Director Ron Black
Ron attended both Immaculate Heart and Occidental Colleges in Los Angeles, majoring in Renaissance vocal and instrumental performance. Ron sang bass in the Great Western Timbre Company, 1986 Far Western District quartet champion and 1988 15th-place international semifinalist, and currently 1990 4th place Senior Quartet. He also sang bass with Rhythm and Rhyme, which took 14th place in the 1997 international competition. He has directed the Fresno Gold Note Chorus, seventh-place international competitor in 1984.
Ron moved to Texas in 2003 to direct the Heart of Texas Chorus in San Marcos, which has competed as a SWD representative six times, and placed as high as 9th in the International Chorus contest in 2008 in Nashville. In addition, he coaches many quartets and choruses in the U.S. and abroad. Ron has been a part time faculty at Texas State University, San Marcos, where he conducted the Men's Chorus. In 2009 moved with his wife, Jo, to Rocklin, California to be near their grandchildren. He was an Associate Director of Voices of California, a Barbershop Harmony Society chorus of international caliber from 2010 to 2017. In 2011, Ron was inducted into the Far Western District Hall Of Fame.
Ron recently retired from the BHS Judging Program after serving for 30 years in both the Music and Singing Categories. He has been on the Harmony University faculty for 34 years. He is included in the recent publication “Visions Of Excellence”, as one of 25 finest directors in the Barbershop Harmony Society. In his infrequent spare time he eats, sleeps, and writes computer accounting software.
Associate Director Bruce Sellnow
Bruce Sellnow found barbershop with the Oakdale Chiefs of Harmony in 1994 near his home in Ripon, CA when he was invited to a rehearsal by a fellow choir member. He quickly became immersed in this new-found hobby. This involvement has included coordinating the FWD (Far Western District) High School Quartet Contest, serving at FWD Youth Harmony Camp as Coordinator and Music Director, organizing the FWD NorCal Novice Contest, the Sacramento Area Quartet Workshops (SAQW), and several of the FWD Division Contests hosted by his chapter. Along with the Chiefs of Harmony which merged to become the Golden Valley Chorus, Bruce joined Voices in Harmony at its inception in 2006. Bruce served on the Music Team as Lead Section Leader and also Show Production Team Lead. Voices in Harmony went on to win a 3rd place bronze medal in Nashville in 2008.
In 2010, Bruce accepted an invitation to return to the Golden Valley Chorus as the Front Line Director. It was also at this time when Bruce helped form a team to create a new chorus in Sacramento. Voices of California was formed in 2010 and Bruce (along with Ron Black, Gabe Caretto, and several others) was an integral member to its success, serving as Baritone Section Leader and Show Production Team Lead.
For all this work supporting barbershop, Bruce was recognized as Barbershopper of the Year in each chapter he served, received the FWD President’s Award in 2009, was honored as the Spring Convention Dedicatee in 2013, and inducted into the prestigious FWD Hall of Fame in 2017. In early 2018, a new job offer brought him from a lifetime in California to a brand new start in Colorado. Since Ron Black was already here in the Rocky Mountain State, it was a natural fit to join Longs Peak Chorus!
