Richard Hedges
Musical Director Richard Hedges is one of the younger members of Ocean Harmony but has a wealth of barbershop and musical experience.
In fact Richard, a teenager at the time, was there from the start when OH was launched in 2004.
At that time he was playing several musical instruments including the piano, flute, saxophone, clarinet and double bass. However singing was new to him.
He said: “I always wanted to be able to sing in front of people and OH offered the platform I needed.
“It gave me a new lease of confidence and I joined a covers band playing the keyboard, providing backing vocals and on the odd occasion bass guitar.”
He was a member of the National Barbershop Youth Chorus and cherishes the memory of being coached by OC Times and singing along side Monkey Magic, who went on to win gold at Convention.
“The thing I love most about singing barbershop is the close harmony and the ability to ring and lock chords. When the harmonics of chords line up, it creates overtones and a natural expansion of sound, resembling more than just four voices,” he added.
“Over the last 20 years I have been there to support Ocean Harmony, banging out notes on the piano and trying to correct things as much as possible.
“As MD I will hopefully get the opportunity to continue this and create a better sound for the chorus with an emphasis on singing for fun.”