Barbershop Chorus Preserves Aging Art

Bill Malstrom sang from an early age. Not professionally, but he sang. He always wanted to join an ensemble, but life simply got in the way.

"I had nine children, so I didn't get too many nights out. My nights out, I had to work," said Malstrom, a Parkville resident. "I used to go to the concerts and sit there and say, 'Someday.'"

But once his children were old enough, in 1975, the electrician ran off to join a barbershop chorus.

Well, he didn't exactly run far. Malstrom, now 89 and long since retired, is the oldest member of the Harbor City Chorus, a Towson-based choir that performs around the Baltimore region.

You probably imagine a group of dapper men, dressed in striped shirts outside an old-timey barbershop and singing love songs with fantastic harmonies. Harbor City is a little more modern, often opting for polo shirts and a good mix of traditional ballads and the requisite holiday pieces. They practice every Monday evening at in West Towson. And you don't need to be particularly skilled to join them.

"We're amateurs, which you can tell," said a laughing Bill Biehl, an Idlewylde resident who has directed the group for the past 10 years. "It's something you can sing in a group. You don't need any pat talent, but if you get the chords right, you just envelop yourself."

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A capella music is seeing a bit of a resurgence, Biehl said, with television shows like Glee and America's Got Talent.

The barbershop style, however, is a quickly vanishing art, one that Harbor City and other chapters of the Barbershop Harmony Society are trying to protect.

Harbor City's history dates back to 1944. The group once had as many as 50 members. Now, on a good night, it's closer to 12 men, most of whom with full heads of silver hair, but some as young as 30.

The barbershop chorus includes a mix of tenors, baritones and basses. A quartet typically includes a lead singer, a tenor, a bass and a baritone.

None are professionals—most are retired, some are programmers, marketers and engineers—but the group has performed far and wide, at charity events, malls and concert halls. Their busy season is, of course, fast approaching. At their practice on Halloween, the singers were already drilling the holiday standards.

But besides Christmas, their favorite occasion is Valentine's Day when, yes, they will perform singing Valentine's greetings.

"It's great fun," said Michael Bereson, an Owings Mills resident. "We get emails back saying its something in their life they'll never forget."

If you're interested in joining the Harbor City Chorus, call Bill Malstrom at 410-665-1406 or visit their website. The group practices at Pickersgill every Monday from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.