing they had listened to and grown up with, and so, in April of 1938, they invited some friends to join them at a Tulsa,OK hotel to sing. They invited 20, and 150 showed up! Then current president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was starting agencies with particularly long names, so an endless stream of initials were used to shorten those names.  Having a sense of humor about such things led our beloved founders to name their new singing organization the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of BarberShop Quartet Singing in America, Inc.  or  SPEBSQSA,  which is entirely unpronounceable.  It wasn't until 2005 that the name was changed to the Barbershop Harmony Society. It's not as poetic, but more reflective of modern nomenclature.  The old name is still the official name of the organization, but the shorter name doesn't require an explanation everytime you say it.