BinG! Coaches

An important part of the culture of BinG! are our coaches. These barbershoppers offer to work with you and support you in your musical development.


If you would like to be coached by a coach on this site, it is best to contact him or her directly. You can find the email addresses below.



Coaching Candidates


The following coaches are participants in the current Coaching Certification Program of BinG! They are qualified junior coaches who have been selected by an international team to participate in the coaching program and are undergoing an intensive training program in addition to their coaching sessions.


Alexander (Koller)

E-Mail: 
akoller@gmail.com

Alexander Koller is a co-organizer of the Coaching Certification Program at BinG! and a Pending Candidate Music Judge at BHS.

Alexander found barbershop twelve years ago with the Big Apple Chorus in New York. He has been a baritone in the Urban Legend and Connection quartets and an organizer of the European Harmony Brigade.

As a coach, his current focus is on music - how to keep music moving and how to tell a clearer story through musical choices.

Kerstin (Greaves)

E-Mail: 
info@kerstingreaves.com

Kerstin is well known in the barbershop world as an organizer, MC of many national and international events and as a singer and vocal coach in various quartets and all voice ranges, e.g. SPLASH!, GREEN EYES, CONNECTION, BAM! as well as in the choirs LADIES FIRST and HEAVY MEDAL.  

After music high school, music/vocal studies, she now works worldwide as a singer, vocal teacher, ensemble coach and chorus/orchestra director.  

In 2021 she additionally completed her 3-year training as an authorized Complete Vocal Technique teacher/ singer at the Complete Vocal Institute in Copenhagen.  This will open up further opportunities for her to work even more intensively with actors, speakers and wind instrument players. 

"What I have learned from many years of discovering through the different vocal techniques: Everyone implements them differently. It's my biggest focus to work out and develop the individual combination of methods for that person and give them the opportunity to make their voice open, multi-faceted and touching."

Lucas (Bitzer)

E-Mail: 
lucas.bitzer@barbershop.de

Barbershop has been inspiring Lucas for 15 years already. In 2013, for example, he became European champion in the male quartet category with his quartet "Halftones", as well as being a two-time silver prize winner at the vokal.total a cappella festival in Graz shortly thereafter. Currently he sings with the Coesfeld Cup winner "Barberpapas".

Through many years of singing lessons and the three times participation at the BHS Harmony University in Nashville (incl. Coaching Apprentice Program) he was able to learn a lot about coaching - especially in the area of singing - during the last years. For several years now, Lucas has intensified his involvement in the field of classical singing and is a member of several selection ensembles.

About himself as a coach he says: "It makes me especially happy when I find small adjusting screws that make a big difference! Specifically, I want to overcome (technical) barriers with you so that you can concentrate on the joy of making music together and sing expressively. I am also happy to help you with the interpretation of pieces!"

Mareike (Meise)

E-Mail: 
mareike.meise@gmail.com

After several years of training in the children's choir of the Bavarian Philharmonic Orchestra, Mareike founded her first a capella ensemble while still in high school. In 2005 she became a member of the Harmunichs. For more than 5 years she has been one of the Harmunichs' Vocal Teachers, responsible for sing-ins and voice training, and teaching new choir members the ins and outs of the barbershop style. Mareike has also been singing tenor with the No Borders Show Chorus since 2014. There, as a member of the Presentation Team, she was instrumental in developing the show concept, which won the Audience Award for Most Entertaining Performance in the 2018 Sweet Adelines Harmony Classics Competition.

As a coach, Mareike focuses on bringing out an authentic performance and the individual sound of your ensemble. Her focus is on the specifics of the English language and its impact on a liberated voice. Depending on how Germans learned English and imitate American sounds, this can have positive or negative effects on the sound and overtone spectrum of the voice, the ensemble sound and synchronization.

As coach I would like to help you to develop an authentic performance and bring out the individual sound of your ensemble. To support you in finding your own free voice, I focus mostly on the specifics of the English language and American pronunciation. They way we (non-native speakers) have learned English and mimic the pronunciation has an influence on our sound and the overtone spectrum of our voice, as well as the richness of sound (resonance) and synchronization in ensemble singing. The words and lyrics of a song combined with the harmonic composition and melody line also tell us a lot about the meaning of a song. Therefore, I focus a lot on language to help create both, a natural and rich sound, as well as a story to touch the audience’s heart.

Miriam (Günther)

Miriam Günther
E-Mail: 
Miriam.ehmig@googlemail.com

While studying to be a teacher of music and biology, Miriam taught voice, directed a girls ensemble, and has been coaching pop and jazz choirs on and off ever since. Miriam has been singing barbershop since she was 16, first in the Ladies First chorus, then with the all-female quartet SPLASH! and later in the mixed quartets Twice as nice and Mix `n` Match, with which she successfully participated in national and international barbershop competitions.

Miriam has been an active member of the Heavy Medal Chorus since its inception.

Norbert (Hammes)

E-Mail: 
norbert.hammes@gutzuhoeren.de

Norbert is a founding member of BinG! where he served on the board as 2nd chairman for several years. He focussed on developing BinG! and was one of the initiators of the annual Harmony College. In 1987 he was among the founding members of Erster Kölner Barbershop Chor and with his quartet Viertakt, Norbert won the first German Barbershop Championships in 1993. In 2005 he took over the conducting of the male chorus Düssharmonie. Since 2010 Norbert conducts the women's chorus Barbershop Blend.

In 2009 he founded the mixed barbershop quartet TONIKUM, which became German champion in 2014. Currently Norbert is successful with the quartet O-Ton.

8 years ago Norbert united the medal winners of the quartet championships to form the Heavy Medal Chorus, which in a short time has become one of the best European barbershop choruses.

Stefanie (Schmidt)

E-Mail: 
jinxedstef@googlemail.com

Stefanie has been singing barbershop for 10 years, currently as a baritone in the international women's quartet Identity Crisis.  

She is a Coaching Candidate in the BinG! Coaching Certification Program and choir director of the A-Cappella Ladies.  

Stefanie's focus as a coach is on performance and music. She brings experience in theater and jazz dance to the Barbershop. It is especially important to her to help ensembles let their individuality and authenticity shine through in each performance.