Voices in Harmony, Northern California's premier men's a cappella chorus, was crowned the 2008 International 3rd Place Medalist Chorus at the Barbershop Harmony Society's 70th annual international contest in Nashville, Tennessee on July 4, 2008.

VIH on stage in Nashvile on July 4th 2008

Voices in Harmony (VIH) was founded in January 2006 in San Jose, CA and has since grown to more than 160 members strong.  At this year's contest, VIH scored 2,695 out of a possible 3,000 points and took home its first International Bronze Medal going from "brand new" to bronze medal in only two years.

Twenty-eight qualifying choruses from the United States, Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand and Australia competed at the Sommet Center arena in Nashville.  The competition also drew 51 competing quartets from around the world.  All told, more than 3,500 competitors participated in this year's event.

On the Fourth of July, under the direction of Dr. Greg Lyne, Voices in Harmony sang the moving ballad “Little Pal” and the high-energy choreographed uptune “In a Shanty in Old Shanty Town”.  Both were arranged by Clay Hine.

In an extremely close competition, the Masters of Harmony from Santa Fe Springs, CA, bested the St. Charles, MO-based Ambassadors of Harmony by a mere seven points to win the gold medal in the 2008 International Barbershop Chorus Competition.

The memorable evening is bound to be written in the annals of harmony history as this was the very first time in the BHS international contest history where two of the top three choruses were from California.  Also notable is that this is the first international medal won by a chorus from Northern California in the last 25 years.