DAILY MAIL:

He was flying into New York to appear in front of his many fans at a Mozart
festival.

But when British conductor Paul Hillier arrived at the airport, the police were
waiting for him instead.

And rather than relaxing in preparation for his performance at the renowned
Lincoln Centre in New York, the 61-year-old Grammy winner was taken to jail.

Mr Hillier, who was awarded the OBE in 2006 for his services to choral music,
was held on an outstanding warrant for failing to pay child support for his two
daughters, who live in the U.S. with his ex-wife.

And he had to arrange to pay £58,000 to his children by first wife Lena-Liis
Kiesel to gain his freedom, it is said.

Prosecutors claim Mr Hillier, who is from Dorchester, Dorset, had been ducking
payments to his daughters, 24 and 19, for four years. He faced four criminal
charges of failing to make the court-ordered payments.

And last night Mr Hillier told how he was detained by officials of the
Department of Homeland Security at Newark Airport and taken to Essex County Jail
in New Jersey.

'I have to say that I was treated by them with great courtesy and
understanding,' he said.

He had withheld the payments after his former wife prevented their daughters
from visiting him. 'My rights as a father have been comprehensively trampled
into the ground', he added in a statement.

Read more:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1303890/British-conductor-Paul\
-Hillier-arrested-US-airport-failing-pay-child-support.html#ixzz0x8O3tSpp

BBC DERBY:

DaleDiva, the Derbyshire a-cappella chorus, have stormed to victory in this
year's Don't Stop Believing live final.

The Derbyshire Dales-based group took top honours following two stunning
performances in the Channel Five show.

They survived the elimination part with their high-energy version of the Barbra
Streisand/Donna Summer hit No More Tears (Enough is Enough).

The public voted them into the top two meaning they then had to reprise their
performance of Beyonce's Single Ladies.

The group's musical director and co-founder Ally Law said: "It's been one
fantastic opportunity and we have just loved every minute.

"To stand on that stage - feeling sick really, waiting for the results - and
when they called out our name... everything else really has been a blur from
there."

Read more:-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/derby/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8\
937000/8937007.stm

THIS IS BRISTOL:

Smart, dynamic, harmonic and tuneful, the six-man vocal group known as The
Magnets make strong bonds with audiences wherever they go. Theirs is a unique
and refreshing take on music-making that stretches both their vocal cords and
their arrangement abilities to the maximum.

They dish up familiar songs �" anything from Lady Gaga's Poker Face to Bon
Jovi's Living on a Prayer �" in delicious harmonies, underpinned by
jaw-dropping beat-boxing.

There's not a musical instrument in sight, but their performance is embellished
by plenty of cool moves and theatrics. The London-based ensemble will arrive in
the West for some live dates later this month fresh from the stage at Radio 2's
Elvis Forever event in Hyde Park and a three-week residency at the Edinburgh
Fringe Festival where they have been regular performers for the last five years.

READ MORE:-
http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/entertainmentnews/t-fail-attracted-cappela-master\
s/article-2628005-detail/article.html

DAILY MAIL:

An award-winning barbershop quartet is tackling a new style of cut - after
landing a major record deal.

The Great British Barbershop Boys, whose day jobs include working for the police
and teaching, have picked up their best tip yet after signing a seven-figure
deal with Sony.

Baritone Joe Knight, whose group will release an album of Christmas songs, said:
"This deal is just truly amazing."

The harmonic four-piece was talent-spotted by record bosses when they appeared
at the International Barbershop Convention in Philadelphia. They took the title
of British Quartet champions in 2008.

The Great British Barbershop Boys will release their debut album Christmas Time
for Arista Records on December 6.

Sony Music said the group had signed a £1 million deal.

Knight, who lives in Nottingham and works for Nottinghamshire Police, said: "We
are just four guys earning a living and getting on with our lives.

"We have always done well with our barbershopping, but we started it as a means
to socialize. This deal is just truly amazing."

Tenor Alan Hughes, a teacher based in Warrington, said the group - who had never
thought of their music as a career choice - said they were looking forward to
taking the traditional sound to a wider audience.

"The barbershop sound has survived around the world but underground for years.
It will be superb to see it make a proper comeback in the charts," he said.

Lead singer Zac Booles is a sign writer who lives near Loughborough while bass
Duncan Blackeby is an IT project manager in York.

Richard Connell, general manager of Sony subsidiary Arista Records, said, "The
barbershop quartet really is the origin of what we know today as the 'boy-band'.

"It's a wonderful tradition, rich in rules and regulations but above all hugely
encouraging of creativity and collaboration. Communities literally come together
around their local quartet where lifelong bonds of friendship and loyalty are
formed.

The group will release debut album Christmas Time for Arista Records on December
6, featuring traditional songs with barbershop arrangements.


Read more:
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/10/06/barbershop-boys-land-1-milli\
on-record-deal-115875-22611419/#ixzz11jxe4Kgb

LONDON EVENING STANDARD:

At first glance, the group around the piano belting out "I'm still standing"
look like a typical eccentric amateur choral group. One woman has a shaved head,
a few have no socks, some wear short pants despite the autumn chill, and one man
has a suit jacket over a worn T-shirt.

Yet the three dozen choristers (otherwise neatly turned out) who assemble in
this former church hall in King's Cross every Monday evening are in fact
exceptional. Not for their virtuoso individual voices � though thanks to their
inspirational leader, Marie Benton, they sing like angels � but because of who
they are and the transformative role this choir plays in their lives.

The Choir With No Name is for homeless people or, as some say, "for people who
have hit rock bottom". Their ages range from 24 to 62; most have slept rough and
now live in homeless shelters across the capital, though each story is
poignantly unique.

For Richard Threlfall, the trigger was being left by his wife and the sale of
the family home. For Dean Johnson it was relationship breakdown and a descent
into alcoholism. For Adel Tuzani it was drug addiction. For Mada a foreign war.
And for Carole Wardell cancer � and the side-effects of medication that led to
her being too tired to function and precipitated her slide into homelessness.

Marie, 35, founded the choir in 2008. She is a St Mungo's charity worker with a
passion for music who wanted to give the homeless something more to look forward
to than a hot meal. With her team of volunteers she has created an ensemble with
35 members for whom the choir is "the highlight" of their week � and much more.

"People arrive with low expectations, but they enjoy themselves and after a few
weeks you see them start to blossom," says Marie. "It's about creating a safe
environment for them to build confidence and develop a supportive community."

Now, with the help of a �4,650 grant from the Evening Standard Dispossessed Fund
� one of more than 200 grants totalling �700,000 we've disbursed to similarly
deserving community groups so far � the choir have been recording their first
album to showcase their work. "The boost to the group is tremendous," says
Marie. "For these people to go into a recording studio and know that your
readers have dug deep to pay for them to put together something professional has
huge ramifications for their self-esteem � and for the way London knits together
as a city."

READ MORE:-

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23887401-the-dispossessed-singing\
-the-praises-of-a-choir-that-has-given-the-homeless-a-voice.do

Do check out this a cappella flash mob video which features members of the
Swingle Singers, Magnets and other groups and choirs.

The video has gone viral with over 500,000 views in less than 48 hours.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB3NPNM4xgo

John Neal
www.cappellanews.com

BBC NEWS:

A new three-part documentary series following the Schola Cantorum of St Peter's
Cathedral, Belfast began on BBC One on Monday. Producer/director Cara O'Doherty
explains how the Choirboys series came about.

Conscious of the old adage of "never work with children", I first went to meet
the 40 choirboys of St. Peter's Cathedral with more than a little trepidation.

Even before I entered their modest rehearsal space at the cathedral, their
voices could be heard escaping into the evening air. Clichéd as it may sound,
it was simply angelic.

It was hard to believe that the choir I was to follow for the next few months
was still in its fledgling stages.

The boys had been brought together by musical director Nigel McClintock, and his
assistant Helen Frame, who together scoured Belfast's schools to source raw
singing talent and turn them into bona fide choristers.

Read more:-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-11615345

Watch the 1st episode on BBC iPlayer here:-
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00vjvqn/Choirboys_Episode_1/

A major, nationwide research initiative is underway which will help provide key
answers to the question whether choral singing is enjoying a popular rebirth or
is it in decline.

The Great Choral Study is a Britain-wide research initiative investigating the
current and future trends, opportunities and challenges facing British choirs.

Choral singing has faced declining membership over recent decades with male and
adult choirs facing increasing ageing membership, with many choirs closing their
doors or amalgamating with other choirs out of survival. However, in recent
months, thanks to popular televised choral competitions and programmes and the
greater commercial success of key choral entities, there has been a rise in the
profile and popularity of choral singing.

Major questions are being asked throughout the choral community on the future of
choral singing is the television-driven popularity of choral singing the first
signs of an exciting rebirth of our choral tradition or simply a blip in the
ongoing decline of a great tradition.

Choral conductor, John Hywel Williams MBE, an authority in choral singing is an
Advisor for the British Research Team and whose long and established choral
career makes him no stranger to the evolving trends in choral singing.

For further information and an online questionnaire, please visit

http://www.TheGreatChoralStudy.com

or contact the National Research Team at

Jeremy Williams 01279 818400 / 07767 644733

Research@...

FINANCIAL TIMES:

These simple words, sung by an 18-year-old economics student, pierce the silence
of a room in Cambridge. With a piece of sheet music in her hand, Catherine Shaw
is standing in front of a laptop perched at eye-level.

The screen shows two images �" on one side, the laptop’s camera-view of Shaw,
and on the other, a man conducting, his movements synchronised with a piano
accompaniment she can hear on earphones. The man is Eric Whitacre, who in the
space of a year has become the most commercially successful choral composer in
history. It is his song, “Sleep”, with words by Charles Anthony Silvestri,
that Shaw is singing and Whitacre is conducting, as part of a project to create
the world’s biggest online choir.

The choir is open to anyone who submits a video by December 31
(www.virtualchoir.org explains how) but the project is being kick-started by a
group of choral scholars, scions of Cambridge’s renowned choral tradition.
Each has agreed to record their individual contribution during a “Virtual
Choir Party Weekend” at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, where Whitacre is on
a three-month visiting fellowship.

Shaw has downloaded music and moving image from Whitacre’s website, and is now
uploading her version of the song to his virtual choir page on YouTube, where it
and up to 1,000 others will be edited together. Whitacre is expected to play
clips at a Technology Entertainment Design (TED) conference in California in
February, and the finished audio track will be available online sometime in
April, with an audio-visual track following later.

Earlier this year Whitacre did a pilot version of the online choir. A group of
185 singers from 12 countries, most of them professionals, performed “Lux
Aurumque”, another of his a cappella works. The resulting video attracted more
than 1m views in 60 days. On the back of that phenomenon Whitacre signed a
recording deal with Decca and launched a second, much larger virtual choir
project, devoted to “Sleep”.

Read More:-

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/e20fbaa8-0316-11e0-80eb-00144feabdc0.html?ftcamp=rss#a\
xzz17mMqvaEK

THE GUARDIAN:

Walking into the Royal Festival Hall last Sunday afternoon, it was as if one had
stepped backstage by mistake. In a mood of pre-show frenzy, the entire audience
seemed to be straightening shirts, brushing down jackets, fixing up hair,
combing, smoothing, pinning, crimping, ready for the big moment when, each with
their choral comrades, they filed on stage to give the performance of their
lives for the title of Choir of the Year 2010.

It was only partly an illusion. The auditorium had indeed become a kind of vast
green room. Sitting in groups, brightly attired and surrounded by family
supporters wearing their colours or waving flags, the six choirs competing
dominated the swarming interior. They were chosen earlier this year from 150
ensembles involving 6,000 singers. Four were category winners, two were invited
as "wild cards", good enough as runners-up to earn a place in the final, which
was presented with cheerful grace by Aled Jones assisted by Josie D'Arby and the
BBC Singers.

Perceptions about choral singing have shifted radically since Bill Kallaway
founded the biennial competition in 1984 with sponsorship from Sainsbury's. Back
then, no one accepted the idea that stuffy old choirs could be fashionable, as
well as socially inclusive with everything that expression implies. TV activists
such as Howard Goodall and Gareth Malone, not to mention the American teen hit
Glee on Channel 4, have engendered a fresh and informal, still highly
disciplined, enthusiasm.

Another cool advocate, Brian Eno, who sings in an a cappella group each week,
makes it sound obligatory pleasure: "Singing is the key to long life, a good
figure, a stable temperament, increased intelligence, new friends, super
self-confidence, heightened sexual attractiveness and a better sense of humour."
And he should know. Think about that as you reach for the latest snake oil.

Read more:-

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/dec/05/choir-of-year-2010-bbc-review

Members north of the border might be interested in two events at Glasgow's
Celtic Connections festival: a concert by Tim Eriksen featuring Sacred Harp
music on Saturday 15th January followed by a Sacred Harp singing school on
Sunday 16th. More details here:

http://www.celticconnections.com/whatson/event/104071-Tim-Eriksen:-Shape-Note-Si\
nging
http://www.celticconnections.com/whatson/event/104633-Celtic-Connections-Public-\
Workshops-Shape-Note-Singing-with-Tim-Eriksen

Ian West

Known as Ted's Band on the popular US comedy show Scrubs the a cappella group
The Blanks will be touring the US in February including a show at the Shepherd's
Bush Empire.

This is a very entertaining group and well worth checking out.

More info:-
http://www.myspace.com/theofficialblanksmyspace

http://www.theblankswebsite.com/

John Neal

Hi Folks
I am very fortunate to have secured The Real Group from Sweden (Chille Con
Carne, etc) to perform at Northampton School for Boys next Thursday (13th)at
7.30pm, coming directly from their headlining performance at London A Cappella
Festival (curated by The Swingle Singers).
They are also going to be working with my own Jazz Vocal Group (3 - 4pm)as well
as hosting an illustrated Q & A session on choral development (5 - 6pm) - free
to audience members.
Tickets �12 (�8 Concessions)Special Offer for Student groups - 10 for �60. Box
Office 01604 258666
I would love them to perform to a full house and would really like to sell the
remaining 80 seats!
Anyone buying them will not be disappointed and will have exceptional value for
money.
Please forward this info to anyone who you know may be interested
I have heard them live in concert (performing to an audience of 3000 at an a
cappella festival in Mainz last year) and they are stunning!

Guildford Harmony is a Ladies a cappella group, singing predominantly, but not
exclusively, in the barbershop style. Having experienced a 50%+ growth in
singing membership over the last year, we now aim to continue our pursuit of
excellence through education, regular competition and wide public performance.

We are seeking an energetic Assistant Musical Director (male or female) to join
our proactive Music Team and become a key part of this thriving group.

Terms of Reference are available on request, but essential attributes and skills
include music reading, directing, critical listening, coaching and the ability
to combine fun and hard work to motivate others towards our shared goals. 
Experience in similar roles is highly desirable but plenty of support is
available and top-up training will be arranged where necessary.  We aim to make
an appointment during Feb/Mar 2011, having met potential candidates during
Jan/Feb.

  Please contact us for more information or just to chat, on 07702262300 or via
http://www.guildfordharmony.com/"

THE INDEPENDENT:

The hit US medical sitcom Scrubs was finally pronounced dead last March. While
UK fans of the show cling to the lifeline of a repeat prescription of reruns,
next weekend some will find further remedy for their loss with the arrival in
London of The Blanks, the a cappella band who made frequent appearances on the
show, led by the regular character Ted Buckland .

Sam Lloyd, who played Ted, will be joined by fellow actors and musicians Paul F
Perry, George Miserlis and Philip McNiven for a one-off show at Shepherd's Bush
Empire that will feature songs sung on Scrubs, including versions of the TV
theme tunes for Charles in Charge and Underdog and newer material such as a
version of Outkast's "Hey Ya!" The troupe won't just do do-wop, however. They
promise a selection of "skits, antics and choreography" inspired by the Marx
Brothers, Monty Python, The Three Stooges and Laurel and Hardy. "I think an hour
of a cappella is actually considered torture in some cultures," explains Lloyd.

Read more:-
 
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/scrubs-band-the-b\
lanks-head-to-shepherds-bush-empire-for-oneoff-a-cappella-show-2203566.html

Voices Now Festival: The Magnets with special guests Roundhouse Choir

Tickets �20 (mezzanine), �15 (circle) and �10 (standing). Book online now here or call 0844 482 8008.

Saturday Evening Tickets (Holst Singers and The Magnets): �30 (mezzanine), �20 (circle) and �12.50 (standing)

GOLDEN TICKET � see all the Voices Now main space performances for only �75.

 

The Voice Festival UK 2011 kicks off today in Cambridge, as four university a
cappella groups battle it out to win the first coveted place in the London Final
on March 12!

Adjudicated by Jes Sadler, Suzi Digby and John Rutter, and featuring 'Cadenza',
'Fitz Barbershop', 'The Sirens' and 'The Alternotives', this is an event
not-to-be-missed.

The Festival will be touring the nation across the coming month:
Birmingham regional: Saturday 26th February
Oxford regional: Sunday 27th February
St Andrews regional: Friday 4th March
London regional: Saturday 5th March
London final: Saturday 12th March

At each round, daytime workshops, open to the public, give singers the
opportunity to learn from some of the UK's top vocal talent, including Jes
Sadler, Tobias Hug, Joanna Forbes L'Estrange, Jo Marshall, Paul Davies and
Dominic Peckham. In the evenings, a total of 24 university groups, that's over
250 singers, will be competing for only 5 spots in the London final. Our schools
competition will also showcase some of the UK's best up-and-coming a cappella
singers.

A must for all UK a cappella singers and fans!
Tickets and more information available from www.thevoicefestival.co.uk

BBC Wales:

An innovative theatre production will involve the audience walking the streets
of Aberystwyth. Armed with iPods and headsets, a dozen theatregoers will trace
the journeys of members of a local choir to their rehearsal through the town.
The Outdoors experience will take place every Tuesday night for a year.

It is the brainchild of a German avant-garde theatre group, National Theatre of
Wales and the Aberystwyth-based Heartsong choir. The 25-strong choir has been
meeting to sing together every Tuesday for more than 12 years and their
repertoire is entirely a cappella.

Its secretary, Carolyn Wacher, said: "Every Tuesday evening during term time
audiences of 12 will be given an iPod and earphones, and sent to walk the
streets of Aberystwyth. "Through those iPods, they will see and hear the stories
of Heartsong choir members along their journeys.

"There will be 12 different stories from locals that lead them in different
paths through the town's narrow streets and seafront.

"They will be finally reunited in a wonderful celebration of the power of choral
singing at the St David's Club in the middle of Aberystwyth."

Read More:-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/midwales/hi/people_and_places/newsid_9385000/9385349\
.stm

---------------------------
http://www.acappellanews.com

The BABS Board of Directors is pleased to announce a new quartet contest, to be
known as the British Open Barbershop Quartet Contest.  Entry is restricted to UK
based male quartets having no more than one BABS’ member, and those male
quartets based outside the United Kingdom.  The competition will be one round of
two songs per quartet, and in 2011 will be held on Sunday 29th May during the
BABS’ Convention in the Venue Cymru, Llandudno.

There is no entry fee for the contest, although competitors will have to
register for the Convention; if attending only on the day of the contest there
is a special reduced price of £10 per individual, or £5 if aged 16 years or
under.  This allows entry to all events on the day apart from shows, for which
tickets are available on the Convention website, www.sing2011.com/index.htm. 
Registrations for longer periods are also available on the site.
Please contact me for an entry form or if you have any questions.  It would be
great to have non-barbershop a cappella  singers showing what they can do
singing in the barbershop style!
Alan Goldsmith

Music Services Director
The British Association of Barbershop Singers
A Registered Charity

Tel: 01673 860366

We are programming our second annual Gathering Voices Festival of Song in
Bristol between 7th - 16th October 2011.

We're really interested to find out about any acappella groups that are on tour
around those dates that might be interested in programming a show within the
Festival.

Really appreciate any contacts, suggestions etc.

Thanks

Hannah
Gathering Voices Festival of Song
www.festivalofsong.org.uk
www.cityofsong.org.uk

Hi Hannah,

If you fancy programming something fun and loud that will appeal to all ages,
The Magnets (www.themagnets.com, www.facebook.com/themagnets) are on tour during
that period, and we don't have a booking in Bristol as yet.

Here's a recent Guardian review:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/dec/16/the-magnets-review

We've just successfully collaborated with the Roundhouse Community Choir at the
Voices Now festival, and will be doing the same with a local choir (Voice Squad)
at the Ipswich Festival in July. This might be something you'd consider if
you've got a local group that would enjoy the experience of performing with a
professional contemporary a cappella group.

You can find our contact details on our website. Best of luck with planning the
festival.

Michael Welton

www.themagnets.com

--- In UK-acappella@yahoogroups.com, "festivalofsong" <gatheringvoice@...>
wrote:
>
> We are programming our second annual Gathering Voices Festival of Song in
Bristol between 7th - 16th October 2011.
>
> We're really interested to find out about any acappella groups that are on
tour around those dates that might be interested in programming a show within
the Festival.
>
> Really appreciate any contacts, suggestions etc.
>
> Thanks
>
> Hannah
> Gathering Voices Festival of Song
> www.festivalofsong.org.uk
> www.cityofsong.org.uk
>

Hi Michael

I'll also ask Hannah to see if she can get you guys to the event.  As well as
running Gathering Voices, she also leads an incredible youth acappella group
called World Roots. I am a member of Original Sing also in Bristol (we performed
at the London Acappella Festival this year and Gathering Voices last year) and
are massive Magnets fans - we were previously members of Naked Voices and came
and saw you at Edinburgh when we were performing there ourselves.

If this works out, could we be really cheeky and put ourselves forward to do
something collaborative.  World Roots would also be amazing with you guys. We
worship before the Andy Frost beatbox DVD before rehearsals and would eat our
grandmothers to work with you!

With kind regards

Peter Brill

--- In UK-acappella@yahoogroups.com, "MikeyMagnet" <michael@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Hannah,
>
> If you fancy programming something fun and loud that will appeal to all ages,
The Magnets (www.themagnets.com, www.facebook.com/themagnets) are on tour during
that period, and we don't have a booking in Bristol as yet.
>
> Here's a recent Guardian review:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/dec/16/the-magnets-review
>
> We've just successfully collaborated with the Roundhouse Community Choir at
the Voices Now festival, and will be doing the same with a local choir (Voice
Squad) at the Ipswich Festival in July. This might be something you'd consider
if you've got a local group that would enjoy the experience of performing with a
professional contemporary a cappella group.
>
> You can find our contact details on our website. Best of luck with planning
the festival.
>
> Michael Welton
>
> www.themagnets.com
>
> --- In UK-acappella@yahoogroups.com, "festivalofsong" <gatheringvoice@> wrote:
> >
> > We are programming our second annual Gathering Voices Festival of Song in
Bristol between 7th - 16th October 2011.
> >
> > We're really interested to find out about any acappella groups that are on
tour around those dates that might be interested in programming a show within
the Festival.
> >
> > Really appreciate any contacts, suggestions etc.
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> > Hannah
> > Gathering Voices Festival of Song
> > www.festivalofsong.org.uk
> > www.cityofsong.org.uk
> >
>

Hi Peter,

You can indeed put yourselves forward, but let's keep the grandmothers intact!
We've got a couple of nice collaborative pieces that it would be great to try
out with you and possibly World Roots as well. I haven't heard from Hannah as
yet though, so let's not get too far ahead of ourselves!

Andy will be chuffed his DVD is being put to good use.

Michael

--- In UK-acappella@yahoogroups.com, "thebrillsuk" <pbrill@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Michael
>
> I'll also ask Hannah to see if she can get you guys to the event.  As well as
running Gathering Voices, she also leads an incredible youth acappella group
called World Roots. I am a member of Original Sing also in Bristol (we performed
at the London Acappella Festival this year and Gathering Voices last year) and
are massive Magnets fans - we were previously members of Naked Voices and came
and saw you at Edinburgh when we were performing there ourselves.
>
> If this works out, could we be really cheeky and put ourselves forward to do
something collaborative.  World Roots would also be amazing with you guys. We
worship before the Andy Frost beatbox DVD before rehearsals and would eat our
grandmothers to work with you!
>
> With kind regards
>
> Peter Brill
>
> --- In UK-acappella@yahoogroups.com, "MikeyMagnet" <michael@> wrote:
> >
> > Hi Hannah,
> >
> > If you fancy programming something fun and loud that will appeal to all
ages, The Magnets (www.themagnets.com, www.facebook.com/themagnets) are on tour
during that period, and we don't have a booking in Bristol as yet.
> >
> > Here's a recent Guardian review:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/dec/16/the-magnets-review
> >
> > We've just successfully collaborated with the Roundhouse Community Choir at
the Voices Now festival, and will be doing the same with a local choir (Voice
Squad) at the Ipswich Festival in July. This might be something you'd consider
if you've got a local group that would enjoy the experience of performing with a
professional contemporary a cappella group.
> >
> > You can find our contact details on our website. Best of luck with planning
the festival.
> >
> > Michael Welton
> >
> > www.themagnets.com
> >
> > --- In UK-acappella@yahoogroups.com, "festivalofsong" <gatheringvoice@>
wrote:
> > >
> > > We are programming our second annual Gathering Voices Festival of Song in
Bristol between 7th - 16th October 2011.
> > >
> > > We're really interested to find out about any acappella groups that are on
tour around those dates that might be interested in programming a show within
the Festival.
> > >
> > > Really appreciate any contacts, suggestions etc.
> > >
> > > Thanks
> > >
> > > Hannah
> > > Gathering Voices Festival of Song
> > > www.festivalofsong.org.uk
> > > www.cityofsong.org.uk
> > >
> >
>

Roll up, roll up!

Come one, come all to the opening night of the Great British Barbershop
Boys' NATIONAL TOUR!

Tickets are now on sale for our many dates (available directly from the
venues themselves).

Availability is fast running out for our opening night show in sunny
BRIDPORT, DORSET at the ELECTRIC PALACE!!!

APRIL 18th - Bridport: http://www.electricpalace.org.uk/music/315-gbbb.html

Come and support your favourite 2008 BABS quartet champions in a night of
fun, frolics and fbarbershop!!!

If the English Riviera doesn't float your boat for good times, we'll also be
in Banbury (Banbury Mills) on the 23rd APRIL and Milton Keynes (The Stables)
on the 27th APRIL.

You can find more details about this sexy quartet at our website -
www.barbershopboys.com and on Facebook and Twitter (@GBBarbershopBoy).


--
Joe Knight

Baritone,
The Great British Barbershop Boys
(Arista Records/Sony Music)
www.barbershopboys.com

Musical Director,
The Major Oak Chorus, Nottingham
www.majoroakchorus.net

Take Twenty is a distinctive, north London based, jazz choir of around 30 mixed
voices that delights in performing a wide range of popular music, in four to
eight-part harmony. Since the group was formed by Malcolm Abbs in 1979, Take
Twenty has moved from strength to strength, offering its members the thrill and
challenge of singing an amazing array of numbers at sophisticated and complex
levels. There are over 250, mainly original, arrangements in our repertoire,
drawing inspiration from classic standards and hits with a strong accent on
jazz, as well as Latin, folk, cabaret and show tunes. Included are some a
capella numbers, but the majority are accompanied by piano and double bass.
Take Twenty rehearses weekly, in Camden, and perform throughout the year. This
includes work for charities, shows for the local community, appearing alongside
jazz bands and putting on at least one solo show at a hired theatre every year.
Recent performances include the The Royal Festival Hall foyer series, the London
A Capella Festival at Kings Place and the 2010 Choir of the Year Category finals
inBirmingham Symphony Hall.

In July 2011, our MD, Rachel Staunton, will be leaving the group. To replace her
we are seeking an MD with experience of directing jazz or popular music vocal
groups. The successful candidate will have charisma and commitment to helping us
fulfil our potential. If you are interested in finding out more about the post,
which will begin in September 2011, please see the Take Twenty website:
www.take-twenty.co.uk/MDapplication.html

Please note the closing date for applications will be 12 May 2011. For further
details email Rachel Holt: info@...

A hard act to follow � and the show must go on!

I just received this email:-

I am writing from ITV Studios, where we are producing a brand new show called
Born to Shine in association with Save the Children's `No Child is Born to Die'
campaign. We are looking for the most talented youngsters (aged 9-16) to teach a
celebrity their particular skill and then perform that in front of a live studio
audience.

The reason that I'm writing is that we are currently looking for young a
cappella groups to take part in the show, and I was wondering if you or any
members of your website knew of such groups who'd be interested. If so we'd love
to hear from you - you can reach me on 0207 157 4605.

Thanks ever so much for your help!
Adeel

Adeel Amini | Researcher | ITV Studios | ITV plc
Upper Ground  |  London  |  SE1 9LT  |  Tel: 020 715 74605  | 
Adeel.Amini@...

--------
John Neal