Ladies First

Ladies First – that’s around 35 women aged between 14 and 71 from Dortmund and the surrounding area, who are dedicated to a cappella singing in the barbershop style.

Our versatility is reflected not only in our age range, but above all in our exceptional repertoire, which spans pop, jazz, country, gospel, spirituals and much more. We also love to give traditional German Christmas carols a touch of barbershop!

When the 16-member group “Just 16”, led by Manfred Adams, was founded in Dortmund almost 30 years ago, no one could have imagined the success story that would unfold. The number of singers soon exceeded 16, so a new name was needed – and “Ladies First” was born!

Starting with first place at the first German Barbershop Music Festival in 1993, we have now climbed the winners’ podium a total of ten times at the German Barbershop Competition and have been able to call ourselves the Champion Chorus in the North Rhine-Westphalia Choral Association since 2011.

Conductor: Manfred Adams, Co-conductor: Semhar Kinne