We are led by our talented Musical Director Sue Lampard.

Sue learned violin, piano and the theory of music from a very early age. Her training was classical until the age of 14 when she joined the school big band as a vocalist in a four-part close harmony group. This changed her entire outlook to music and developed her passion for close harmony singing. She also took up the saxophone so she could join in with the band in the non-vocal numbers. In early adult life, Sue played saxophone in various bands and took up Barbershop singing when she moved to Surrey in 1982. The saxophone playing diminished over the years as life got busier, but the close harmony singing remained as a hobby.

Sue’s life as a musical director happened through chance. With a fulltime job, the singing was always placed second and she enjoyed being on the ‘back benches’ in the chorus. However, in 2000 she took up the role of assistant chorus director with Guildford Harmony. This provided a whole new outlook and inspiration for directing as well as singing!

Although loving the close harmony of the barbershop style, Sue began to feel that it was too restrictive, so in January 2004 she formed In Accord. Her early theoretical training came into its own as, from this point on, she began arranging the music. The previous four part barbershop style soon developed into five part arrangements where extra harmonies (and sometimes vocal percussion) add richness to the sound.