WORRALL MALE VOICE CHOIR
(Registered Charity No. 515038)
NEWSLETTER OCTOBER 2008.
As the year draws to a close and the festive season is not that far away (the Choir know this to be true as we have already started rehearsing Christmas music!!), it’s time for my last Newsletter of 2008. This year has been a busy and quite successful time so far for the Choir. We have had a full concert schedule together with rehearsing the new music for the Royal Albert Hall concert in April next year.
Our first major concert of 2008 was at St. Mary’s Church, Handsworth together with the brass band, Ensemble 13 in aid of the Amy’s House Appeal. The church was full to the rafters and the concert raised over £600 for the appeal. May was a very busy month with three major concerts. Firstly, we sang at a lunchtime recital in Sheffield Anglican Cathedral which was very well attended. It was the best audience at the Cathedral for a lunchtime recital for a long time and the Choir’s programme was well received. Our second concert in May was our own Spring concert with the Sheffield Youth Orchestra at Grenoside Community Centre. This was perhaps the most disappointing concert so far this year in terms of audience. Audience numbers were much lower than expected but we still managed to make a profit on the evening. Our third concert in May was back at Wisewood Methodist Church. Our guest for the evening should have been Zoe Bullock, one of the winners from the David Clover Competition, but she had to withdraw at the last minute due to a severe chest infection. Luckily we managed to secure the services of Douglas Jones, a friend of our Accompanist Steve Vickers, who enthralled the audience with a virtuoso performance on the church organ. These were followed by concerts at Mount View Methodists Church, Sheffield, St. Thomas’s Church, Gawber and a very successful concert at Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Hillsborough. Our guest artists at this concert were our young friend “Max” with his Italian accordion and a young Sheffield soprano, Kathryn McAdam, who wowed the audience with some classical arias and songs from the shows. It was a big evening for Max who, as well as playing his accordion and saxophone, sang in public for the first time and gave a masterful performance for one so young of the old blues classic, “Georgia”. We had so many rave reviews about Kathryn after the concert from people asking when she would be singing with the Choir again. I am glad to report that we have been successful in booking her to sing at the 40th Anniversary Concert at Sheffield Cathedral in September 2010. Put the date in your diary if you want to be part of a very special concert.
We move into autumn with a concert at Brightholmlee Chapel on Saturday, 18th October when Zoe Bullock will be our guest and the following week we hold our own Autumn Concert at The Venue (the old Victory Club) in Stocksbridge with our guests, New Mill Male Voice Choir from Huddersfield. This will be our first concert in the recently revamped club so we hope it is a resounding success. The concert has had to be rescheduled so many times, for a variety of reasons, but we have finally agreed the date of Saturday 25th October at 7-30 p.m. Tickets are now on sale (available only from The Venue) and can be booked, (with a credit card), on the telephone on 0114 283 8692 or in person at the booking office. Tickets are £6 each if booked in advance of the concert or £7 on the door on the night.
Following this we sing at Wesley Methodist Hall in Crookes on 8th November in a concert in aid of National Children’s Homes. Our guest on this occasion will be Sam Hiller, a counter tenor with Sheffield Cathedral Choir and then we start the run in to Christmas.
We had a “Race Night” booked at the Niagara Social Club on 15th November but this has had to be cancelled because of a clash of date with another social event on the same night. Hopefully we can reorganize this for the early part of 2009. Watch the Choir website www.worrallmvc.org.uk for the new date and details about the evening.
Following two successful years, we are again holding a Community Carol Sing at Worrall Independent Chapel on Saturday 6th December from 2-00 to 5-00 p.m. Admission is £1 and everyone is welcome to come and get into the festive spirit with a good old carol sing. On Saturday, 12th December we are in concert with Deepcar Brass Band at St. Matthias Church, Deepcar and we close the year on Friday, 19th December with our own Carol Concert at the Sacred Heart R.C. Church in Hillsborough, again with Deepcar Brass Band. We look forward to seeing you at any of the Choir events in the future. Please support the Choir concerts when ever you can. Without an audience it is just another choir rehearsal. They are one of our main sources of funding and it is a bit disheartening singing to an empty room!!
Our Support Group was busy again in April with a Spring Fayre and donated a fabulous £1,030 to Choir funds. Our thanks go to everyone who made this possible and for their continued support and hard work on our behalf. Their next Fayre is on Saturday, 18th October at Wisewood Methodist Church Hall, Ben Lane and they will be delighted if you can find time to come along. There will be the usual stalls and refreshments available.
Membership is still a priority so any men out there who enjoy singing be it in the bath, to the wife or girlfriend or just singing along to the radio or T.V., please come along to Worrall Independent Chapel on Town Gate Road on a Monday or Friday evening when you will be made very welcome. You don’t need a pension book to join!! There is no minimum age and it would be nice to see some young faces. Without new, younger members, the Choir just becomes another ageing male voice choir with a very bleak future. You don’t have to be able to read music neither do you have to be able to dance like Only Men Aloud. Full singing training will be given by two very accomplished musicians in our Musical Director, Nigel Russell and Accompanist Steve Vickers. There is no public voice test; all we ask is that you can sing in tune and can commit to at least one rehearsal a week. If you have considered coming along but are a bit apprehensive about putting your foot over the doorstep, please don’t worry any longer. Give me a call or any choir member you may know and we will be only to happy to take you along and introduce you and help you to “break the ice”. Our rehearsals are open to the public so please, come along and sit in and have a listen and see if it is for you before committing yourself.
Our “Friends of Worrall Male Voice Choir” membership will be opening again in January so if anyone wishes to become a Friend, please give me a call on 0114 234 4374 or drop me an E Mail with your address to Secretary@Worrallmvc.org.uk and I will send you an application form. Subscriptions are currently £10 per year or £25 for a family which allows you priority booking for our concerts and one free ticket per member to our Christmas concert. More details of this and up to date information about the Choir can be found on the Choir website on www.worrallmvc.org.uk
It is with great sadness that the Choir had to say goodbye to a former member, Harold Brook, recently. Harold was a stalwart member of the Choir for many years until he had to retire due to ill health. Our thoughts and prayers are with Eileen and the family and he will be sadly missed.
We will be very pleased to see you at any of the remaining choir functions this year. Should you need further information about anything the Choir is doing please do not hesitate to contact me on 0114 2344 374 or drop me an E mail and will be delighted to try and answer your questions.
Finally, all that remains for me to do this year on behalf of the Choir and the Support group is to say thank you to everyone who has help or supported the Choir in anyway whatsoever throughout 2008 and, to offer you our Best Wishes for the coming Festive Season and a very Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year when it arrives.
Ian Pasley – Secretary Worrall Male Voice Choir – October 2008.
Last Updated: October 14, 2008