Brindabella Chorus wins World Championship

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A Canberra show choir is helping to preserve 'barbershop' singing and earning world champion status in the process. Brindabella Chorus was founded more than 30 years ago with just three members. Now there are more than 40 singers of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities.

Transcript

00:00 No instruments, no problem.

00:07 More than three decades after Glenda Lloyd formed Brindabella Chorus with two other women,

00:20 the a cappella singing group is hitting not just all the right notes, they're officially

00:27 some of the best in the world. It was a very close contest, we won by one point.

00:33 It's the second time Brindabella Chorus has been named ACCA World Champions in the Harmony

00:37 Classic Division at the Sweet Adelines Barbershop Singing Contest. Their success in 2017 meant

00:44 more pressure and tougher competition in Louisville, Kentucky, along with some creative inspiration.

00:51 These years have passed since we saw you last and sang for you in Vegas.

00:58 It's a real pinch me moment for Glenda, who remembers the group's humble beginnings.

01:03 Frankly we weren't very good to start with. Some bright spark would always say, "We should

01:07 go to international and win!" and the rest of us would go, "Yeah, that's never going

01:11 to happen."

01:12 More than big trophies and bragging rights, Brindabella Chorus has provided everything

01:17 from a sense of belonging to emergency accommodation.

01:21 I think it helps me to have something for me and to have something where I can completely

01:28 switch off from work, from family life and just be in a different world.

01:33 At the risk of getting sloppy, it's been invaluable just to get through some really difficult

01:38 periods in my life.

01:39 One member in particular lived in my house for six weeks.

01:41 Rescue me, and take me in your arms, rescue me.

01:47 You come for the singing, but you stay for the family.

01:50 Lifting hearts and voices.

01:53 Bye!

01:55 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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