The Belles have enjoyed taking part in several festivals this summer, starting with Nuneaton Festival on 14th May, then North Northampton Festival on 10th June and Leamington Festival on 1st July. We enjoyed performing for new audiences, getting to share our art form and to have feedback from different judges with different points of view.
We were delighted with our scores on all three occasions, but particularly with receiving second place to Rhapsody UK Chorus’s fabulous performance which won them 1st place at Northampton. We were honoured to receive the Sharyn Rutterford Cup for most memorable barbershop chorus on the day in memory of Sharyn who was MD of Rhapsody UK Chorus, a staunch quartet singer and barbershop ambassador who sadly passed away a few years ago.
We were also delighted to have won the Ryland Shield with a score of 88 at the Leamington Festival and received a lot of great feedback that will feed into future performances and competitions.
As well as being busy with festivals we were part of a wonderful evening of music at St. Ediths church on 17th June and have been fortunate to have had wonderful coaches to guide us this year, with Liz Garnett, Emma Shanks and Rachel Small all providing us with wonderful insight for our convention songs and our repertoire.
The Belles will be 35 years together in 2024 and we are busy with plans for celebrating this milestone as well as our wonderful ‘hobby’, watch this space for news of our plans.