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Mike Cook was voted the Solent City Chorus Barbershopper of the Year for 2023 by the chorus members at the club AGM on Weds 13th September. 

Mike has done sterling work as the club secretary keeping the committee and the club as a whole on track. He has also been active in trying to keep the clubs profile high by advocating and providing the copy for articles published in local press. 

Congratulations Mike.

It was great to have James back singing with the chorus on Wednesday and he was also presented with his long service pin to recognise 20 years as a member of BABS. 

Well done James!

Wow - what a week for Solent City!

Less than a week after claiming two trophies at the Chichester Music Festival, the guys picked up two more at the Isle of Wight Festival. In the Male Voice Choir category Solent picked up the Association Cup, achieving a “Distinction” in
the process.
The renowned international classical singer Melanie Armitstead, judging the competition, praised the chorus’s energy, dynamics and warmth.
Nine members drawn from the chorus, and singing under the unlikely title of the North Island Ferrets, then triumphed in the Small Barbershop Group category, winning the Canterbury Cup.
The judge was especially impressed by the stunning beginning of the performance, with “one voice coming out of the silence”.

Solent City had a sparkling day out at the prestigious Chichester Music festival on 11 th March, winning both the classes in which they were entered.

This was the first time that Solent had competed at Chichester, but they topped the Male Voice Choir category, for which they were awarded the Oriana Cup, and also claimed first prize in the Barbershop Choir category.

Adjudicator Christopher Field was especially impressed by Solent’s performance in the Male Voice class, awarding a Distinction and commenting on the choir’s “beautiful resonant sound” and the “wonderful rhythmic security”.

Musical Director Steve Morris said he was particularly thrilled by the performance of “Blew by You” - a wonderful comedy song that the chorus had not performed in public before. The audience loved it and it also marked a brilliant debut by the “Portsmouth Pavarotti”, Philip Davies, as soloist.

The service will start at 7pm.

The club held its Annual General Meeting on Wednesady at which the new committee was elected. It turned out to be the old committee but welcoming Philip Davies as our new Vice Chair. 

Our re-elected chairman, Ian Barbeary also awared a 20 year long service pin to Colin Bird:

And finally, the chorus members voted for Andy Douglas as our new Barbershopper of the Year :  

Solent City Chorus had a great evening at the Fareham Music Festival on 29 th April, winning both classes in which they were entered. These were the Adult Choir category and the Barbershop Chorus category, for which the chorus was awarded the A Cappella Cup.

This was the second year in succession that Solent has won a top prize at Fareham. Adjudicator Angela Rowley awarded a “highly commended” rating on the performance, praising the beautifully blended singing, the dynamic variation, and gave a special mention to the delicate tenor line in all three songs.

What a debut for “Autumn Gold”!
It was also a night to remember for “Autumn Gold”, a new quartet drawn from the chorus and featuring Ian Ayres (lead), Bob Simmonds (bass), Kevin Jones (tenor) and Julian Church (bari).
In their first ever public appearance, the guys beat some highly experienced competition to win the Cabin Crew A Cappella Cup for best barbershop quartet. In awarding a “commended” rating, the Adjudicator commented on the quartet’s well-blended sound from the outset and the beautifully tuned final chords in both songs.

Solent City enjoyed a wonderful evening at the beautiful All Saints Church in
East Meon on Wednesday 16 March. A large and enthusiastic audience
enjoyed a varied programme, and were quick to demonstrate their own
singing credentials by joining in a rousing version of “Wellerman”. With one of
the Church’s two boilers out of action, even the family of penguins spotted at
the back of the nave were shivering. But a great atmosphere, helped by
delicious cake and tea, made for a lovely evening.

After the event, the guys adjourned to the nearby Old George pub, where
patrons were entertained to a selection of Chorus favourites. One lady,
celebrating her birthday, reckoned it was the best rendition of Happy Birthday
she’d ever heard.

Our dear friend Gabriel Dooley sadly passed away unexpectedly just before Christmas, aged just 60.

Gabriel joined Solent City Chorus in 2011 after attending a Learn to Sing course run by the club. After receiving his 10-year pin from BABS last year, Gabriel’s reaction was: “I only signed up for a 6-week LTS course. I’m not sure what happened – I must be a slow learner”. 

A proud Irishman, Gabriel was passionate about his singing and loved the “craic” of being with the other guys in the chorus. In recent years he commuted daily from Portsmouth to London where he was a senior engineer on the Crossrail project: he would take the train home in the evening and jump into a taxi at the station to arrive just in time for rehearsal. On the risers his style was distinctive and idiosyncratic, as Gabriel himself was the first to acknowledge. With his eyes invariably tightly closed as he sang, he was always a challenge to the MD. But with that wonderful cheeky smile, enormous charm and gift of the blarney, we all loved him.

The Chorus sends its sincerest condolences to Gabriel’s widow, Kay, and their fourchildren.

At his funeral on 17th January, Solent City members past and present sang “Can You Feel the Love Tonight.”

Another fun-filled evening, this time performing for the Bidbury Mead WI. 

Great facilities, including a rehearsal room with acoustics to die for, a warm and enthusiastic welcome from the Bidbury ladies, and Richard on sparkling form as usual with some impromptu banter.

Lockdown meant it was almost two years to the day since our last visit, but an evening well worth waiting for.      
 

The 2021 Learn To Sing course came to an end with a concert for family and friends. The delegates and chorus sang the song we had learned together - Pokarekare Ana - and the chorus also performed some of our rep songs for the audience. 

We were delighted to present certificates of attendance to the ten delefates who complted the course and we are also delighted that the majority have decided to stay on with us with a view to joining as full members. 

More photos from the concert are here: Learn To Sing 2021 Photos
 

Solent City maintained their winning run with another trophy on Friday evening 22nd October, this time at the Fareham Music Festival. The chorus won the Peter Fielder Memorial Cup for best adult choir, achieving a “commended” ranking, and came narrowly second in the Barbershop Chorus category.
Adjudicator Benjamin Costello commented on the lovely rhythmic energy of the chorus, and praised its singing for being moving and atmospheric. He also complimented Solent on a really enjoyable overall programme.
Solent’s Musical Director Steve Morris said he was thrilled with the trophy win. “18 months ago we were on a real high: we’d just won two trophies at the Isle of Wight Festival, including best choir of the whole week – and then came lockdown. That meant we haven’t been able to sing together in person again until very recently, and Fareham was our first competitive outing since the IoW.”
Steve added that the guys had continued practising on Zoom right through the lockdown, and had even learnt four new songs during that time. “But”, he added, “there’s just nothing to match being in front of a live audience again."

WOW! That’s surely the only word to describe an amazing evening with the ladies of the Totton Sunflowers WI on 21st October.

We had originally been booked to perform at Totton last year, but the lockdown meant the gig had to be postponed. But as Christine Peckham, booking organiser for Sunflowers commented, it was an evening well worth waiting for.

“Uplifting”, “fantastic”, and “a glorious evening”, were just some of the comments received, and one lady added that at least one of our songs had given her goosebumps.  Although Solent performed a wide range of material, from love songs to upbeat and comedy numbers, the highlight was probably “Wellerman”, with the ladies enthusiastically joining in the chorus to great effect. 

A really fun evening for all of us in Solent City as well, and a big thank you to the Totton ladies for their friendship and hospitality.

As is traditional we voted for our Barbershopper of the Year  at the AGM on 15th September and this year the award was jointly won by Ian Ayres and Dave Potts. 

Congratulations to them both.

Here you can see the John Beck trophy being awared to them by our newly elected chairman, Ian Barbeary

Finally, finally after all these months we got together again for our first sing out since March 2020.