A1 Acappella are a new male barbershop chorus based in St Neots, Cambridgeshire.
We were formed from the merger of two established local choruses, namely "Shannon Express" and "Ouse Valley Chorus”.
Based in St Neots, Cambridgeshire, A1 Acappella was formed in 2024 when Ouse Valley Chorus and Shannon Express decided to join forces. Both choruses had gained a reputation for exciting, top quality performances. They have also won several awards over the years including BABS Division Champions at Conventions, the Harmony Shield at Oundle Festival of Music and Drama, and winning our category at the North Northamptonshire Music Festival. A1 Acappella hope to continue this excellent tradition and move forward seeking new opportunities to perform and compete.
We are under the excellent direction of Ryan Wainwright-Meekins who is moving A1 Acappella forward with new goals and ambitions. We compete each year in the annual national BABS convention where we hope to steadily improve our ranking. We also compete at other local festivals and perform to the public and events throughout the year.
We are continuously seeking to extend a warm welcome to new members as we continue to develop the chorus. We accept men of all ages from all walks of life who love to sing or just want to try singing. Our style of music is “a cappella”, Barbershop four part harmony. We sing without instrumental accompaniment, we simply use our voices to create beautiful, inspirational music. It is very much a hobby and therefore it is important to us that it is enjoyable. We meet weekly to practice collectively and naturally, we practice at home, in the car, or wherever we can.
In addition to singing at our regular practice venue, we also perform publicly at social and other events throughout the year. We also enjoy some occasional social events with our friends and family and always have a “rehydration” session at the local pub after a practice!
