There has been barbershop quartet singing in the Shenango Valley for decades. The first organized chapter started in the 1940's and produced quartets that became popular everywhere they went. The Sharon Chapter became known for their fine quartets such as "Staff Masters", "TransFour", and one quartet that went on to national recognition in the 1950's, "Lytle Brothers". Barbershop singing was in its heyday then, and the chords flourished for about thirty years. But that chapter began to fade in the late 60's and by 1972
it was gone.

The Shenango Valley Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society came on the scene in 1981, when a group of dedicated, four-part harmony lovers got together and decided it was time to rekindle the flame of barbershop singing in the Sharon area. However, this time it was to encompass a far larger geographic region and the name of the performing chorus, the Penn-Ohio Singers, was chosen to indicate the two-state nature of the group. The Shenango Valley Chapter received its charter in 1982, the same weekend the Penn-Ohio Singers won its first competition in Columbus, Ohio. From that group of 26 men, the chapter had grown to a size of over 60 active members. In 1994, the chorus had placed second in district contest and were the mic testers at International
contest in Pittsburgh, PA.

Their professional attitude and presentation have attracted men from the Shenango Valley, Greenville, Jamestown, Mercer, Grove City, Slippery Rock, New Castle, Ellwood City, Zelienople, Butler, and a few other locations in Pennsylvania along with men from the Ohio towns of Youngstown, Boardman, Canfield, Warren, Hubbard, Cortland, and Poland. Chapter membership is currently about 45 men. Performing groups include the 20-30 voice chorus, and smaller ensembles ranging anywhere from 8 to 16 men, and of course our chapter quartets.

The Chapter established the following mission statement early in its existence:

"The Penn-Ohio Singers is a superior men's choral organization whose goal is to strive and be recognized for musical, performance and competitive excellence."

Three decades later, the chapter has gone through some changes and has developed an identity statement to reflect who we are now:

"The Penn-Ohio Singers are men having fun harmonizing and performing with quality a variety of music in a family-oriented fellowship."

In addition to their singing, the Penn-Ohio Singers actively support community-service projects and local charities, and contribute many man-hours to churches, schools, hospitals, nursing homes, and retirement communities. Beyond that, the Chapter actively supports the Harmony Foundation, whose mission is to preserve our musical legacy through support of vocal music education in our schools and communities.