Junior FR’s hard work under the direction of MD Wendy Howse and help from her dedicated team paid off on Tuesday, 10th March 2015 when they competed in the U14 class, singing a 3-part a cappella arrangement of ‘Who’s the Best’, followed by ‘Edelweiss’ accompanied by Jo Luddington on the piano.  They won their class with an improved score of 87% and were awarded a Distinction. With parental permission gained for the schools the girls attend, they arrived at Turnberries Community Centre in good time for warm up and rehearsals at 11:15am before getting on stage at 1:30pm.  Gasps of delight when the winners were announced, and a good celebration had at their next Friday rehearsal!  The Adjudicator’s comments:

Who’s the best
“What a lovely opening! It had character, style and a very free feeling.  Very well rehearsed and part divisions secure too … … lots of good character shown.”

Edelweiss
“Again, a good secure quality was shown.  Tone was pleasingly strong and it had a real performance to it.    A good ending!  Well sung and very much enjoyed.”
87 marks = Distinction (An excellent performance technically and artistically).

Junior Fascinating Rhythm are excellent representatives of our vocal craft and ‘Senior’ FR are very, very proud of them.

90+ delegates enjoyed a harmonious day of singing (and cake!) at FR’s annual workshop in January, culminating in a mini-show for family and friends at the end of the day to showcase all their hard work.  We had excellent feedback on all the evaluation forms; some of their comments can be found in the ‘About Us’ section under ‘What you say’.

We’re delighted to announce the launch of our new CD, Listen to the Music.

Featuring the Fascinating Rhythm Chorus, plus our girls’ chorus Junior FR and our in-house octet RhythMmix, the CD is a collection of our favourite close harmony songs and ballads. Click here to contact us and bag your copy! Priced at just £12.50 including P&P to UK addresses.

Fascinating Rhythm were thrilled to be invited to entertain at the Annual Civic Service reception for dignitaries of the South West local authorities and guests.
The event was held by Councillor Howard Gawler who stated in his speech how proud he was to know the chorus and thanked Fascinating Rhythm for such a fabulous show.

Never to miss an opportunity we requested that some photographs be taken, not quite expecting that we would have them taking part in a choreographed move – look out we may have a new front row!

Ignite your passion for singing!

If you love to sing or want to give it a go, and you’re looking for something new to get the New Year off to a flying start then come along to the Fascinating Rhythm workshop. Designed to improve your vocal technique, by the end of the session you will have learned to sing in glorious four-part harmony. The day will end with a chance to perform with the Chorus for your friends and family!

Whatever your singing ability or experience, you’ll  enjoy an inspiring day with like-minded people and a chance to feel just what it’s like to be part of a big show choir!

Date:  Saturday 17th January 2015 

Venue: The Castle School, Park Road, Thornbury BS35 1HT

Time: 10:00am – 4:00pm. Registration 9:30 am. Showtime for friends and family – 3.30pm-4.00pm

Cost: £12 per person. Tea, coffee and biscuits included plus cakes to eat and to take home. Please bring your own lunch.

EARLY BIRD OFFER – book by 19th December 2014: Block bookings of four or more and friends of FR (previous workshop delegates): only £10 per person. Limited places – please book early to avoid disappointment.

Closing date for bookings: Friday 2nd January 2015

For further information and to book your place, please contact Linda Taylor

The FR Fashion Show and Sale is one of the most popular events in our annual calendar. It’s your chance to buy fabulous cut price bargains from quality High Street labels. The event takes place at the Armstrong Hall, Thornbury. Doors open at 7pm for a 7.30pm start. Entry fee: £6
For tickets, please contact Nessa Wallington via our Contact page

We’ve recently recorded a CD of our favourite performance songs including Ain’t no Mountain, You Don’t Know Me, And So It Goes and the title track, Listen to the Music. Recorded over a weekend under the watchful production eye (and ear) of Pete Nugent, we had great fun standing behind the mic and being stars for a day. Watch this space for news of our release date!

On 28 April, Fascinating Rhythm sang in the atrium of the new Southmead Hospital building. The team behind our nominated charity of the year,  Shine Together (the umbrella charity for the hospital) invited us to sing all afternoon for the staff open day in celebration of the new hospital. Great fun and enjoyment was had by all!

Do you love to sing?

We’re looking for girls aged between 5 & 14 to join our junior Chorus – Junior FR.

You’ll learn how to sing in harmony, get some expert vocal coaching and have a chance to perform in concerts and competitions. From 25 April, we’ll rehearse every Friday between 3.45pm – 5.15pm at Iron Acton Village Hall. For more information and how to join click here.

Junior FR celebrating after the Thornbury Eisteddfod

Over 100 participants made up the full ensemble

On Saturday, 22 January 2014, we were joined by over 80 female singers at our Learn to Sing Workshop in Thornbury, South Gloucestershire. It was a wonderful day’s singing and we were all put through our paces learning ‘We go together’ from Grease. Once we’d got our tongues around ‘boogety-boogety-boogety-wop-do-wop-do-bop’ and the order in which the ‘shana-na-nas’ followed the ‘ram-a-lam-as’, all our learners joined the FR Chorus on stage for a 120 voice rendition of the song to a very appreciative audience.

Here are just some of the very kind comments we’ve received from delegates:

Fun learning the moves

“I’d like to thank everyone for the lovely day we enjoyed at the workshop last Saturday. Every member of the chorus must have worked extremely hard to make it all run so smoothly and thank you too for your sustained enthusiasm and energy which kept us all going. Particular thanks to Jo (MD) for her encouragement and ability to make it all such fun while at the same time getting us from page to stage. Also for choosing a song with such a magnificent bass line! I’d also like to thank all the basses for helping us newbies to get into shape and particularly Brenda, the section leader,  for her calmness, patience and approachability. I’ve been singing the song to myself ever since and feeling really happy, with a sense of achievement. Thanks so much to you all. When’s the next one??!!”   Mary

Rehearsal with Choreographer, Wendy

“I really enjoyed the day and want to particularly thank Ali and the other FR tenors who made it such a fun and “no pressure” experience. I would definitely love to come to any more you run!   Also the workshop was run so efficiently and every one of your FR choir was wonderful, getting among us and making us at ease straight away. I was very impressed. Your MD was superb and the breathing techniques in particular I found really helpful.”

Show time

“Fascinating Rhythm – thank you so much.  I’ve just about got my breath back from Saturday! I hadn’t really done any singing, (apart from around the house!), since school.  I felt very under-prepared at first and couldn’t get my breathing co-ordinated, but I don’t think I was alone!  It was interesting finding out that I was a bass, always thought that I was ‘somewhere in the middle’, but it was good. I was worried that I wouldn’t get to grips with the lyrics but began to realise that it probably didn’t matter if I got it a bit wrong.  I think I did OK in the end and managed to get a smile on my face!  Thank you and all members of FR for all your hard work, especially Jo and my tutor Brenda, she was great, and made us all feel proud.” Isabel