I had the fantastic pleasure of watching the award-winning ‘Semi-Toned’ at St Mary’s Church on the evening of Saturday, June 9th.

Semi-Toned are an all-male a cappella choir, formed at the University of Exeter in 2010. Originally the group was a five-man barbershop harmony group and they are now twelve men strong. Unbelievably, every year they lose members leaving the university and still find fantastic replacements!

Many people turned up to watch the group perform at St Mary’s Church, and all left with smiles on their faces. Semi-Toned also welcomed the audience to stay behind and speak to them after. They came across as very gracious and polite, taking the time to talk to people and listen to their thoughts and questions.

Their performance was very uplifting to watch, with a huge array of songs from different genres - to suit every taste. Some were more upbeat and enjoyable, like ‘Bat Out of Hell’, while songs such as ‘Candle in the Wind’ and ‘Careless Whisper’ were beautifully moving, allowing you to really appreciate their talent.

Their harmonies were very impressive, blending so well together that it was near impossible to distinguish separate voices. What was also lovely was that they gave many members of the group the chance to forefront a song as a soloist, with particularly skilled performances coming from Sam Harper, Ryan Land and Chad St. Louis.

You could also tell that they love performing together, and support one another immensely.

Semi-Toned earned the title of national a capella champions, after winning the Voice Festival UK in April 2015.

They are also known for their TV appearances on BBC2’s ‘The Choir: Gareth’s Best in Britain’ which they won in 2016, and on Sky 1’s ‘Sing: Ultimate A Cappella’.

Semi-Toned annually perform at the Edinburgh Fringe, have toured both the East of West coasts of America, and are the only a cappella group ever to have received the prestigious Bobby Award from Broadway Baby.

You can read more about Semi-Toned and keep up to date with their future gigs, projects and releases, by following them on their social media tag @semitoned, or by visiting their website: www.semitoned.com

It was lovely to see this level of talent and a lovely group of young performers enjoy their time at St Mary’s Church in Ross-on-Wye, supported by so many of its residents.