We were delighted to be able to present our charity for 2016 - local RDA group Patchwork - with a cheque for £890 recently to help this very worthwhile, dedicated group who do such a wonderful job with the youngsters.

We had a great time at our joint concert with the Mendip Male Voice Choir on Saturday 20th January, raising funds for the beautiful venue we sang in – Christ the Servant Church in Stockwood, Bristol.  Lovely feedback from the MD and PRO of MMVC re our two sessions …...

Our much anticipated first coaching session of the year with Sally McLean in April was the usual mixture of mayhem and brain scrabbling hard work when our embryonic convention songs were tossed about like so much chaff in a hurricane, then slowly nursed back to some...

  Planet 24 have won their first class of the day at the Bath Music Festival with 88 points and a distinction, singing 'Lonesome Road' and 'Moondance'.   The adjudicator particularly liked their free singing, sense of rhythm and performance! In the second class...

We had a lovely surprise on 16th March - Planet 24 (The Venus & Mars A Cappella Company) came to showcase the songs that they are competing with at the Bath Music Festival on Saturday 25th March.  Made up of members from The Great Western Chorus, Black Sheep and...

Fascinating Rhythm invited Junior FR to rehearse with them on Thursday 9th March prior to JFR’s performance at the Thornbury Eisteddfod the following Tuesday.  The evening was led by Wendy Howse, Assistant Director / Choreographer of Fascinating Rhythm and JFR's MD....

Fascinating Rhythm had a couple of very special guests at our rehearsal on Thursday 16th February -  Lenhard and Jo Van Ballegooijen from Holland.  Lenhard is MD of Dutch Pride who rehearse in Ijsselstein, south of Amsterdam and Jo sings Bass in their chorus. This...

Why Join FR? This article explains what just one of our members gets from our wonderful chorus. Freedom in the making Jo Dean has been Musical Director of Fascinating Rhythm chorus since 2008 and has bought us through many a storm, either within ourselves or as a...

Saturday 10th December saw Fascinating Rhythm head off into the wilds of South Gloucestershire to entertain Sodbury and Yate Rotarians after their Christmas meal.  After warming up our voices in a nearby scout hut, we crept into the little village hall to surprise our...

I didn't really know what to expect from Convention, except I had watched a few choruses on You Tube. For me, overwhelmingly, it was the sense of bonding I got with other members of FR! I loved the spontaneous singing we did at dinner the first evening and then again...

Junior FR took part in The Big Sing on 1st December at St Peters Church in Frampton Cotterell.  This community charity event raises funds for Christian Aid with many school choirs and local children's choirs involved.  Wearing their FR T-shirts and with something...

Jolly cold, but it was the most beautiful winter's day to enjoy a bit of seasonal singing.  On 4th December 2016, we were pleased to be invited back to sing in the beautiful little church in the grounds of the National Trust’s very popular Dyrham Park where we...

Thursday evening, 11th August.   Women from across Bristol and South Gloucestershire joined together at Fascinating Rhythm's rehearsal hall in Winterbourne to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Ladies’ Barbershop Singing in the UK, and it was a truly enjoyable event,...

Very pleased to say that young rider Peter who did so well in the RDA regional competition (coming in the top 3 of two events) was placed 5th in his section of the Nationals at Hartpury College in July.  Everyone at Patchwork Riding for the Disabled is very proud of...

JFR at Proms in the Meadow - July 2016 Once again Junior Fascinating Rhythm had the privilege of opening Iron Acton's Proms, and this year the theme was Spain.  Dressed in pink and black, their hair adorned with a pink flamenco style flower, the girls opened with...

Thursday, 30th June and, thanks to some great teamwork, we were all risered up to take our rehearsal  to the very impressive Tudor Room in Thornbury Castle as part of the Fringe Festival.  It was a 'warts and all' production in front of two separate and very...

Update from Free Range: So, Prelims 2016 came and went in a blur of excitement and fun! When you are competing against 35 (yes 35!) other quartets, you appreciate there is every chance that it’s going to be tough to qualify as in reality you have to beat 19 of them....

Approximately 160 ladies joined us for our annual Fascinating Fashion Show at the Armstrong Hall, Thornbury on Wednesday 15th June and, with many excellent top end high street bargains to be had, we all enjoyed a very therapeutic fun evening of good company and...

Harrogate - Spring Bank Holiday, 30th May 2016 and the last day of the British Association of Barbershop Singers annual convention saw the inauguration of the very first Mixed Chorus class.  Very proud to report that no less than six of the 24 singers in the group...

Peter, one of the young riders from Riding for the Disabled (Patchwork RDA - FR's charity for 2016) has covered himself with glory by being awarded 3rd place in both of the classes he entered for at the Regional RDA Championships. This qualifies him to go forward to...

It's a weird fact that every time FR have a whole day somewhere, be it workshop, coaching, competition, etc - the weather is always glorious while we're warbling away indoors.  We did manage a quick half hour in the sun for lunch at our rehearsal hall before She Who...

The drive to get to the beautiful BeauDesert School in Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire on Saturday, 7th May was a treat in itself, though we did get a little concerned about the amount of traffic trying to get away from the last day of Badminton Horse Trials.  Nearly...

Fabulous, fabulous coaching with Sally McLean over the weekend of 16/17th April, working on the six songs we're taking to the Cheltenham Music Festival in May (actually it's nine songs - two of them are medleys).  We worked our socks off and had such an inspiring...

World Championship for mixed barbershop quartets in Munich. Our Tenor Section Leader Ali and her partner Pete, plus ex-FR member Donna and her partner Keefe teamed up a couple of years ago to become JIGSAW mixed quartet, winning 2 consecutive silver medals against...

Thursday 10th March saw Junior FR competing again in the U14 Choirs class in St.Mary's Church, Thornbury.  After a fantastic warm up session at the Turnberries Community Centre led by MD Wendy Howse and assisted by Sarah Winter, we gathered in the rather chilly church...

We had a really good evening at our joint concert with the Mendip Male Voice Choir, raising well over £800 for FR's charity for 2016 - the Riding for the Disabled Association (Gloucester West, Patchwork Group).  The MMVC were formed in 1919, and the 70-strong members...

Cinderella - full write up and pictures on JFR's own webpage.

After all the hustle and bustle of December - then the 'no man's land' gap in between Christmas and New Year ... it was just great to get back to the singing on Thursday 7th January, when almost a full Chorus turned up - and three prospective new members as well!...

What a lovely way to start off Christmas week - our joint show with the A-Maz-Ing and hugely entertaining Great Western Chorus on Saturday, 19th December. Both choruses came together for the opening and closing numbers - over 90 mixed voices giving it wellie - to a...

Saturday 5th December saw us return again to M & S, Cribbs Causeway for some festive season singing.  Last year we had a space in Ladies Lingerie - this year we were in very close proximity to Gents boxers!  Right by the entrance onto the Mall, our carols were...

We had the most fantastic time at our Annual Convention in Bournemouth over the Halloween weekend and are so, so pleased to have jumped two places up the rankings with improved scores (they maybe tiny, but they count) with consistency across all three judging...

Fascinating Rhythm was formed 20 years ago in 1995, and we felt had to 'push the boat out' to mark the occasion with a Celebration Show.  In collaboration with Rachel Bosomworth and her team from Love's Bet Productions amateur dramatic group and Junior FR we set about...

What are the odds of two unrelated young ladies of similar age with identical height, build, hair style and colour - both singing Tenor in different barbershop choruses not too many miles away from each other?   Caroline Bamford from Bristol Fashion...

It was a glorious evening with over 500 spectators at this annual event in Gloucester on 4th July and on the strength of their past performances, JFR were asked to open the proceedings. With a set of 6 songs, mixing a cappella, backing tracks and accompaniment by...

What a weekend!  We scored 68.1 and came 7th in the UK, winning the Novice competition at LABBS Prelims on 20th June. We have been together as a quartet for 9 months so it's very early in our journey;  we are very proud and feel  blessed to have achieved this as well...

Well, actually it was in the Per Una section of the M & S flagship store at the Cribbs Causeway Mall in Bristol, but makes a better headline.  Sunday, 10th May saw us arriving in our magenta gear to be individually checked in by really great M & S staff who...

FR's Tenor Section Leader, Ali Jack, has been adding to her considerable collection of medals when her mixed quartet Jigsaw won Silver at the Spanish Convention earlier this month (April).  Ali sings with her partner Peter Nugent who arranges many of our songs and...

From Thursday, 2nd April 2015, our new home will be The Greenfield Centre in Winterbourne, South Gloucestershire.  We've loved being at King George V Community Centre in Rangeworthy which has seen us rise through our National Competition rankings from 22nd to our...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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....

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...

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...

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...

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...