of
Barbershop Singers
Nico de las Peñas
Founder and President
| Spanish Association of Barbershop Singers |
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Nico de las Peñas |
The Association was inaugurated in October 2008 and was the brainchild of our President, Nico de las Peñas, and his brother Jorge, after a visit to their first Harmony College in Coesfeld, Germany, SABS has become a reality because of their tenacity, enthusiasm and determination and Nico is a natural choice as our President. As a young association, we are still spreading the barbershop word and building our membership, which currently stands at over 200, comprising men’s, women’s and mixed groups from all around Spain and Portugal. We celebrated our first festival of barbershop in Spain with ‘En Armonía’ in June 2009 and we were delighted to welcome UK’s Finesse ladies’ champion quartet and two of the Ringmasters – Martin and Rasmus – from Stockholm, Sweden. Our first true get-together was attended by almost all our members and was a resounding success. In February 2010, we were delighted to welcome O C Times as our star guests and we had our first quartet contest, crowning ‘Investigators’ as the first-ever SABS champions. Now, we are looking forward to another first for SABS—a chorus contest at En Armonía 2011, which will be held in Murcia from 8 to 11 April. We are delighted to welcome 'Steel' BABS gold medallist quartet, ‘Miss Demeanour’ LABBS gold medallist quartet, together with Grand Central Chorus and Crystal Chords as our special guests. Click the logo above to visit the SABS website. |
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| Some of our SABS members | |
“Investigators” Barbershop quartet from Madrid started in 1996. They have performed in Madrid, Oviedo, Bilbao and Barcelona. In October 2007 they went to the German “Harmony College” where emblematic “barbershoppers” from USA gave them coaching. They started to work the SABS idea and currently are very active members of SABS, with brothers, Nico and Jorge de las Peñas, respectively serving as President and Secretary. |
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Spangles was founded in December 2004 and their passion is to entertain with modern songs that the public recognises, to encourage others to enjoy the art and to make it fun at the same time. Today, their membership has risen to 39 and they continue to grow. To find out more visit their website: www.spangleschorus.com or call 968 432 525/968 334 527 |
¡Viva!started in October 2008 and comprises Gail Grainger (Lead), Barbara Burks (Tenor), Anthea Prentice (Bass) and Lyn Baines (Baritone). Each of them is involved in the running of Spangles chorus, based in Los Alcázares, Murcia, and they have become firm friends. Despite their diverse and busy lives, they still find time to have some fun singing together.
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On 21st October 1998 Harry Hall, a veteran barbershop singer from the UK, placed an advert in the Costa Blanca News asking ladies interested in forming a chorus to attend a meeting at Los Arcos Restaurant. Ten ladies attended that meeting and within a few weeks were singing chords in harmony. Less than half had any previous experience in barbershop singing. |
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This female vocal quartet formed in Madrid by Ana Muñoz (Tenor), Sue Julian (Lead), Alicia Morales (Baritone) and Mercedes Morales (Bass). They studied music in Madrid, where they met and decided sing together, under the direction of renowned master D. José María Sepúlveda, who also arranges their music. His musical bent has opted in favour of jazz and soul arrangements, adapted to all kinds of styles, trying always to purify to the maximum the versatility of their voices and imprint their own sound on every version. |
| The Harmonisers are a very friendly club for all nationalities and currently comprising men from the UK, Scandinavia, Germany, Belgium and Ireland. We have long been recognized as an exciting and innovative men’s barbershop chorus performing songs in the barbershop style with verve and energy. |
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Allegro, Torrevieja, Alicante Allegro, consisting of Eileen (tenor), Jan (lead), Elizabeth (baritone) and Steph (bass) was formed in March 2006 out of the Velvetones chorus after realising how well their voices blended. They are all experienced soloists but really enjoy the close harmony of singing together. Their varied repertoire includes songs from 16th Century to modern day pop. |
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Costa Barber Singers Under the direction of Roger Gallant, the Costa Barber Singing Group was born In July of 1988. Since March of 1989, they have done almost 300 singing engagements, mostly for charity. They have staged 5 full shows with visitors from the USA, the UK and from Southern Spain. |
Tropical Tones, Almuñecar, Andalucía
Tropical Tones is a mixed chorus of about 15 directed by Bren. Recent performances include Nerja Residents Day (above) and the local cancer association. Started in January 2005, we hope to grow sufficiently to form a ladies and a gents chorus. We are based in Almuńecar, Andalucia, on the Costa Tropical. tropicaltones@gmail.com
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Southern Sound Southern -Sound - founded in 2006 - is a mixed chorus of various nationalities and ages. Our eldest is 89 and our youngest just celebrated his 50th Birthday. We number 14 regulars - with frequent visitors throughout the year.
Our proudest moment was when we were invited to sing at the "XV.Festival de Villancicos Reyes de Espana" where we appeared on Spanish Television. |
Amber Quartet Amber was formed over a cup of coffee one Thursday morning after a Spangles rehearsal in January 2009. Having discovered that our voices blended well we have been working hard ever since to get a repertoire together, and were thrilled to give our first performance on Spangles' show in April. We are June Mulligan (lead), Jean Weller (bass), Ann Lye (tenor) and Liz Lewis (baritone). |
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The MinstrelsBarcelona, Cataluña The Minstrels was formed in the summer of 1997 by four young people who enjoy singing ‘a cappella’. All were attending the 'Escolania de Montserrat' in Cataluña where they continued their singing and music studies and worked with many different coral groups: ‘Cor de Cambra del Palau de la Música Catalana’, ‘Cor Madrigal’, ‘Capella de Música de Montserrat’, ‘Coral Antics Escolans de Montserrat’, ... The Minstrels offers a repertoire based on Negro-Spirituals a cappella and they also sing Barbershop and Classic Modern. They have sung throughout Cataluña, taking part in different religious celebrations, academic acts, award ceremonies and various social events; in 2007 they were honoured to perform at a wedding in Madrid at the Basilica Pontificia de San Miguel. The Minstrels comprises Joan Baptista Sans (Tenor), Xavier Gallego (Lead), Llorenç Castelló (Baritone) and (Bass) Germán de la Riva. |
