Ocean Harmony achieved an impressive double cup win at the recent New Milton Music Festival. The chorus retained the Anne Hewetson Barbershop Chorus Trophy from last year’s success and, at the end of a very competitive day with many choirs singing from across the region, were also awarded the Best Choir of the Day Cup. This was a great result for the overall chorus, led superbly by musical director and conductor, Mike Beven, and new chairman and lead singer, Dudley Stone.

The chorus has been working very hard at recent rehearsals in preparation for the National Barbershop Chorus Championships to be staged at the Bournemouth International Centre (BIC) from 3rd to 6th May. The chorus is now confident that the win at New Milton will lead to further success at Bournemouth.

Waterside Foodbank is a wonderful charity dedicated to providing food and support for families who find themselves in crisis.

SHOWTIME! a recent fundraising evening of musical entertainment, produced by Dudley Stone and organised by Hythe Marina Association (HMA) in partnership with Ocean Harmony, raised much needed funds of £752 to assist the Foodbank in its essential work of helping local families in need. Our picture shows Colin Johnston, HMA Chairman, presenting the cheque to Jan Hayter, Co-ordinator of the Foodbank.

Ocean Harmony opened SHOWTIME with popular songs from its repertoire followed by the outstanding singing talents of Liam White, the excellent Young Once Ukulele Band and other highly entertaining solo, duet and octet performances by members of the cast.

After the interval refreshments and a Grand Draw with luxurious prizes organised by HMA the musical entertainment continued until Ocean Harmony brought the evening to an exciting finale with songs and jive from the 50s and 60s.

Our thanks to all who came to support this fundraising evening for the Foodbank.

Ocean Harmony, the Southampton based harmony group, supported by a wide range of other musical and dancing performances, staged a very entertaining ‘SHOWTIME’ on December 1st for an appreciative audience of 160 at the Colbury Hall, Ashurst.

The successful show, staged managed by Ian Murray and compared by Ian McConnell, was devised and produced by the energetic and talented Dudley Stone, and raised £1,000 in the evening to be donated to Key Changes, a wonderful charity that uses music as therapy to realise the potential of adults and children with physical, neurological and other disabilities.

Ocean Harmony created an exciting and upbeat atmosphere throughout the evening with songs from their extensive repertoire, supported with great fun by the ‘Young Once’ Ukulele Band, exciting dance from the young ladies of Rachel’s Dance School, exotic dancing from ‘Habibi’s Flowers of the Desert’ and the singing talents of Liam White.

Our picture shows the Grand Finale with all artistes on stage.

Macmillan Cancer Care Nursing is charity-funded, and the compassionate care they provide to patients in hospital and at home, is supported by a wide range of organisations and individuals who give their time and talents to raise vital funds.

A recent fund-raising event sponsored by Rosemead Developments at the Hanger Farm Arts Centre involved many talents and raised over £1,000 for Macmillan. The evening was organised by Kevin Cleary of Ocean Harmony as a thank you to Macmillan Cancer Care for supporting his wife Lesley through her Cancer illness.

Ocean Harmony, the Southampton based chorus, provided a lively opening to the concert and were followed by excellent performances from Liam and Tony White, Brian Price and Driftwood.

Another opportunity to enjoy Ocean Harmony and many other talented performers, this time raising money for ‘Key Changes’, a charity that uses music as therapy to assist adults and children with physical, neurological and other disabilities, will be at a variety show at Colbury Hall, Ashurst on Saturday 1 December at 7.30.

The generosity of the Barker-Mill Foundation has assisted Ocean Harmony, the popular Southampton-based Barbershop chorus, by making a very generous grant of £650. This grant was used to equip the newly-recruited chorus singers with the sparkling gold, silver and blue performance outfits, featured in the photo by Mike O’Brien, to enable Ocean Harmony to fulfil its busy programme of charity and corporate engagements.

The Barker-Mill Foundation, established in 1995 from funds provided by members of the Barker-Mill family in memory of their late father and grandfather, Peter Barker-Mill, makes regular donations to charities, schools and organisations needing support in south-west Hampshire. More information can be obtained from www.barkermillfoundation.com

Macmillan Cancer Care is a wonderful charity dedicated to providing professional and compassionate nursing both in hospital and at home to patients with a serious Cancer illness.

Macmillan Nursing is charity funded and the incredible care they provided is supported by a wide range of organisations and individuals who give their time and talents to raise vital funds.

A recent fund-raising evening, which involved many talents and raised over £1,000 for Macmillan, was organised by Kevin Cleary of Ocean Harmony, as a thank you to Macmillan Cancer Care for supporting his wife Lesley through her Cancer illness.

Totton College generously donated the excellent facilities at the Hanger Farm Arts Centre to stage an enjoyable evening concert involving many performers.

Ocean Harmony, the Southampton based chorus, provided an up-beat opening to the concert. Alison Vincent and Paul Webb from the Southampton Operatic Society accompanied by Hilary Green, entertained with songs from popular operas, followed by delightful music from the Chinese Arts Association Musical Quartet. Geoff Shepherd and Tori, guitar and vocalist, provided a lively close to the first half of the concert.

Ocean Harmony opened the second half followed by the very talented Brian Price, on keyboard, guitar and vocalist. Liam White then closed the concert with his varied and expert repertoire of songs with keyboard accompaniment.

The photo shows the cheque presentation to two Macmillan nurses from the Southampton Acute Oncology Ward, who were ex–students of Kevin Cleary at Totton College.

At the recent New Milton Music Festival, Ocean Harmony, led superbly by conductor Mike Beven, was presented with the Anne Hewetson Trophy and awarded a distinction for its performance in the Barbershop Chorus section.

In the afternoon competition Ocean Harmony opened with the lively and popular song from the musical ‘Cabaret’, followed by a poignant and beautifully harmonised rendition of ‘For all We Know’.

Ocean Harmony was invited, with other section winners, to perform before a large and appreciative audience at the evening concert at Arnewood School. The group rounded off the wide-ranging musical entertainment by singing various songs from its repertoire including the very lively and enjoyable ‘Amarillo’.

Singing a range of popular songs from their extensive repertoire, Ocean Harmony, the popular Southampton based barbershop harmony group, helped create an exciting and up-beat atmosphere at the West Quay Shopping Centre last weekend. The group was performing as part of the very successful Musical Alphabet event staged throughout the Southampton area.

Southampton’s Musical Alphabet is part of Music Nation, a collaboration between the UK’s music making communities devised and led by the BBC as a run-up to the Olympic Games.

Ocean Harmony, the popular Southampton based Barber Shop Harmony Singing Group was delighted to join the celebrations for the Milford-on-Sea Women’s Institute’s 94th birthday party at All Saints’ Church Hall in Milford.

Singing a selection of songs from their extensive repertoire, Ocean Harmony created a warm and happy atmosphere for the 80 ladies who came to celebrate this momentous milestone in their history. Anticipating the 100th anniversary just a few years from now, Ocean Harmony captured the happy and optimistic mood of the evening by also singing ‘Always look on the Bright Side of Life’. The celebrations continued with many hilarious events organised by the Milford ladies.

CAFOD is a wonderful charity dedicated to raising vital funds to end poverty and bring hope, compassion and solidarity to poor communities in more than 40 countries across the world.

Ocean Harmony was privileged to be part of a recent CAFOD information and fund-raising evening at St Bernard’s Roman Catholic Church Hall, Holbury, near Southampton, in support of the Waterside CAFOD group which has contributed generously to CAFOD funds over many years.

Singing a range of popular songs from their extensive repertoire, Ocean Harmony, the male harmony chorus, created a warm and welcoming atmosphere for the visitors who came to support the charity on this very successful evening.