Singing with One Voice

Dubai Harmony Chorus presents its spring concert to celebrate 10 years in harmony


As part of its 10th anniversary celebrations, the Dubai Harmony Chorus will present a concert, One World, One Voice, a theme chosen to reflect the diversity of the chorus. The chorus, which comprises 50 women from 19 different nationalities, will sing popular songs arranged in four-part harmony without musical instruments. The concert is on June 6 at the Conference Auditorium, Jumeirah Beach Hotel, from 7.30pm. Tickets can be booked in advance at Magrudy's store in Jumeirah.

The concert will feature an entertaining set of songs including We Go Together from the movie Grease, We Are Family, It's Rainin' Men and a special arrangement of Bryan Adam's Have You Ever Loved a Woman. The haunting melody of Walt Disney's Beauty and the Beast will enthral the audience while the gorgeous bass sound of Lion Sleeps Tonight will transport listeners to an African jungle. The concert will also showcase four of the chorus's quartets.

The chorus sings songs that are specially arranged in four-part harmony in order to produce those "lock and ring" chords that delight an audience.

It shows the sheer power of cappella voice and the closeness the singers feel is reflected in the harmonies they share on stage. In a typical barbershop arrangement, the lead sings the melody and the other three parts, the tenor, bass and baritone carefully harmonise above and below the lead. At this concert, the chorus will also sing Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves, a cleverly crafted arrangement by the Swedish arranger Ase Hagerman which has the melody transferring between all four parts during the length of the song, resulting in a resounding effect.

"There is something fascinating about listening to live music. Just the fact that it is not recorded or touched up like it is in a studio attracts the audience to stay and listen to the performance. When we sing, we don't have the support of accompanying music and the audience gets to hear pure a cappella sound," says Jane Whiteside, member of the chorus. Most songs will include spectacular choreography bringing a visual dimension to the song package.

At the concert, the chorus will invite ex-members who are visiting Dubai to join the chorus on stage to sing How We Sang Today, a song that celebrates their friendship and love of music. "We are expecting 30 former members to join us on stage to celebrate the joyous occasion of our 10th anniversary," says Phyllis Holmqvist, musical director of the chorus.

Over the past 10 years, over 200 women from 30 different countries have been a part of this chorus. "In the early years, when we got together to sing barbershop songs, there were few singers and we had a rickety air-conditioner in our practice room which made a dreadful creaking sound. When we think back to those times, we feel proud that our chorus today has 50 members who share close harmonies of song and music," says Phyllis.

The Dubai Harmony Chorus is now a satellite chorus of the Sweet Adeline's International (SAI), an all women's organisation committed to promoting barbershop music world-wide. Chorus members participate in education seminars organised by SAI in Europe and the USA and invite SAI faculty to Dubai to train members in vocal music.