Earlier this month, we won gold at the women’s barbershop championships earning us the title of the UK and Netherlands champions. The medal also means that we will represent the UK at the international contest in America next year.

The competition was held in Warwick and 65 members of the chorus donned 1920s costumes and performed two songs in front of a panel of judges who had flown in from America. Each judge scores a different area linked to music, sound and artistry and the overall scores are added together to reveal the winning chorus.  As well as coming first we also won the ‘most improved’ award having built on our score from last year, which was the first time we had competed since lockdown.  We also brought home four additional trophies for scoring the highest in every judging category!

This is the seventh time Lace City Chorus has been crowned UK champions and our first gold medal under Ellie Blackeby who took over directing the chorus during lockdown in 2020.  

Ellie said: “I am exceptionally proud to lead this phenomenal group of women. We are all normal people, some are wives, mums, paramedics, nurses, farmers and hairdressers. Together we share a passion for music and performing and when we sing together it’s euphoric.  This gold medal represents a huge amount of hard work and commitment. We aren’t professional musicians, just a group of normal women who come together to make extraordinary things happen. We have all proudly returned to our normal lives this week with our medals around our neck.”
 
Ellie joined the chorus aged 14 when it was first set up by founding director and Arnold Hill Comprehensive school teacher Glenn Chaney in 1992. Since then, the chorus has earned a reputation as one of the best in the UK having represented the UK six times on the international stage.

To celebrate our win, we are hosting a ‘summer singing course’ and are inviting women aged 14 and over to join us for four weeks to learn how to sing a cappella barbershop. The course runs every Wednesday in June from 7pm - 8.45pm at Colonel Frank Seeley Academy in Calverton. If you’re interested, click here for more details.

And you can see our winning performance below:

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