GQ, a quartet featuring two Baltimore County Public Schools teachers, became the first female quartet to win the Barbershop Harmony Society’s International Quartet Contest in the organization’s 88-year history.
The quartet’s members are Katie Gillis, lead/baritone, a professional singer, farmer, and potter; Ali Hauger, lead/baritone, a Patapsco High School and Center for the Arts graduate and Kindergarten teacher at Colgate Elementary School; Amanda Sandroni, tenor, vocal music teacher at Chapel Hill Elementary School; and Samantha Tramack, bass, a music teacher in Virginia.
The International Quartet Contest took place on July 4 in St. Louis, during the Barbershop Harmony’s 2026 International Convention. GQ was one of 52 quartets from around the world to compete.
In a news release about GQ’s win, the Barbershop Harmony Society wrote: “GQ sang six songs across three rounds, with music spanning Broadway, pop, Americana, and other genres. Their high-energy performances are known for impeccable tuning, rich texture, and passionate presentation.”
The Barbershop Harmony Society began as an all-male organization in 1938. It opened its membership to all in 2018. In 2022, at the first Barbershop Harmony Society international competition to feature nonmales, GQ placed fourth.
Last year, the group placed fifth. In addition, this year, Parkside Harmony, a group led by Amanda Sandroni’s husband, Vince Sandroni,
placed fifth in the Barbershop Harmony Society’s International Chorus Contest.
A Parkville High School graduate, Vince Sandroni teaches music at Cockeysville Middle School