On Thursday 18th October the Chorus was delighted to spend an evening benefitting from the services of Jordan Travis. Jordan is the owner of The Complete Singer. His conducting, coaching, and performing has taken him across North America, Europe, and China. Jordan is the Associate Director and Vocal Coach to the current Barbershop Harmony Society International Chorus Champions, the Toronto Northern Lights. He also serves as a Singing Judge for the Barbershop Harmony Society.
Come and Sing Concert
On Thursday 11th October the Chorus celebrated the end of our Come and Sing course with a concert featuring, among other repertoire, our newly learned number New York, New York. We were joined by the ladies of Main Street Sound for this special event, which also included some quartet singing. New members are always welcome to come and visit on Thursday evenings.
Quartet success!
Simon McGraw and Dave Whittle (a non-singing Spirit of Harmony member) were part of the quartet Mixed Blessings which won Gold Medal in the Open Mixed Quartet contest at IABS ( the Irish Association of Barbershop Singers international convention) 2018 in Cork in October 2018.
It’s a truly international quartet with Mary Dineen (IABS) from Cork on tenor and Noey McElwee (LABBS) from Bristol on baritone. Great job!
Peter Bryant is Spirit of Harmony's new Musical Director
We're thrilled to announce that the membership of Spirit of Harmony has officially appointed Peter Bryant as their new Musical Director.
At 23 years of age, he becomes the youngest MD of any competing men's barbershop chorus in the UK.
Peter has been a member of Spirit since 2013, and has previously served as Tenor Section Leader and Performance Team Chairman. He is also the lead singer of 2016 National Youth Champions 4 On Demand quartet.
His first public performance as MD will be the ADAM Festival in York on 14th July 2018. Following that, he will be preparing to take the chorus into the Chorus Competition at the Spanish barbershop convention in April 2019.
He will also lead the chorus' "Come and Sing" course which starts on September 13th 2018.
Farewell to Sally McLean from everyone at Spirit
6 years ago, Spirit of Harmony was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to take on Sally McLean as its Musical Director. Sally had made a big name for herself in the barbershop circle and beyond, being MD of the multi-time national champion chorus The White Rosettes, as well as a coach recognised all over the UK and throughout Europe and the United States. We were absolutely thrilled to have her on board!
Since joining the chorus in 2012, Sally has made an enormous difference to our culture and skills. She has lead us in consistently placing among the top 6 men’s barbershop choruses in the UK, and has overseen the development of our repertoire into a varied and exciting show package which our members love to sing. She has also expertly lead a team of fantastic section leaders and assistant chorus directors, and helped drive our move to York in June 2017.
Sadly, in May 2018 Sally announced that she would be stepping down as our Musical Director following the 2018 BABS Convention.
We’d like to take this opportunity to thank her sincerely for everything she has done for the chorus; her legacy will stay with us for a long time to come as we continue our journey. Nobody can match the skills, experience, dedication and passion that Sally has consistently demonstrated since long before she joined Spirit. We wish her all the best in her future endeavours, particularly with The White Rosettes, whom we consider to be great friends of our chorus. We sincerely hope that we will see Sally at a rehearsal again soon!
The Cottontown Chorus grabs 7th Gold Medal
Spirit of Harmony's 2017 Year In Review
Ashville Acapella concert a great success
On 9th December 2017, Spirit of Harmony and The White Rosettes continued their bi-annual tradition of hosting a joint concert. This year, the two choruses featured alongside 2016 British Youth Champions 4 On Demand, as well as special guests Monkey Magic, known by many as The Great British Barbershop Boys.
Despite the impending threat of snowfall - which sadly rendered our other guests SoundHouse unable to attend - the show was attended by roughly 300 people and raised an estimated £1500 for each chorus, both of which are non-profit organisations.
Huge thanks to everyone who came, and we look forward to the next opportunity to work with The White Rosettes!
The White Rosettes are holding a 4-week "LIVE to Sing!" course in Leeds starting Wednesday 10th January 2018. For more details visit https://livetosingwr.eventbrite.co.uk/
Spirit of Harmony quartets at BABS Quartet Prelims 2017
Every year the British Association of Barbershop singers holds Quartet Prelims: an open quartet competition in which men's groups from across the country compete for a place in the national semi-final.
This year, Spirit of Harmony was represented in:
- Trigger's Broom - 2017 Senior Quartet Champions
- Waikikamukau - 2017 3rd Place Senior Quartet
Additionally, the Prelims weekend included the final round of the National Mixed Voice Quartet Contest. We were well-represented in this contest too, with Delekate and Pick 'n' Mix both making an appearance, and achieving great scores.
Sadly 4 On Demand, who were due to sing at Prelims, were unable to sing due to ill health on the day.
Congratulations to all the quartets who competed, particularly the Mixed Quartet medal winners, and the gentlemen fortunate enough to achieve a place in the semi-final!
4 On Demand place 6th in Europeans
Spirit of Harmony’s own quartet, 4 On Demand, were invited to represent the British Association of Barbershop Singers at the European Barbershop Quartet Competition in Bournemouth, on 29th October 2017.
We’re very pleased to report that 4OD finished 6th overall in the male competition - an excellent result for them as they prepare to enter the first round of the 2017/18 British national contest in just 2 weeks.
This was alongside 4 Gold Medals in National and European contests for our MD, Sally.