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About The Harmonisers
(Remember the fun you used to have? We're still having it!)

Whatever your singing talents, you'll always find a warm welcome from the Torrevieja Barbershop Harmonisers. This is a very friendly club for all nationalities, and, amongst others, we have men from Argentina, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Finland and the UK. It has long been recognised as an exciting and innovative men's barbershop chorus performing songs in the barbershop style with verve and energy. We are to be found virtually every Tuesday morning at the Cabo Cervera Restaurant in Torrevieja.

Ours is a well run club with structured rehearsal mornings, plenty of friendly support for newcomers and a great atmosphere. We have an excellent committee which meets frequently to keep the club running smoothly and to plan the way forward. We also have a great club magazine that goes by the wonderful name of the Harmoniser's Herald.

The club is steeped in barbershop history. It was originally formed in 1991 by Harry Hall, a grand old figure in barbershop. Others followed in his footsteps, continuing the tradition of expertise in this unique style of singing. We have been coached by a number of top class educators over the years, not least by John Conway, baritone of the 2004/5 BABS Gold Medal Quartet Prime Time. We are delighted that Prime Time visited our chorus in April 2005, when they performed with us in two concerts.

We are very fortunate in having Chas Smith as our current MD, whose considerable experience and expertise is summarised below...

Chas F. Smith, Musical Director, Torrevieja Barbershop Harmonisers
Born in the ship-building town of Sunderland in the North-East of England, Chas was the eldest of 6 children all of whom were brought up in The Salvation Army. It was therefore natural that he learned to play a brass instrument and so from the time he could hold a cornet his father taught him to play. He performed his first solo of variations on a theme at the age of 5 years and continued to do so throughout the coming years performing in numerous prestige venues throughout the UK and parts of Scandinavia.

At 18 he was called up for National Service and went into the RAF for 3 years. It was here that he had his first taste of conducting. The regular Bandmaster went on long-term sickness leave and he was asked to fill-in for him whilst he was at that camp. He enjoyed it so much that as soon as he left the RAF he was asked to direct a children’s choir to which he readily agreed. From that moment he has conducted various choirs and bands and has taught at numerous Summer Music Schools.

It was not until 5 years ago (about 1999) that he became involved with Barbershop music. Being a member of a mixed voice choir one of the guys suggested forming an octet to sing Barbershop and so they began. It certainly was very different from anything he had done before and he was captivated by it, so much so that some of them travelled to Sheffield to listen and watch in the rehearsals of Hallmark of Harmony. What a reception they got! He would never forget the friendliness and the welcoming attitude of that group, it was marvellous. He had a lot of encouragement, in particular from the late Martin Hill and felt able to ring him at any time if in need of any help with the music. He really was an inspiration.

And so this brings us to today. He moved over to Spain in December 2002 and immediately became involved with the Torrevieja Barbershop Harmonisers. Although a bass singer we only had one baritone so it was of this ‘section’ that he became a part. After a little while he was asked to carry out the duties of Assistant Musical Director but sadly it was only for a short while as Sheila Phillips (our MD) became ill and passed away quite suddenly.

Chas says, "So for about 1 year I have thoroughly enjoyed working as MD with very keen guys trying to improve all aspects of our barbershop singing and presentation. There are aspects of making music in Spain that are very different from anywhere else, in that the vast majority of our members are in retirement and in a lot of cases this is their second home and so we have a ‘floating’ membership which of course brings its own characteristics. But we are here to enjoy ourselves and what better way than making music in the barbershop style?"

Torrevieja barbershop harmonisers is well known throughout the area, and has performed in many local theatres, in places such as Rojales, Guadamar and also at the Palacio de la Música and Virgen del Carmen theatres in Torrevieja. We have also staged performances as far afield as Fuengirola in the south, and Benissa in the north.
Our club was invited by the British Association of Barbershop Singers to perform as mike warmers at their annual convention at Brighton in 1994. This we did and were so successful that we returned in 1996 to the Bournemouth convention, amid much critical acclaim.
The chorus always tries to support local charities and often makes contributions to them.

There is also a chorus in Torrevieja for lady barbershop singers called the Velvetones. Go to 'Links to other relevant sites' in the box above for more details.

 

 

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