In January 1999, Peter Stevenson, our founder and the heart and soul of our Chorus for many years, advertised for singers for a barbershop chorus. Four hardy men showed up for the first meeting in July, and by March 1999, we had 12 members and were qualified to be a chapter of the national society.
In September of 1999 the Harbormasters were granted a charter from the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Singing in America (SPEBSQSA), now known as the Barbershop Harmony Society.
A tragic blow for us was the sudden death of our beloved Director and President, Peter Stevenson in March 2005. Mike Masters, one of our members, held us together as Interim Director and our membership remained loyal.
Since then we have been fortunate in finding qualified and exciting directors, musical professional who have come to embrace our music style in a big way, and who have helped us demonstrate that barbershop arrangements can be sung in almost every genre.
In 2020 The harbormasters merged with the Beaufort Belles, previously our sister chorus, under the umbrella of the Barbershop Harmony Society but sang as separate choruses. In 2021 the board decided to merge completely and the choruses became one.