BABS - British Association of Barbershop Singers

04/09/2026

Introducing the new Vice Chair of BABS, Simon Lubkowski! 🎉

If you're lucky enough to know Si, you're aware of his unwavering passion for music & education, which ignites a fire in everyone around him! His boundless energy for barbershop and this community is a beacon of inspiration, and we're thrilled for the incredible impact he'll have in elevating our annual conventions and driving our organization forward!

Congratulations, Si!

26/07/2026

What an amazing week our BABS - British Association of Barbershop Singers and LABBS - the Ladies Association of British Barbershop Singers Judges have had at the Barbershop Harmony Society Judging Category School!

Representing LABBS was Anna Conochie in the Performance category and Alison Thompson in the Singing Category.

Representing BABS was Boo de Bruin in the Musicality category, Jill Foskett in the Performance category (sadly she had to catch her flight home when this photo was taken!), and Simon Lubkowski in the Singing category.

We were also so proud to witness LABBS Judge and BABS member Alex de Bruin become the first EVER certified BHS Judge in the Musicality category - a HUGE achievement!

The week was a great chance for our Judges to score, discuss, learn, reflect and share in what was an amazingly inspirational event from start to finish!

Thanks to all our Judges for representing UK Barbershop so well, and we look forward to continuing to strengthen our relationship with the BHS Judges in the future.

20/07/2026

Big news for the BABS board... 😮

We've got ourselves a new Chair, Director of Events, and Director of Marketing! These are some exciting steps forward to ensuring all our bases our covered and we hope you'll wish them all a warm welcome to the roles!

You can read more about it (amongst other exciting information 👀) on our recent bulletin post here: https://www.singbarbershop.com/articles/babs-bulletin-july-ii

05/07/2026

And another record-breaking performance from a BABS group at International this week.

Meantime Chorus scored a whopping 88.2%, placing them 9th in the world.

We're so proud of them, and we're already looking forward to seeing what they do with the rest of their Championship year.

An amazing week comes to a close. We saw some UNBELIEVABLE choruses and Quartets take to the stage. The level of performances was inspirational to say the least! A huge congratulations to everyone who competed!
On a personal note, we were extremely happy to have got a new high score (88.2%) and cracked the top 10! (We came 9th). To share the stage with these amazing choruses has been a privilege. To finish in the top 10 is mind blowing.
We're so happy. Tired. Hungover..but mostly happy!

03/07/2026

A few weeks ago, at Sing2026, we made a presentation to a very special quartet, and this is an excerpt from that.

"When this quartet won the BABS Quartet Contest back in 2013, we knew they had the potential to be truly exceptional, but what makes them a rare and shining example in our history is both their incredible longevity and an unwavering refusal to rest on their laurels."

This was when we inducted The Emerald Guard into the BABS Hall of Fame, and their performance last night at the Barbershop Harmony Society's International Quartet Semi-Finals could not have been a more appropriate example of that potential manifesting itself.

With a score of 82.3 overall, they placed 19th in the world, becoming only the 3rd quartet in BABS' 52 year history to make the Top 20.

Antoine, Tim, Andy, and Duncan - you are a shining example of British Barbershop, and you've made us all so incredibly proud.

02/07/2026

Could not be more proud of these four wonderful guys.
What a tremendous journey you've been on - now go smash the semi-finals!

02/07/2026

So, about last night...

What a great quartet quarter finals we had over here at the Barbershop Harmony Society's International Convention. Just a few shout-outs that we need to make:

The guys in Fifth Element Quartet came in 24th overall, with a brilliant score of 81.3. This is the second time these guys have represented us on the International stage, and hopefully we'll see them many more in future.

Spice Report came 29th with a score of 81 (and a Performance score of 83.1, which was the highest in the entire Quarter Finals!) If everyone can please keep their fingers crossed that Arran Bayliss-Chalmers' friends are more considerate of when they plan their weddings, we might even see them at Sing2027!

Avalon Quartet, from LABBS coming in 43rd overall with a 79.5 and with an in-house arrangement by BABS own Head of Contest & Judging, Boo de Bruin!

Ami Quartet (who, as previous BABS Youth Champions, we think we've got shared custody of) are going to be Mic Testing (that's Mic Warmers for us Brits) due to their 21st place finish, and a huge score of 81.8.

And finally, The Emerald Guard made it into the Top 20!! (but more on that story later)

You can see all the results from yesterday here

https://files.barbershop.org/PDFs/Scores/BHS-2026-International-Convention-Quartet-Quarter-Finals-OSS.pdf

Our Director of Governance & Internal Comms Alistair Lamyman, is still our Man on the Ground in St Louis, so if there's any content you'd like him to seek out, please get in touch!

02/07/2026

⭐️ Chorus Spotlight ⭐️

Mixed Voice Extreme Quartets Weekend, 29-30 Aug 2026 near Nottingham!

E.Q.Rendezvous are delighted to be holding another of our popular ‘Extreme Quartets’ weekends, open to everyone, whether they’re a novice quartet singer or a seasoned quartet performer. If you've ever wondered what Extreme Quartets are all about, here's your opportunity to find out! There are 5 songs and there will be 6 coaches for the weekend.

30/06/2026

BABS would like to wish everyone competing at BHS 2026 International Convention the best of luck this week!

We'd especially like to shout out our UK peers and send our support to:
AMI Quartet (LABBS)
The Emerald Guard (BABS)
Fifth Element (BABS)
Avalon (LABBS)
Spice Report (BABS)
Meantime Chorus (BABS)
London City Singers (LABBS)

You can find a viewing guide on our BABS Bulletin board here; https://www.singbarbershop.com/articles/babs-bulletin-june26

Smash it!

22/06/2026

You may have noticed some extra videos being uploaded last week 👀

We've uploaded some more footage from the BABS archive and updated our playlists on YouTube, check them out using the link in bio!