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The Big Sky Youth Harmony Rendezvous is supported by generous grants from the Barbershop Harmony Society including Harmony Foundation, the Bud Leabo Memorial Fund of the Evergreen District, the Association of International Champions, and each of the seven Montana chapters of the Society; and by Sweet Adelines International, including the Young Singers Foundation, and each of the five SAI Montana chapters. In addition, the Foundation of the Mountain Sky Guest Ranch awarded a major grant for the 2010 Rendezvous. All the students, vocal music teachers, faculty, and chaperones who have attended any of the previous Big Sky Youth Harmony Rendezvous send their heartfelt thanks to these sponsors. Without their support the wonderful experiences we have enjoyed these past camps wouldn't have been possible!

On this page you can learn about our sponsors and about additional opportunities to enjoy the barbershop style of singing. Click on any of the addresses preceded by "www" to go directly to the website.

You can learn more about the Barbershop Harmony Society through their website: www.barbershop.org or by calling 1-800-876-SING. On their website you can find all 700 chapters, several thousand registered quartets, thousands of published and unpublished song arrangements--including a number of "Free 'n Easy" arrangements available to download and use without cost.

The Harmony Foundation, a not-for-profit organization, was incorporated in 1959 as a charitable subsidiary of the Barbershop Harmony Society. Harmony Foundation has been the single major financial contributor to the Big Sky Youth Harmony Rendezvous since 2006. Each year the Foundation's support enables more than 1,000 kids to attend Harmony Explosion Camps like ours. Collegiate quartet competition scholarships are awarded. Promising college quartets are sponsored to attend Harmony University for intensive coaching. Collegiate tours sponsored by the Foundation introduce close harmony to hundreds of students. Find out more about this wonderful foundation at www.harmonyfoundation.org.

The Chord Rustlers are the Bozeman chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society: www.chordrustlers.org. They and the other Montana chapters of the Society have been instrumental in developing, supporting, and managing the Big Sky Youth Harmony Rendezvous. Boys: the Barbershop Harmony Society has chapters in Billings, Bozeman, Helena, Missoula, Havre, Great Falls, and Kalispell.

Each year the Barbershop Harmony Society holds an international convention with contests to determine the champion quartet, champion chorus, and collegiate quartet champion. The Association of International Champions (www.aicgold.com) is an exclusive organization made up of men who have earned the coveted gold medal of the Barbershop Harmony Society for having sung in a quartet that was judged to be the international championship quartet for one year. This photo is of Crossroads, the 2009 championship quartet.

Remember, to enjoy making this kind of music, you only need 3 other singers, so form your very own quartet or VLQ and keep on singing. Both the Barbershop Harmony Society and Sweet Adelines International sponsor quartet contests for youth up to age 25 years, offering great prizes and wonderful performance opportunities. Rising Star is the name of the SAI quartet contest for young women held annually in mid July. Information about the MBNA Collegiate Barbershop Quartet Contest for young men (you don't have to be in college to compete) can be found at www.barbershop.org/youth-zone/collegiate-quartet-competition.html or by calling James Estes at the society headquarters or emailing him at college@barbershop.org.

Sweet Adelines International can be reached at www.sweetadelineintl.org or by calling 1-800-992-7464. The Bozeman chapter of SAI has their own website: www.bridgermountainharmony.org. Like the Barbershop Harmony Society, Sweet Adelines Interanational offers a wide variety of services, events, and educational opportunities and both have thousands of published and unpublished arrangements of songs in the four part barbershop style. Girls: Sweet Adelines International has chapters in Bozeman, Helena, Missoula, Billings, or Great Falls; Bozeman and Pocatello have Rising Star choruses; and Great Falls has a chapter of Harmony Incorporated.

The Young Singers Foundation, under the Sweet Adelines International umbrella, is similar in a number of ways to the Harmony Foundation. They have generously supported the Big Sky Youth Harmony Rendezvous each year since we started. Their website is: www.youngsingersfoundation.org.

The 2012 Harmony Explosion Northwest will be held July 12 to 14 in Tacoma, Washington, at Pacific Lutheran University. This outstanding vocal music camp was the inspiration for the Big Sky Youth Harmony Rendezvous. Around 160 students participated in the 2010 camp! It is open to both boys and girls. Anyone who attends will be sure to have a great time. For more information go to www.harmonyexplosion.com or call Mollie Peterson at 360-568-8859. Participants will perform as the Harmony Explosion Chorus on the Saturday July 14 concert.

You can find great barbershop related “stuff” to buy--everything from clothing to music to CDs--at the Harmony Marketplace: www.harmonymarketplace.com or at SAI International Sales: 877-545-5441.

Read about Luccock Park United Methodist Camp, site of the Big Sky Youth Harmony, at their website: www.luccockparkcamp.org.

To get to Luccock Park: From I-90 (East-West Interstate across Montana) take exit 333 at the city of Livingston. Travel south on Highway 89 (towards Yellowstone Park) for 9.6 miles to the KOA Campground sign. Turn left (east) for 2.5 miles, crossing the Yellowstone River, to the "T" intersection in the village of Pine Creek. At the “T”, turn right (south) for 0.6 miles to the Luccock Park sign (it will be on your left). Turn at the sign and drive 2.5 miles up a good paved road to the sign that directs you to turn left into the camp. (Note, if you wind up at the Pine Creek National Forest campground, you forgot to make that last left turn – just go back a few hundred yards!)

The Mountain Sky Guest Ranch (www.mtnsky.com) is an 8000 acre ranch in the Paradise Valley near Emigrant, Montana. While their main function is to provide wonderful vacations in the great American west, their philanthropical foundation supports a variety of projects that benefit the youth of Montana, including a major grant to the Big Sky Youth Harmony Rendezvous for 2010.

The School of Music at Montana State University (www.montana.edu/wwwmusic/) has been happy to be a sponsor of the Rendezvous, graciously hosting the camp's final recital in Reynolds Recital Hall.