A Handbag of Harmonies

A Handbag of Harmonies is a choir of vivacious women from Chester and we create a party wherever we go. With our pink feather boas and glitzy handbags, we sing in four-part harmony with dazzling choreography and guarantee to leave audiences with smiles on their faces.

Led by the charismatic Matt Baker, who arranges all our material, we sing a wide repertoire of songs from the 1930s to the present day. These include The Trolley Song by Judy Garland, Think by Aretha Franklin and Take That’s Rule the World. Matt is a professional musician and performer who has composed work for theatres up and down the country. He also wrote the music for the renowned cycles of Chester Mystery Plays in 2003 and 2008.

A Handbag of Harmonies has performed at venues across the UK including London’s Bloomsbury Theatre and the Capital Women Conference, Bath’s Widcombe Rising festival and Manchester Art Gallery. Matt was commissioned to write a special arrangement for the choir for the launch of the gallery’s Kylie – The Exhibition. We also perform in and around Chester and Cheshire at town halls, village halls, pubs and jazz bars. In 2007 we toured to Chester’s twin town Lörrach in Germany.

To see A Handbag of Harmonies in action visit our Showcase page.

In 2008 we entered our first ever competition: the BBC’s prime time Saturday night talent show, Last Choir Standing. A Handbag of Harmonies was the only women’s choir to reach the top 15 out of nearly 1,000 entries and judge Russell Watson said: “I can’t remember having so much fun watching a choir before!”

Formed in 2000, the choir has 70 members and can offer performance choirs ranging from 25 to 55 singers accompanied by piano and saxophone. A Handbag of Harmonies can be booked for private parties, charity events and corporate functions – contact us for more details.