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September 2, 2020

Kingsmen Team Up with American Barbershop Chorus

It was two years ago that the Kingsmen toured USA and were hosted by one of the top Barbershop Choruses in the States, the Westchester Chordsmen. The two Choruses first performed together 30 years ago and have maintained a strong friendship ever since. The USA tour concluded with a concert titled ‘Our Special Relationship’ at White Plains, 25 miles from New York City.

The Westchester Chordsmen and the Kingsmen singing ‘Joining in Song’ at White Plains 2018

During lockdown, the choruses have continued their friendship with reciprocal invitations to virtual rehearsals. It was just a few weeks ago that members of The Chordsmen hopped onto the regular Kingsmen rehearsal which has been operating each Wednesday since lockdown. The evening included a welcome and reminiscence about the tour and concert and concluded with a joint sing-along of ‘Keep The Whole World Singing’ to a video taken of the song being performed by the gold medal winning quartet Ringmasters at Times Square New York.

Virtual Harmony

Virtual connections continued in early August 2020 when members of the Kingsmen joined The Chordsmen at their Monday night rehearsal.

Familiar faces log-on to Zoom and bridge the gap ‘across the pond’

As commented by a number of the attendees (40 plus) “it is always a wonderful sight to see familiar faces joining the rehearsal” – one by one – as “hellos and how are you’s” take place prior to starting formal proceedings.

The Chordsmen kindly moved their normal start time to help offset part of the 5 hour time difference. Starting at 10pm UK time the evening included a warm-up by guest Director, Jay Butterfield and the premiere of The Chordsmen’s latest video recording in which they sing ‘Wait till the sun shines Nellie’ (see image below).

The evening also included song learning in Sectional Parts (Basses; Leads; Tenors and Baritones) for a rehearsal of ‘Honey Little ’lize’ and all listened to a video recording of The Chordsmen performing to the backdrop of a number of photos taken of the Kingsmen on their tour and of time spent with The Chordsmen and their families.

The two Choruses plan to meet and perform together again in 2021 when The Chordsmen hope to visit the UK. In the meantime, it will be left to virtual connections to ‘bridge the gap across the pond’ and maintain ‘the special relationship’.

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