The Society was founded in Tulsa, Oklahoma by Owen C. Cash in 1938 out of concern that barbershop singing was vanishing from the American scene. Hence the name--the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America, Inc. The style was so appealing that today this non-profit organization has over 30,000 members.
In North America, the Society is divided into 16 geographic districts with over 800 chapters. The Alle-Kiski Chapter is part of the more than 54
chapters in The Johnny Appleseed District (JAD) that covers South Western
Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia.
The Alle-Kiski Chapter was chartered in 1953 as a non-profit organization and is composed of men of all ages and occupations living in the general area of the Allegheny and Kiski River valleys. It is one of the twelve chapters in the Rome Division of Western Pennsylvania.
Although the musical repertoire of the Alle-Kiski Showtime Chorus includes solid traditional barbershop songs, the Chorus has distinguished itself for entertaining versions of popular songs and novelty numbers. The result has been an enthusiastic public acceptance of the Showtime Chorus as evidenced by over 25 performances annually.