Well what an astounding time we had in Spain!

GEM made some wonderful memories last weekend as we jetted off to Calpe in southern Spain to compete at the Spanish Association of Barbershop Singers annual convention. A wonderful trip, fabulously organised by Caroline Joyner at Not Just Travel - we managed to not only cram in competing in the international chorus contest, but also some sightseeing in the beautiful old town of Altea, AND a free show for fellow barbershoppers and the local community at the beautiful amphitheatre at the Opera House in Calpe!

Top that off with a very emotional performance in a beautiful church in Calpe's old town, some sea swimming, debuts from our two newest quartets, a medal for our mixed quartet, several sangrias and some thoroughly entertained hotel guests and that's a recipe for a fantastic trip!

Oh...and did we mention we won the internation silver medal? ;)

Debuting one of our new songs, a medley of Deadwood Stage and Windy City from Calamity Jane, beautifully arranged of course by our very own maestro Heather Lane, our performance went down a storm - we had so many lovely comments from people about how much fun they had watching us. Having fun with the new song (which is only three months old) was our main aim for the trip, showcasing something a bit different - and we never expected to walk away with a medal at all, let alone silver!

It was wonderful sharing the stage with such great choruses and quartets, and huge congratulations to all the medallists - what an honour! 

See you next time Calpe :)

P.S. head over to our Facebook page for lots more photos