Combined Los Alamos Lads of Enchantment and Santa Fe Harmonizer Barbershop Choruses at the 2018 Annual Barbershop Harmony Show in Los Alamos.
[Important Notice: the domain name ladsofenchantment.org will no longer access this site by August of 2024; our new access domain name is laloe.org (derived from the first letters in “Lasses and Lads of Enchantment””, the chapter’s new name). Please use laloe.org to access this website in the future.]
We are the “Lasses and Lads of Enchantment” Chorus. The Los Alamos Area Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS), under the direction of Maurice Sheppard, officially welcomes everyone, regardless of gender, to join our chapter in singing wonderful four-part barbershop harmonies.
The BHS, originally known as the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America, Inc. (or SPEBSQSA), was organized as an all-male singing organization in 1938. Fortunately, times change. Since 2017 BHS Chapters can be organized to include all-male, all-female and mixed-gender singing groups – even in the same Chapter.
The Los Alamos Chapter of the BHS was originally chartered in 1993 and proudly adopted the name, “Lads of Enchantment”, in honor of and with the permission of “The Lads of Enchantment” Quartet, the only quartet from New Mexico to win a BHS Quartet championship.
In 2015, the Los Alamos Chapter began inviting women to sing in our chorus. This was two years before the Barbershop Harmony Society officially began to allow chapter choruses to be open to everyone, regardless of gender. Currently, we have nearly equal numbers of men and women in the chorus.
To recognize the inclusiveness of the chorus and its composition, the Chapter has officially updated the name of the chorus to “Lasses and Lads of Enchantment”, i.e., the LALOE.
Collaborations with the Santa Fe Harmonizers. In 2016, Maurice Sheppard became the Director of the Santa Fe Harmonizer Barbershop chorus, as well as the Los Alamos chorus. Since then, the choruses have combined their resources to produce an Annual Barbershop Show in Los Alamos and in Santa Fe and to sing at various functions in the two cities.
The chapters were riding high, feeling great and adding members; then, COVID-19 arrived in early 2020, essentially eliminating chorus singing for two years. Our last annual show was in October of 2019.
Thanks to vaccines, new medications and the responsible citizens of Los Alamos County, Los Alamos County is one of the most highly vaccinated cities in the state, and rates of infection are low. Under these safer conditions, the chapter resumed chorus practices in 2022. We look forward to presenting our first Annual Show since 2019 on October 20, 2023 in Los Alamos and on October 21, 2023 in Santa Fe.
Come join us to enjoy and promote four-part harmony singing in Los Alamos and in Santa Fe. Traditional barbershop singing has four parts: tenor, lead, baritone, and bass. Tenor or lead has worked well for most women, but a few do sing the baritone part.
Sing with Us. The Los Alamos Chorus meets in Graves Hall or in the church of the United Church Complex, 2525 Canyon Road, each Thursday night, beginning at 6:45 pm. If you would like more information or inquire about a specific night of practice in Los Alamos, you may telephone (505) 672-9371 or (505) 412-5282.
If you live in Santa Fe or you are visiting Santa Fe, you are welcome to sing with the Santa Fe Harmonizers. The Harmonizers meet on Monday evenings at The Zia United Methodist Church, 3368 Governor Miles Road in Santa Fe. Their practices begin at 6:30 PM. A link to the Facebook page is found in Barbershop Links in the selection bar.
Everyone in Harmony!
The LALOE
LINK TO AN LA DAILY POST ARTICLE ABOUT THE LALOE:: LA Daily Post article about the group