INTERNATIONAL QUARTET BRONZE MEDALISTS

1998 NATIONAL A CAPPELLA CHAMPIONS

METROPOLIS first came to the attention of national television audiences in the last few years beginning with their appearance on the pilot episode of Fourth Floor Show on E! Entertainment Television and the filming of a national Dr. Pepper commercial later that same year. Most recently, they were featured in the Christmas episode of "Diagnosis Murder" with Dick Van Dyke in 1999 and have appeared regularly about the Los Angeles area singing and performing on stage with the living legend.

METROPOLIS has performed on national and local television, radio and stages in 36 of the United States as well as the countries of Canada, England, Finland, New Zealand and Russia. The group members have served as section leaders of the MASTERS OF HARMONY and were part of the history making performances in Salt Lake City in 1996 and Anaheim in 1999 that garnered the Masters their third and fourth consecutive International Chorus Championships. They became the 1996-97 Far Western District Quartet Champions, leading to their having been awarded the Masters of Harmony 1996 "Quartet of the Year".

On May 9, 1998 METROPOLIS became HARMONY SWEEPSTAKES' National A Cappella Champions - the first barbershop quartet to do so in the history of the event. In 1999, the Contemporary Acappella Recording Awards (or CARA) nominated METROPOLIS' CD "Aural Hygiene" for "Best Barbershop Recording" and "Best Barbershop Song". The members of METROPOLIS have also become ambassadors of harmony, serving as educators and exhibiting the barbershop hobby during two Barbershop Festivals in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1999 and 2001. They have furthered their titles of achievement by becoming International Quartet Bronze Medalists a record 5 times in a row. We're sure you're interested to know more about the gentlemen that make up this championship quartet... so heeeere they are -

Kelly Shepard - Bari: Kelly hails from Richmond, Indiana, where he began singing and performing at an early age. (His high school wrestling aspirations gave way to The Sound of Music!) He has sung professionally for 17 years from Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia, to singing in civic and professional operas and musical productions. Kelly began barbershopping in junior high school his first quartet, The Midwest Blend, won a high school quartet competition, due to all but one other quartet being prevented from coming by a blizzard! He holds a degree in Music Education from the Indiana University School of Music and is currently the Department Chair of Theatre Arts for Milken Community High School in Los Angeles.

Brian Philbin - Bass: A Pioneer District Champion (1985), Brian began regularly singing a cappella as a Baritone in THE IVY LEAGUE at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio in 1983 and performed with his High School choral group at the 1980 Republican National Convention. Brian holds a Baccalaureate of Science in Theatre Arts and Musical Theatre from Eastern Michigan University where he was also a member of the EMU Madrigal Ensemble. He has performed professionally in various media as an actor, singer, dancer, stand-up comic, mime (mime?!?), etc. and has literally grown up in the theatre and performing arts arena. He currently works for American Honda Motor Company.

James Sabina - Tenor: A comicnomenclaturist by trade, and a frequent practitioner of charientisms, he experienced an afflatus at an early age while living on a ranarium. He realized his life path was leading him towards hebetudes, due in part to his frequent practice of paralogisms. Now his subderisorious personality and natural affinity for japes are a testament to the lucubration involved in his reformation. A true solipsist in every sense of the word, he tergiversates about being sugillated by his quartet members who demonstrate their superior sciolism whenever in public. He thanks thrillemous trio of the alliaceous Brian, the glabrous Bob, and the dirhinous Kelly.

Bob Hartley - Lead: Bob is rich… and single.

You can visit METROPOLIS' Home Page on the World Wide Web at: http://www.harmonize.com/metropolis where their itinerary of shows is listed and LOTS of fun can be had at their expense. You can also E-mail the quartet at Metropolis@harmonize.com.