Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering

Professor Bolluyt Sings His Way to Success

By: Dana Schmidt

James Bolluyt, assistant professor of structural engineering, is doing more than researching and teaching engineering classes these days. His barbershop quartet recently earned a bronze medal for its fifth place finish in the Barbershop Harmony Society’s International Seniors Quartet Contest January 26.

The quartet, named Catalyst, beat out 21 other a cappella groups from the United States, Canada, and Australia to finish in fifth place at the Barbershop Harmony Society’s midwinter convention in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Quartets that place in the top five receive a medal and bragging rights; however, there are no cash awards. Like all members of the Barbershop Harmony Society, competing quartets sing as a hobby.

Bolluyt is Catalyst’s bass singer and has been with the group for five years, after the group’s lead, James Thomas, a retired biochemistry professor from Iowa State University, convinced him to try out for the group. “I like to sing for fun and I enjoy singing with the guys in the group,” says Bolluyt.

Other members of Bolluyt’s quartet include tenor Eugene Lutz, a pharmacist from Altoona, Iowa, and baritone Dennis Paulsen, a retired telephone executive from Norwalk, Iowa. The group sang the songs “Sweet, Sweet Roses of Morn” and “Cabaret” at the competition. They rehearsed twice a week in two to three hours blocks of time to prepare for the international competition.

To compete at the Barbershop Harmony Society’s International Seniors Quartet Contest, no member may be younger than 55 and the cumulative age of the quartet must be 240 years or more. The average age of members in Bolluyt’s quartet is 65; the cumulative age is 258. Groups are judged on presentation, singing, and music. Catalyst won the Central States District competition last fall in Wichita, Kansas, to qualify for the international competition.

About the Barbershop Harmony Society: Founded in 1938 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Barbershop Harmony Society is the largest all-male singing organization in the world. It is committed to supporting vocal music education and to celebrating the uniquely American musical art form of barbershop harmony. The international headquarters is located in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

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