- Proudly supporting St Ann's Hospice
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Date Posted: Sat, 11 Mar 2023
Every year at Crystal Chords, we support a charity, chosen by members, that we will fundraise and sing for throughout the year.
In 2023, members voted overwhelmingly to support St Ann's Hospice because we feel strongly about the care they give to so many at the end of life.
We hope throughout the year to support them with fundraising, while they attempt to raise enough funds for a brand new hospice site. Watch this space!
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For more information, see: https://www.sah.org.uk/
- LABBS 2022 Mid-Size Chorus Champions
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Date Posted: Thu, 10 Nov 2022
Crystal Chords were thrilled to have taken part in the LABBS Convention 27-29 Oct 2022, competing alongside 25 choruses from up and down the country, for the first time since 2019.
Two of our club quartets also competed in the National quartet competition; it was a great start to the weekend as we cheered on Barberlicious & Hat-Trick; how proud we were to see them both qualify for the finals with ease!
The event was held at Bournemouth International Centre, and the theme of the weekend was "Jubilation". It was a truly jubilant occasion to be able to celebrate with our sisters in harmony, having had various events postponed because of the pandemic.
With only 37 singers on stage, Crystal Chords placed 4th overall, and were delighted to win the trophy for the "Highest Placed Mid-Size Chorus" It was a delight to be able to perform once more, and enjoy a weekend of harmony & friendship.
Our contest set features 2 songs: a beautiful ballad from Mary Poppins Returns, "The Place Where the Lost Things Go" arranged for our chorus by the talented Sam Hubbard; our second song "Almost There" is from Disney's The Princess and the Frog, aranged by Aaron Dale. Enjoy!
*mid-size: 30-45 singers.
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- A busy 6 months!
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Date Posted: Tue, 6 Sep 2022
These past 6 months have been busy ones at Crystal Chords HQ - so busy we forgot to update our news section! Oops :0)
In May we had the absolute honour of representing our parent organisation LABBS (the Ladies Association of British Barbershop Singers) at the European Barbershop Convention in Helsingborg. The European convention is held every 3 years and is a competition for past medalists of barbershop organisations from across Europe. The standard there is so high and we were amazed with the other choruses who crossed the stage with us. We came 6th overall with a cracking score and we are so pleased with our performance.
In June we sang our hearts out in a fundraising concert for Stockport Foodbank. Stockport Foodbank were our chosen charity in 2020 and 2021, but we hadn’t been able to do that much while not allowed to sing through the Covid-19 pandemic, so this was our way of raising some much needed cash for this vital charity. We are proud to have ended up with a total of over £2,000 for them to help the people of Stockport.
In July we were coached by not one but two inspirational coaches. First up it was internationally renowned David Sangster. David is the musical director for Forth Valley Chorus, who are about to fly out to Louisville Kentucky next October to compete at the Sweet Adelines International convention and let us tell you - he is AMAZING. At the end of the month, we then added performance coach Kristy Williams to the cast of people helping us reach our potential. Kirsty brought realism into our performance and reminded us why it is so important to treat performance as importantly as the singing and music category. Kirsty is one of the people judging us at convention in October 2022, so we hope we do her proud when she sees how we have applied her advice!
- IABS 2019 Convention, Killarney
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Date Posted: Thu, 17 Oct 2019
Irish Success for Crystal Chords
What an amazing weekend we have had in Killarney at the Irish Association of Barbershop Singers Convention. Three of our quartets took to the stage with accomplished veterans Pzazz mic warming a competition, newly formed Hat-Trick having their first formal outing and then previous national silver medallists Barberlicious Quartet winning an international bronze medal in the quartet competition.
Topping that all off on the Saturday with an international silver medal for Crystal Chords in the international chorus competition and we have had a ball. Thank you IABS!
- Didsbury Festival June 2019
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Date Posted: Sat, 8 Jun 2019
Festival Fun!
Crystal Chords braved the rain to have fun and showcase our gifts and plants at Didsbury Festival again this year.
Thanks to all our ladies who came out to help!
- SABS convention 2019, Calpe
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Date Posted: Sat, 6 Apr 2019
Crystals Shine in Sunny Spain!
During a fabulous weekend in the sun in Spain, Crystal Chords came home with an international bronze medal. Visiting the Spanish Association of Barbershop Singers (SABS) annual convention in Calpe, a small chorus of Crystals took part in the chorus competition and showcased a song fresh from our Love to Sing course earlier in the year.
Joined by some of our new singers, the weekend in Spain was a wonderful setting to give it a first performance and we were thrilled with the result.
