CHESTER choir A Handbag of Harmonies came second in the Manchester Amateur Choral Competition on Sunday.
The competition, which took place at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), was won by Surrey-based ladies choir Impromptu. In third place was the Manchester Lesbian and Gay Chorus.
Directed by Matthew Baker, this was the first a cappella contest for the choir and its second only competition in its 10-year history.
Matthew said: “That we came second to one of the most amazingly polished and competent choirs I have ever seen demonstrates how much we’ve improved. Not only are we entertainers, we perform with real quality.”
The competition judges were Jeffrey Lawton from the RNCM School of Vocal Studies, David King, barbershop competition adjudicator and a judge at the Llangollen Eisteddfod and Ian Chesworth, a freelance choral director and singer.
Announcing the winners, Mr Lawton commented when he first read the synopsis of the Chester choir he was expecting a lot of fun. He added what he hadn’t expected was the quality of sound and dynamics and sophisticated arrangements Matthew and the singers produced.
The choir sang Frankie Valli’s Can’t Take My Eyes Off You, Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water and Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse of the Heart.
The prizes were presented by Ian Mason, chairman of the North West Regional Board of the Co-operative Group, sponsors of the competition.
The women’s choir received a grant from the BBC Performing Arts fund earlier this year to develop their a cappella work.
They were also the only women’s choir to reach the top 15 choirs in the 2008 BBC talent show Last Choir Standing.
