A new Musical Director? Yes, unfortunately our current MD will leave Portugal in April next year leaving us without a leader to continue her good work.
Who are we? We are Bella A Cappella, the only Barbershop Chorus in Portugal. We are based in the Algarve.
Every Tuesday we have our rehearsal evening in the beautiful Lagar in Moncarapacho.
What is Barbershop Singing?
Put simply, Barbershop is singing in close 4 part harmony without being accompanied by musical instruments. By ‘close’ harmony we mean that all parts are sung in a small range allowing either men or women to sing all parts, rather than the low parts being sung by men and the higher ones by women.
It originated in the US when men queuing for a haircut would pass the time and entertain themselves by singing. One would start the melody (the Lead) and the Bass, Bari and Tenor would join in making the harmonies up by ear. These days Barbershop is sung by male, female and also mixed groups, and we’ve ditched the dreadful waistcoats and straw boaters although a moustache is still optional (for either sex so as to be ‘pc’.)
You will find more information on our website - www.bellaacappella.net.
How many of us is there?
Our chorus has 17 members, both men and women originating from 5 different countries.
How do we work?
We all find enormous pleasure in singing together. We enjoy putting energy into our songs and we learn the music at home using teach tracks so that we’re ready to work on performance and interpretation during rehearsal evenings. We also have a music team to help members of each voice part to work on their music, so hours of tedious ‘dot crunching’ is not a feature of our rehearsals
We welcome new members subject to a simple audition and have vacancies for all parts.
At this moment we have about 30 songs in our repertoire.
This year and also in 2012 we attended the annual Barbershop competition held by the Spanish Association of Barbershop Singers and won the Silver medal.
We enjoy giving performances in the Eastern and Central Algarve, including free performances for local charities.
What would we expect from a new MD ?
A Passion for good singing and music and enthusiasm for encouraging people to be the best singers they can be. At least a basic understanding of music. A ‘good ear’, for pitch. Good leadership skills, a sense of humour and fun and a positive attitude.
Our current MD is very happy to provide training and support to the right person if required.
Does this sound like something you might enjoy? Why not come to one of our rehearsals to see what we do? Even if you don’t feel at present that you could be the MD, you might enjoy singing with us.
For more information, or to have a chat about things please contact us by telephone 914 848 108 / 925 993 644 or email sylvykeenan@gmail.com.
