History

 

Surrey Harmony is one of the UK’s longest established choruses and until recently were part of an American organisation called Sweet Adelines International.  We have been at the forefront of the development of women’s barbershop in this country for more than a quarter of a century.  Some of our members have sung with the Chorus for many years – enjoying the camaraderie and friendship that belonging to a close-knit and fun group can bring.  Like a family, we enjoy good times together, and love and support each other in difficult times.

 

 

Surrey Harmony was founded by Jenny Lawson in 1990.  Just four years later the Chorus won its first gold medal at the UK Regional Championships for Sweet Adelines International.   Since then the Chorus has won gold on four other occasions and collected a handful of other medals along the way.

Surrey Harmony has represented Region 31 at the SAI International Contests a total of seven times – in New Orleans in 1995, Nashville in 1998, Portland in 2001, Phoenix in 2003, Las Vegas in 2006, Nashville in 2009 and Houston in 2011.   Our highest placement was in Nashville in 2009 when we came 15^th with a total of 645 points.

We are now part of the Ladies Association of British Barbershop Singers (LABBS) and are very much looking forward to continuing our competitive journey, hopefully winning more medals along the way!

But it’s not all about competition.  We’ve performed for Royalty, at the Barbican and Proms in the Park and have put on several amazing shows,  You can also often find us performing in church halls, shopping centres and at private functions. We have a proud tradition of helping to raise money for a number of charities. Give us an opportunity and we’ll sing just about anywhere!

 

                                 

Lorraine Turner then took up the reins and has been our director for 9 years during which time the chorus won Division AA (mid-size chorus) in 2016 and have consistently scored highly in regional competitions.
 

 

 

 

 

 


 

We continue to raise thousands of pounds every year for charitable causes and our latest event was a Christmas Concert in 2022 which raised over £1000 for St Catherine’s Hospice.

Following Lorraine’s retirement from Surrey Harmony in December 2022, we have now appointed a new Musical Director, Penny Homer who will help us to continue improving our skills in an environment of fun and laughter.

Surrey Harmony love nothing more than sharing our love of singing with our friends in this country and elsewhere.  We hope to continue that for many years to come.