HISTORY
The
San Francisco Chapter of
SPEBSQSA is one of the oldest on the West Coast. Chartered in
1945, only the Santa Barbara Chapter is older.
Cable Car Chorus is
the designation of the singing–and–performing unit composed of
almost all members of the chapter. Chartering came only seven years
after the establishment of the international SPEBSQSA, in 1938, by
O.C.Cash and Rupert Hall, in their attempt to preserve what was seen as
one of many dying arts.
Early in this century, what's known today as barbershop, a
style of singing inherited from African
Americans of the old South, was called simply, "curb
stone harmony." By the 1920's and 30's, barbershop harmony was
established as an art form, but only on an informal basis. With the
advent of radio, motion pictures, records, and later, television, the
demise of live performances of opera, theater, vaudeville, and burlesque
seemed imminent. Federal funding helped save opera and theater
productions in many cases.
Baritone-insurance salesman Cash, who with Hall formed our society,
called his sense of humor into play, choosing The Society's name and its
eight-initial abbreviation as a parody on the trend of the time to use
initials for government agencies (such as TVA, CCC, etc.).
STRUCTURE
A ten-member Board of Directors, headed by a president, sets policies
and controls the chapter's financial affairs. The chapter sponsors
activities such as
Harmony
foundation, the Society's charity endeavor, community outreach programs,
and the Cable Car Chorus. Like other civic choral groups, our choral
director and assistant directors are assisted by a music committee in
selecting music, and in training and development of the chorus and
ensembles (quartets and octets).
Our chapter is one of the more than 70 chapters in the FWD (Far
Western District: Hawaii, California, Nevada and Arizona), which is in
turn one of 17 districts in The Society. Members receive the bi-monthly Westunes
magazine of the district, as well as Harmonizer, a
magazine published by The International Society. In addition to the
distribution of the magazine, SPEBSQSA,
Inc. produces and distributes barbershop arrangements and assigns
field representatives to visit and assist chapters in a training
capacity for more effective chapter administration, and better singing
of the barbershop style.
