Congratulations to The Bristol Suspensions, directed by Wells Cathedral School alumnus (Old Wellensian) Robbie Armstrong, who have been crowned UK champions of collegiate a cappella, and now go on to the world finals of the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA), in only their seventh year of existence.

The Bristol Suspensions are a 17-piece mixed a cappella group from the University of Bristol. Founded in 2014, the group includes Old Wellensians Robbie Armstrong (2017) and Francesca Corr (2019), who were both also Wells Cathedral choristers.

Robbie is the musical director of the group this year, so the winning song was created under his direction and leadership.

The win places The Suspensions as the best university a cappella group in the country this year, allowing them to progress to the international finals on May 8, where they will compete against nine American a cappella groups.

Scoring particularly highly in the UK Finals, The Suspensions were also given a special award for the Outstanding Arrangement of their musical score. More can be found about the competition on the Varsity Vocals website.

The Bristol Suspensions haven't been able to rehearse this year due to Covid, but have been working hard making music virtually.

They plan on creating a professional full-length album this summer and are fundraising to do so with a number of online activities and events.

Even as national champions, the group won't receive any financial support from the university, so this album will be created entirely by their own means.

Robbie said: "We're really happy to have won the UK competition this year, and feel we have done Wells proud."