Barbershop chorus to sing for hospice - tickets on sale now

Sharron Pardoe Reporter from Upper Hutt Leader

A local male barbershop chorus that regularly competes in America is busy honing a repertoire for a pre-Christmas charity performance in Lower Hutt.

Vocal FX President Jared Lee says the December 2 concert for Te Omanga Hospice and the community work of Rotary Hutt Valley will feature songs they performed to recently win a Pan-Pacific title in Sydney against barbershop choruses from Japan, Australia and around the Pacific.

Lee says Vocal FX draws its 18-35 year-old members from all over the Hutt Valley and Wellington. True to barbershop's 1870s (and 1930s revival) roots, it's mainly about getting together with others who love to sing a cappella, where the voice is the only instrument.

They perform songs of those original black southern quartets, with flexing of melody to produce wonderful harmonies in 'swipes' and 'snakes'.

"But we also do a New Zealand take on things, and we make quite a splash when we compete in America. We bring in songs from Samoa and other Pacific Islands, R & B, fun show songs and so on.

"Our diversity and local flavour is something close to our heart," Lee says.

And this is not a choir that stands still. "There can be a lot of dancing and movement," Lee says. "It's all about the total performance, not the voices alone."

Launched in 2003 with less than a dozen members, Vocal FX now has up to 50 regulars and up to 40 have made four trips to the USA in the last decade to compete against the cream of barbershop choruses from around the world. The Hutt concert is the last before Vocal FX begins preparations for competing in Orlando, Florida in 2018.

There's extra reason for sports fans to tune in for the Hutt concert. Two polo shirts signed by Olympic rowers Eric Murray and Hamish Bond will be raffled on the night.


* Vocal FX Charity Concert for Te Omanga Hospice, Saturday 2 December, Hutt City Church, Marsden St, 6.30pm. Tickets $25, ph or text 027 484 8892, email jonewlove8@gmail.comor go to Eventfinda.co.nz