What a great time we had in Hobart! The 2019 Barbershop Harmony Festival was a resounding success for us in many ways. After taking a year off by choosing not to compete at the 2018 Adelaide Convention, it was a real thrill for the chorus to take to the contest stage at Wrest Point as the first competitor of the day and present our “Fool” package to such a welcoming audience. We are absolutely delighted with our 4^th Placing in the BHA National Chorus Contest and extremely appreciative of the glowing feedback we received from the judges and so many of our fellow barbershoppers after our performance.  

In their national quartet contest debut, our guys The Steamed Hams performed exceptionally well, earning 11^th place in a highly competitive field and securing the coveted “mic test” spot for the Finals on Friday night. Well done Steamers! And of course congratulations go to our Assistant Musical Director, Gareth Hearne, for his quartet Helix’s 7^th Place in the Quartet Final!

We had quite a large contingent from the chorus attend Harmony Academy this year, including our MD Vicki Dwyer and key members of our Music Team, taking advantage of the excellent education on offer from the expert faculty. Our quartet Roaming grabbed the opportunity and enrolled in the Quartet stream, getting valuable one-on-one coaching from visiting International Quartet champs Signature among others. Great education and a good time was had by all!

Immediately following Harmony Academy, Signature quartet came and spent a few days as tourists in our beautiful city. Admittedly with very little notice but with the unique chance to present a performance opportunity featuring the current BHS International Quartet Champion, our team sprung into action and organised an impromptu concert for the Saturday night at Sydney Harmony’s rehearsal venue in North Sydney. About 130 of Sydney’s barbershop community turned out to hear a blistering set performed by Signature on their final night in Australia. Local groups Circular Keys Chorus, Vox Canvas, Alouette quartet, Bardic Post, Accelerando and Sydney Harmony warmed up the audience before the superlative Signature wowed the room with their undeniable talent.

The afterglow rolled on for hours with traditional barbershop camaraderie, copious refreshments and tags a plenty. It will be a night long remembered. Our heartfelt thanks extends to the guys of Signature for their friendship and unbound generosity in leaving their Sydney fans such a gift. Till next time!

Tony Sykes
VP MUSIC
 

The Steamed Hams - Hobart 2019

Signature - Sydney Afterglow

Sydney Harmony at Hobart

Signature at Taroonga Zoo

Signature in Sydney - Performance

What better way to help celebrate our 20^th year than by having international barbershop quartet superstars The Newfangled Four drop by Sydney to share with us four fabulous days of singing, coaching, socialising and fun!

The highlight of their stay was having The Newfangled Four headline our anniversary concert Totally Vocal on Saturday 10^th August at Hornsby RSL. A near full house crowd greeted the quartet with unbridled enthusiasm and the boys in return performed an unforgettable, wildly entertaining set. It’s no wonder this young Californian foursome is so popular with fans around the world!


Special guests on the show were our sisters in song, the wonderful Circular Keys Chorus. Led by our common Musical Director, Vicki Dwyer, CKC performed a selection from their wide-ranging repertoire before Sydney Harmony joined them on stage for a set of songs as a combined chorus. The Sydney Harmony/Circular Keys mixed voice chorus has become a crowd-pleasing feature of our shared performances in recent years. And for the show’s Finale, the Newfangled Four joined the combined chorus on stage for a rousing rendition of the Pentatonix a cappella hit “Sing”. Such fun!

We feel so privileged that The Newfangled Four were able to coach the chorus during their time in Sydney. A full day workshop with them on the Sunday and a visit to our rehearsal on the Monday night allowed us to benefit substantially from the combined and individual talents of these talented musicians. Thanks guys! The chorus is in a really great place now as we head towards the contest stage in Hobart next month.

We’d like to thank everyone who came to our concert - from BHA and Sweet Adelines choruses both near and far – and to all our friends, family and former Sydney Harmony members who have supported us over the years. Special thanks to our friends Vocal Evolution who instigated the Newfangled Four tour and invited us to take part in this awesome local barbershop initiative.  


 

What an awesome day we had on Saturday at the Barbershop Harmony Australia Eastern Region contest! A win for us in the Chorus comp...our Assistant MD Gareth Hearne's quartet Helix won the Open Quartet contest and Roaming, our brand new foursome, came equal 3rd. Well done guys and congratulations to everyone involved!






 

1st : Liz Harris

2nd : Claire Parker

3rd : Sam Harris

4th : S. R. McGill

THE REVIEWS ARE IN...

"A stellar showcase of award winning a Capella and Barbershop chorales"

"A wonderful show with their very polished a cappella"

Join us for our first Trivia Night this year!

Location: Cammeray Golf Club
Date: Wednesday, 30th April 2014, 7.30pm-9.30pm (Dinner from 6pm)

Totally Vocal!

An engaging six-week 

vocal harmony course

which provides you with
  
6 specialist vocal coaching lessons  

presented by one of the country's

most accomplished musical directors

and vocal harmony educators.

 

 The course also gives you the unique musical experience of

singing with one of Sydney's leading male

a cappella  ensembles.