About Lace City Chorus

The only barbershop chorus for women in the county of Nottinghamshire was formed in September 1992 by a group of teachers and students at Arnold Hill Comprehensive School in Nottingham.  After two years of lunchtime rehearsals at the school, there was a need to take it all rather more seriously and so the Lace City Chorus was born.

These days the chorus is highly regarded as one of the premier barbershop choruses in Europe having previously won the Sweet Adelines Quartet of Nations (UK, Ireland and Netherlands) regional championships on four occasions.  These successes have led to the chorus competing internationally in Detroit in 2005, Calgary in 2007, Nashville in 2009 and Houston in 2011, firmly establishing themselves as one of the top choruses in the world. 

The chorus currently has over 90 singing members drawn from all over the East Midlands.  Members are of all ages, from all walks of life, and with a range of musical abilities.  What they all have in common is a love of singing together and for the entertainment of their audiences.

Education

In addition to sharing our music with others, another great passion of ours is learning more about the art of acapella singing. Vocal instruction is a regular part of chorus rehearsals, and a very important component of the chorus experience. We are regularly coached by visiting masters in the art of barbershop, where we learn many fabulous tricks of the trade.   As well as educating our members, the chorus run singing courses for the community.  See the Events section for further details.

Competition

In the spring of every year, Lace City Chorus participates in the Quartet of Nations region chorus competition against choruses from all over the UK and the Netherlands. Competitions are a special time for quartets and choruses from our region to come together to sing for each other, and get some constructive feedback from a panel of judges. The winners of the regional competition in both quartet and chorus categories get to travel to International Competition, which is held in the autumn each year.  

Quartets

Most choruses have a number of members who form their own vocal quartets in addition to singing with the chorus. Lace City has a number of established quartets - Click here to visit our quartet pagesto learn more about them.  We also have a number of novice quartets, some of whom are planning for their first appearance on the competition stage this Spring, and others who are content to sing for the sheer pleasure of ringing some chords!

Affiliation

Our City Chorus is a chapter of Sweet Adelines, International, a non-profit organisation of approximately 30,000 members in choruses and quartets, worldwide. The Headquarters is in Tulsa, Oklahoma.