Several choral groups affiliated with the Alexandria A Cappella Collective have earned international awards, including a historic first for world’s best barbershop quartet.
All-female quartet GQ (Girls Quartet) won gold at the Barbershop Harmony Society’s 2026 international competition on July 4. Their win came from the performance of six songs, including humorous songs, ballads and a Broadway tune arrangement of Chappell Roan’s “Coffee.”
This was the first time an all-female group won the Barbershop Harmony Society’s competition in its 88-year history. The first non-male groups had competed in 2022, including GQ.
“If even one little girl (or big girl) walked away believing, ‘Maybe I can do that someday,’ then this week became about something so much bigger than us,” the group said in a statement about the win. “This one’s for the girls.”
The quartet is made up of Amanda Sandroni (tenor), Katie Gillis (lead/baritone), Ali Hauger (lead/baritone) and Samantha Tramack (bass). Gillis founded the Alexandria and Baltimore-based group more than a decade ago, and the group has since won numerous competition medals and earned millions of views on social media.
Tramack is also the musical director of Alexandria A Cappella Collective’s treble chorus Metro Voices. Metro Voices also competed internationally for the first time, earning a top 20 ranking.
Another affiliated quartet that earned medals was First Take. Alexandria A Cappella Collective associate director Anthony Colosimo’s quartet earned a fourth-place bronze medal, making it the fifth consecutive year the group was named among the top five quartets in the world.
Alexandria A Cappella Collective’s founding chorus The Harmonizers also won a fourth-place bronze medal in the chorus competition. The group performed songs from Barry Manilow’s Broadway musical “Harmony,” which follows the true story of a singing group that faced adversity and dissolution in Nazi Germany. The Harmonizers are now tied for having the most international medals — 22 — of any barbershop chorus.
To qualify for the Barbershop Harmony Society’s international competition from June 28 to July 4 in St. Louis, singers faced a year of district and regional competitions. Alexandria A Cappella Collective is a nonprofit group that hosts numerous choruses based in Alexandria and includes members that have been part of Broadway and off-Broadway.
GQ image via Girls Quartet; First Take image via First Take
