🎶 BABS Bulletin | October II

From the Chair of Contest & Judging Team

Our Contest & Judging Team Chair, Boo De Bruin, has written an update about Bob Croft, who is stepping down as a BABS judge after a distinguished career.

Bob Croft served as a Music Judge, and later a Musicality Judge, for over 25 years, adjudicating contests, evaluating competitors and providing coaching and education to the BABS community. He was one of the leading lights of The Cambridge Chord Company, and in 1997 he won quartet gold singing lead with Cambridge Blues.

In May 2026, Bob judged his final contest as a member of the panel for the BABS Men’s and Mixed Chorus competitions. While his involvement in judging may have come to a close, his outstanding service to BABS and to barbershop singing in the UK will not be forgotten. We wish him all the best for his retirement, and his ongoing musical ventures, within barbershop and further afield.

Boo has also written an article about her attendence at the BHS Catergory School alongside other members of the BABS and LABBS Judging community, which you can read below.

Catergory School

European Coaching Program: Applications open 1st November

Do you already coach quartets or choruses, and want to take your coaching to the next level? The European Coaching Program (ECP) is a new two-year program that trains and certifies barbershop coaches from all over Europe, starting in January 2027.

WHAT IT IS

Over two years, Coaching Candidates will:

• attend a dedicated Advanced Coaching Stream at the European Harmony Academy, in both August 2027 and August 2028
• work with a personal mentor, an experienced international coach, through regular video calls
• coach at least five ensembles a year and collect feedback from them
• serve as a coaching apprentice at a Harmony College or similar event
• take part in online classes every few months
• exchange regular feedback with a fellow Candidate

Candidates are selected, and at the end certified, by an international Selection Team of current and former BHS judges and experienced coaches.

WHO SHOULD APPLY

The ECP is for people who already coach quartets or choruses, have a solid knowledge of the barbershop style, and are eager to keep learning. It is not a beginners' program: if you are taking your first steps as a coach, Harmony College courses and Coaching Observer opportunities are a better place to start. The program is in English.

WHAT IT COSTS

There is no fee to take part in the ECP. Candidates do pay their own way to both European Harmony Academies, as well as one other education event of their choice, which is likely to come to around EUR 3000 over the two years, depending on where you travel from.

HOW AND WHEN TO APPLY

Applications are open from 1 to 15 November 2026, through a form linked from the ECP website. The application includes coaching videos and written questions about your coaching experience, approach and motivation. Shortlisted applicants will be interviewed online, and Candidates will be selected by 15 December 2026.

If you don't have a recent video of yourself coaching, now is the time to record a session. More details on the requirements for the video can be found on our website.

If you have any questions, please email [email protected]

More information and the full Selection Team, visit the link below

European Coaching Program

Club Spotlight - EQ Rendezvous

EQ26: second time around

Over the August Bank Holiday weekend, EQ Rendezvous ran the second Extreme Quartets weekend. 57 people arrived in Nottingham from all over the UK, Ireland and Spain (though sadly not Germany this time) with 5 new songs under their belts and after a morning's consolidation, split into randomly drawn quartets to have a go at singing each song in turn. We had all levels of skills and experience, from gold medal winners to never-quartetted-befores. 

Once again we offered coaching and it was delightful to note how individuals' singing, musicality and performance skills developed and how their confidence grew. It was especially good to see how the more experienced lent their own skills within quartets in a co-operative effort to produce a good sound (sincere thanks to you guys). Thanks also to Zac Booles for generously making his whole tag catalogue available for this event. 

Clearly everyone enjoyed themselves, many new friendships were made, and we were chuffed to see how many delegates felt able to apply to UKHB when the lists for that event opened - and no doubt Treble HB later? See you at the next barbershop festival, and let's ring one of Zac's tags?

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Have you got something exciting from your Club you want to share with the rest of the BABS Community? Have you got an upcoming show or event that you want to advertise? Then this is the space for you!

We'll be putting these features in each BABS Bulletin going forward, providing we get the content to fill it - and that's where you come in.

If you've got something you'd like to share please fill in the short form below.

Club Spotlight Form

Spots will be allocated based on the following criteria

• If the Club hasn't had a Spotlight spot previously
• If the content is time sensitive 
• If a specific date is requested (we will do our best to accommodate these, but can't guarantee it)

Pitch In

A Number of BABS Clubs are looking for a new Musical Director

• The Kentones, Bromley
• Harmony Lincs, Lincoln
• Sussex Kings of Harmony, Burgess Hill
• Capital Chorus, Harrow (LABBS)

If you're interested in any of these roles, more information can be found below

Musical Director Vacancies

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If you're wanting to get a message out to other BABS Members (or anyone for that matter) wanting them to "Pitch In", then this is the place for you! You can submit an advert below for a number of things, including; 

• Finding people in your area who are interested in forming a quartet 
• Seeking a new Musical Director for your chorus 
• Getting help with some of your Chorus IT or Marketing 

If you have a request, please follow the link below to our website, where you'll find more information, see existing requests, and be able to submit your own.

Pitch In