Simon Arnott (he/him) Expand Simon studied Music at Bristol University, focusing on performance and composition. After training to become a teacher and working in schools across Bristol and London, Simon is now a Deputy Director of Music in an independent school in South West London. Simon is an accomplished composer and arranger having written for a variety of ensembles. Simon arranges in many choral styles and he has arranged for a number of barbershop groups within the UK and beyond. Simon has been performing barbershop since starting in school and has worked with a number of award-winning groups. He currently directs Meantime Chorus and London City Singers and sings with the quartet Trailblazers, creating many custom arrangements for these groups. You can find out more about Simon and his work at www.simonarnott.co.uk.
Sam Hubbard (he/him) Expand Sam discovered barbershop accidentally while surfing YouTube as a teenager. The barbershop bug bit hard, and he became besotted with the style, becoming involved with BABS a few years later. Sam graduated from the University of Leeds in 2017 with a joint-honours degree in mathematics and music. He finds a lot of enjoyment in educating, and has taught classes at BABS Harmony College on music theory and physics-related topics (such as overtones and tuning). The jury is still out on the Harmony College Differential Calculus Course though, which is yet to receive approval. Sam is a popular vocal arranger, primarily doing commissioned work for barbershop groups. He is also part of BABS's judging program, and acts as the Assistant Category Director for the Music Category. Based in Sheffield, Sam is a long-standing member of Hallmark of Harmony and is part of their leadership team, and is a quartet singer with two Sheffield quartets: The Sharrow Vale Blues and The Shimmering Bonsai Boys. Most importantly though, he can often be found teaching and singing tags at three in the morning in convention stairwells. Outside of Barbershopland, Sam has been an active choral singer for most of his life (longer than being in barbershop!), currently performing and recording with professional chamber choir, Borealis. He is a keen runner and hiker, a sci-fi fan, and has a day job in the hydrogen industry.
Rhiannon Owens-Hall Expand Rhiannon is just beginning her 50th year of involvement in barbershop singing across the UK, Europe (Ireland, Holland, Germany and Spain), S. Africa and the USA. She is been a Musical/Choral Director for 4 barbershop choruses and adult and youth choirs. She is a Singing Judge for both BABS and LABBS, is a Coach, an Arranger, and is a British gold medal Chorus Director and quartet champion. She has also judged several non-barbershop singing competitions in the UK and directed many musical theatre productions and shows as well as preparing singing groups for UK wide television recordings.
Oli Goodall (he/him) Expand Oli has been singing barbershop for worryingly close to 10 years, starting his first real quartet while studying at UCL and later joining Capital Chorus and never looking back. Currently he sings lead with Hot Ticket quartet and Meantime Chorus, where he's also the Lead Section Leader, and he's extremely excited to be singing with both groups at the BHS International Convention in Louisville this year! The second most important thing Oli did while at university after the aforementioned quartet was study Linguistics and obtain an MRes in Speech, Language and Cognition. During his studies, Oli learned all about oral anatomy, phonetics, and the acoustics of the voice, and the more he's learned about barbershop, the clearer's become that there is huge overlap between the two things. Therefore, this Harmony College, Oli will be teaching an Introduction to Phonetics course to bring the precision and rigour of science to the often metaphorical and vague world of talking about the sounds of singing.
James Gower-Smith (he/him) Expand James Gower-Smith is a professional singer, actor, and musical theatre performer, based in London. He studied Music at the University of Manchester before going on to train at the London School of Musical Theatre. Since training he has performed twice in the Thursford Christmas Spectacular, Europe's biggest Christmas show, and with Tiktok sensation, The Wellemen, for National Geographic Cruises. In his barbershop life, he sang with 2015 BABS Champs and 2018 International Youth Silver Medallists, Tagline, as well as singing with Hallmark of Harmony from 2012-2017 and Mantunian Way in their first contest outing in 2014. This is his first time teaching at Harmony College and he couldn’t be more excited to meet and sing with everyone!
AurĂ©lie Gandour (she/they) Expand Aurélie is a doctoral researcher in ethnomusicology at SOAS University of London. Their research is concerned with gender in barbershop singing, both from an historical and ethnographic points of view. She sings with London City Singers, Endeavour Chorus, and Peridot Quartet. Aurélie has also joined BABS' board as Director for Diversity and Inclusion.
Anthony Colosimo, Special Guest Educator Expand BM, Vocal Performance and Choral Music Education, Christopher Newport University BHS international quartet medalist and district champion in men’s and mixed quartets​ 2011-Present Associate Director, Alexandria Harmonizers 2013, 2016 Associate Director - No Borders Youth Chorus (YIH/HE) Full-time voice coach and choral/vocal clinician Professional tenor singer and a cappella specialist Anthony has been a member of the BHS since 1991. He has competed in quartets since the age of 12 with many of them being notable competitors in regional, national, and international competitions. Anthony is the baritone singer of Better Together (2018 Mid-Atlantic District Mixed quartet champions) and the lead singer of First Take (2022 5th Place BHS International medalists and 2023 Mid-Atlantic District champions). He is also known for his 10 year role as the lead singer in Da Capo (2016 BHS international finalists), as the associate director of the Alexandria Harmonizers since 2012, and for being a certified singing judge. He is an active coach and clinician for youth and adults in barbershop events around the US and the world. Anthony is a professional singer in the Washington D.C. area. He has performed at the White House, Kennedy Center, Wolf Trap, on TNT, and under many notable choral batons. In 2005, Anthony sang on stage with Andrea Bocelli as the recipient of the NIAF Andrea Bocelli scholarship for music at Christopher Newport University where he received degrees in Vocal Performance and Choral Music Education. Anthony taught choral and general music in public schools for a decade. Presently, he runs ChorALL music wherein he coaches individuals and ensembles in vocal and choral technique.
Alex de Bruin (he/him) Expand Alex has been singing barbershop music since school and was an inaugural member of The University of Bristol Barbershop Singers (TUBBS). He entered the world of “real” barbershop in 2009, following a workshop run for TUBBS by the Great Western Chorus of Bristol (GWC). With GWC, Alex has won 3 national gold medals and has had the honour of representing the country at the international barbershop contest 3 times. He is also Category Director for the Music Category with the Ladies Association of British Barbershop Singers and is a sought-after coach and arranger. Alex is currently the musical director of Signature (LABBS) and performance director of Thames Valley Chorus (BABS). Good job his wife, Boo, is also a barbershopper! Outside of music, Alex is a senior scientist for a large chemicals firm, where he helps design hydrogen fuel cells.