Quartet success at BABS 2017

Spirit of Harmony is fortunate enough to be home to a number of great quartets. After a successful quartet prelims in November 2016, 3 of our quartets made it into the UK top 16, which earned them a place in the 2017 Semi-Finals.

This round took place on Friday 26th May, and all 3 of our quartets did themselves and Spirit very proud! In the toughest semi-final in competition history, under the scrutiny of an international panel of judges, South Parade achieved a great score of 64.2%, and Blueprint were awarded 69% and 13th place overall. 4 On Demand (current National Youth Champions) achieved a 73.3% score, which placed them in the UK top 6 and took them through to the final.

In the final on Sunday 28th May, 4OD came 6th with an average score across the 2 rounds of 72.1%. This is a great result and the highest score they’ve achieved to date.

We look forward to the next National Prelims in November 2017, where we hope to see another fantastic Spirit of Harmony representation.

Spirit of Harmony Represented at York Community Choir Festival

After the success of the inaugural York Community Choir Festival in 2016, Spirit of Harmony were invited to make a return performance.

We sent 4 On Demand - 2016 National Youth Quartet Champions - along with a scratch quartet formed of Spirit of Harmony members to represent the chorus in the matinee concert on 1st April at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre.

The festival was once again a great success, and it was fantastic to perform alongside some of York's best choirs.

4 On Demand and 'SHQ' perform Is This the Way to Amarillo? to close their set.

4 On Demand become youngest ever Youth Champions

4 On Demand - Spirit of Harmony's resident youth quartet - came back from Manchester with the 2016 National Youth Quartet Championship in tow.

With an average age of less than 19, they are the youngest quartet to ever win the contest, which has been running since 2008.

Their average score of 71.3% also qualified them for a place in the 2017 National Semi-Finals, which take place in Bournemouth in May, in conjunction with the national chorus competition.

Spirit of Harmony quartets at prelims

Every year, the British Association of Barbershop Singers hold the national Quartet Prelims - an open contest for barbershop quartets.

This year's prelims, held at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, saw 38 quartets cross the stage. Of those 38, the top-scoring 16 win a place in the National Semi-Finals.

Spirit of Harmony were represented in 5 quartets during the contest:

• Blueprint
• 4 On Demand
• South Parade
• The Amazing Greys
• Waikikamukau

All 5 groups did a fantastic job, and we're proud to say that 3 of our 5 quartets made it through to the illustrious national Semi-Finals.

Spirit of Harmony win Silver in Cork

Spirit of Harmony travelled to Cork, Ireland recently for the annual Irish Association of Barbershop Singers convention. We were there to compete in their international chorus competition, and are very proud to have won the Silver medal for 2nd Place, with a score of 76.8%.

Our very own 4 On Demand also came away with a Silver medal, achieving 2nd place in the international quartet contest.