Our wins in the Barbershop and Open Classes at Godalming Music Festival were an excellent start to the year which we followed up by qualifying in tremendous style for this year's LABBS Convention.
We are looking forward to that, to entertaining a variety of audiences in our local area over the coming months and to raising funds for The Chase Hospice, Guildford our chosen charity for 2008.
From the beginning
Guildford Harmony was founded in 1980 with only 9 members under the direction of Dave Smith. The first year we competed at the Ladies Association of British Barbershop Singers (LABBS) annual convention was in 1982, when we were placed 13th with 13 members and won the "Small Chorus Trophy".
We have competed at every Convention since then, with only one exception. We have always qualified for the finals, at which we have twice been placed 4th.
Since the early days of Dave Smith, we have been directed by Jennie Beck, Veronica May, Nick Frampton, Audrey Sentinella and Mike Warner. We are now being directed once again by Dave Smith.
Over the years the chorus has had the opportunity to travel and socialise with other Barbershopper Clubs. One of the highlights for Guildford Harmony was a trip to Zoetermeer in 1999, where we spent a long weekend with the Sweet Lake Harmony Singers. We had a wonderful time singing, sightseeing, making new friends and enjoying the wonderful Dutch hospitality.
Some recent Chorus Landmarks
In March 2002, under the direction of Nick Frampton (who had joined us a year earlier) we were placed 1st in the Barbershop section at the Farnham Music Festival.
In Birmingham, at the LABBS convention preliminaries competition in 2003, we were placed 2nd on the day.
In 2007 we won the Barbershop class at Godalming Music Festival and scored well in the Open class.
