The first evening of the set of workshops designed to attract more local men to the attraction of close harmony singing saw a small group of people arrive to see what was on offer. John Carter and Anna our Chorus Director put the new men plus the existing chorus through a series of warm up exercises and introduced tags to them. A tag, in barbershop music, is “…a variation put in the last section of the song to give dramatic effect” and can really enhance the ending.

The new attendees coped extremely well and appeared to enjoy the session: they all returned the following week so they must have! During the second week a reporter/cameraman from the local community T.V. station, That’s Oxford arrived, interviewed Chairman Clive and then proceeded to film the group during the warming up exercises and tag sessions. The workshops are continuing but we will still manage to sing at the Oxford Music Festival and a sing out in March.