Pushing the boundaries of barbershop: the story of London City Singers
When London City Singers began in 2007, its founding members could not have imagined the award‑winning ensemble it would become. Today, almost twenty years on, the chorus stands as one of the most distinctive voices in the UK barbershop scene: musically adventurous, inclusive and unafraid to challenge expectations of what close‑harmony singing can be.
What defines them? As Assistant Director of Vocal Pedagogy Jenny Lycett, a founding member, puts it: ‘London City Singers has always been a group that gets people talking.’
Whether on a contest stage or in concert, audiences are treated to performances that not simply polished, but emotionally alive, memorable and unmistakably their own.
Their Musical Director Simon Arnott, now in his eleventh year with the group, offers the technical summary: ‘A close‑harmony group striving for as much musical excellence as we can manage within our genre.’ But excellence, for this chorus, is only part of the story.
A defining part of their identity is who the chorus is for. London City Singers is a treble‑clef ensemble open to all marginalised genders, with membership open to singers who are comfortable singing in the SSAA range. The chorus takes pride in providing a musical and social environment that is safe, welcoming and inclusive of the diverse identities within it.
Finding a home
For Jenny, barbershop was a revelation. ‘I never found a choir I was happy with,’ she says. University choirs expected altos to sing uncomfortably high; jazz might have suited her voice, ‘but I’m not a soloist.’ In barbershop she finally found a home: ‘I didn’t know my voice was important. I thought I had an awkward voice no one knew what to do with. Then you discover barbershop and realise, I’m important here.’
That sense of belonging is mirrored by newer members too. Alice Harper, who joined less than a year ago, says the culture ‘exceeded my expectations… a lovely group of people from different ages and backgrounds who all want to develop themselves technically.’ She had sung in choirs before, but London City Singers offered something different: a disciplined, supportive environment where singers come prepared so that rehearsals can focus on musicality, blend and performance, not note‑learning. ‘You really do get to sing every week,’ she says.
Not just barbershop
From its earliest days, the chorus resisted simply repeating the standard repertoire sung by other groups on the circuit. Even before Simon’s arrival, the group gravitated towards unusual repertoire choices, and often towards arrangements no one else in the UK barbershop world was attempting.
But Simon’s arrival was a turning point.
The chorus had been through unsettled period with multiple leadership changes. At the same time, the chorus had collaborated briefly with I Am Harlequin, an experimental indie artist, which was a liberating and creatively energising experience. ‘It gave us confidence,’ Jenny says. Returning to a more rigid barbershop approach afterwards felt like a step in the wrong direction.
When a chorus member mentioned a conductor running an impressive male barbershop group elsewhere in the UK, they followed him online. When his application to become their MD landed in their inbox, the chorus couldn’t believe their luck.
They had a second candidate too: hugely capable but musically conservative. ‘Safe or a risk,’ Jenny recalls. ‘And we’d survived hard times. We decided to take a risk.
The result was a creative partnership that transformed the group.
Simon is modest about his arranging skills, but Jenny is not: ‘He didn’t say ‘I’m an arranger’, he said ‘I arrange some stuff’. He’s being modest. Having an in‑house arranger unlocked possibilities for us. Before that, we had to choose arrangements; now we could choose songs.’
That shift allowed London City Singers to carve out a distinctive voice. They sing niche musical theatre numbers, reimagined jazz standards (Let’s Misbehave, Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered), unexpected pop songs (Beyoncé’s Sandcastles), selections from Dreamgirls, the Addams Family musical, and even Netflix favourites like Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile.
Rehearsing excellence: science, performance and playfulness
Much of the chorus’s growth reflects Simon’s interest in vocal science. Influenced strongly by Canadian coach Rob Mance, London City Singers work with precise physical and acoustic principles, not metaphors. ‘No ‘sing like this colour’,’ Simon explains, ‘but actual instructions about tongue position or resonance.’
This scientific rigour is paired with theatrical coaching from Julie Atherton, a West End performer known for Avenue Q, Mamma Mia! and Just For One Day. Together, they help the singers build performances that are both technically secure and dramatically compelling.
For Alice, experiencing these coaches for the first time was exhilarating. ‘You feel like you’re learning so much about the voice and performance. It’s incredible to have access to people who are absolute experts.’
Jenny agrees. One of her favourite moments each year is seeing how new members respond to Rob’s coaching and how he reacts to them. ‘He spends a lot of time on individual voices. You learn so much about people you’ve sung with for ages.’
Rehearsals are demanding but never intimidating. Jenny describes Simon’s style as collegiate - no one ever feels put on the spot.’ Technical exercises often look and sound silly, but everyone does them together. ‘We’re all standing there making funny noises,’ Jenny explains. ‘Even singers with quartet medals are right there with the novices. No one is isolated.’
A growing membership
When Simon joined, the chorus had perhaps fifteen members. Today it has 46, with regular increases in membership. Central London life means people come and go for work, family or housing reasons, but the overall trend is upward.
Jenny once thought ‘never more than forty’, fearing it would change the group’s character, but now loves the big sound: ‘You feel very safe and very loud.’
Their membership also reflects the realities of life in an ensemble where currently most members are women: maternity leaves come and go, but most singers return. Couples with partners in Simon’s other (male) chorus juggle childcare so both can sing. Concerts feel increasingly like family events.
And the group is far from its limit. Simon comments that 50 singers is described as a ‘magic number’ in the US barbershop world, the point at which a chorus becomes self‑sustaining and artistically powerful.
Competition: community, motivation, milestones
Competition is woven into barbershop culture, providing a shared annual goal, a tradition of camaraderie and a way to measure progress.
Competitions typically involve two songs performed within recognised barbershop stylistic boundaries, although the rules are less strict than they once were. For London City Singers, the appeal lies in improvement: can they outperform their previous year, tackle new idea and push themselves further?
The chorus’s proudest moments include:
- Their first gold medal, won in Spain, an unexpected triumph featuring On My Own from Les Misérables and Let’s Misbehave.
- Their first LABBS bronze medal, shortly after joining the organisation.
- Selection to represent LABBS at the European Barbershop Championships in Helsingborg, a thrilling opportunity to perform alongside world‑leading Scandinavian ensembles.
Scandinavia, Jenny notes, was a revelation: ‘The production level… the risks they take… sounds you don’t even recognise as singing at first.’ It opened whole new creative horizons.
And this year, the chorus faces perhaps its most exciting challenge yet: the international competition in St Louis, in the USA.
Preparations are well under way, with coaching weekends, character development and intensive rehearsal shaping the songs they’ll take across the Atlantic.
Keeping participation accessible
Travel to international contests is expensive and the chorus takes its charitable aims seriously. While many members self‑fund, the group raises money to support those who need help. ‘We wouldn't want to leave a member behind for financial reasons,’ Jenny explains.
Concerts play a dual role: outreach to new audiences and vital fundraising. This spring, they’ll perform alongside the Rönninge Show Chorus, one of the most successful barbershop choruses in the world, for a joint concert in London.
Shape
Changing the perception of barbershop
For Simon, one long‑term aim is to challenge the reputation of barbershop within the wider choral world. ‘There’s often a snobbery,’ he explains, a sense that barbershop is lightweight or gimmicky. But he sees London City Singers as living proof that this music can be sophisticated, emotionally moving, technically complex, and artistically powerful.
Alice agrees: ‘People think ‘men in straw hats’. But barbershop is full of incredible groups singing at an amazing standard. It’s opened up a whole new world for me.’
Jenny cites Pitch Perfect arranger Deke Sharon, who famously described barbershop singers as ‘a cappella's martial art’, a skillset that sharpens any singer’s musicianship.
Twenty years of hard work, joy and community
As the chorus approaches its twentieth anniversary, Jenny feels strongly about honouring the women whose perseverance carried London City Singers through difficult years. ‘Although Simon's arrival was a turning point, we weren't waiting around for it before things took off,’ she says. ‘But it’s been a rich twenty years. We’ve achieved a lot because people dug in.’
She recalls singers who served as presidents, secretaries, sectional leaders, image coordinators, all in a chorus of barely seventeen people at the time. ‘Everyone had to do something. It’s been a team effort - a community and a passion.’
As Simon puts it, ‘We’ve built ourselves into a high‑quality ensemble that produces amazing concerts. Now we just want more people to know about it.’
Find out more about London City Singers on their website and follow them on Facebook / Instagram / YouTube
Banner photo credit: London City Singers
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