On a rainy Saturday night on November 20, the Bella Acapella singers performed to an almost full house in Igreja do Carmo in Tavira.
As the singers described, it was a moment of “singing, giving and receiving inside this huge and beautiful church, as outside it rained strongly”.
Thanks to superb acoustics, the 14 songs gracefully filled the space to the delight of an attentive and warm audience. The church was almost full, and the applause “went straight to the hearts of the singers and their leader Rob Does”.
“After Faro in September and Olhão two weeks ago, it was our third concert since we are back on stage, and hopefully we will do it again very soon,” said Alexandra Bitoun, one of the singers of Bella Acapella.
“We are a very friendly group of singers of eight nationalities, and we love to sing together. We sing English songs, acapella, in the Barbershop-style.”
Barbershop singing originated in the USA when men waiting in line for a haircut would sing together, making harmony by ear rather than by reading sheet music.
Since those days, it has grown into a huge and widespread hobby reaching a very high standard.
“Due to its male origins, we traditionally name the voice parts in women’s barbershop the same as the men, so instead of soprano, the highest voice is tenor, then the lead sings the melody line, the baritone sings the next lowest part and the bass sings the lowest notes,” explains Alexandra.
Anyone can go along and join the group during the weekly rehearsals in Olhão, at the Re-Criativa República 14 Cultural Association, on Wednesdays at 7.30pm.
