Whitehaven Male Voice Choir

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Charity cheque presentation - January 17th 2008

St Begh's Cheque presentation 2008

In January 2008 the Choir presented cheques totaling £1200 to local charities West Cumbria Heart and Angina Support Group and Macmillan Cancer Support. This money was from the proceeds of the Christmas Celebration Concert and singing in Tesco. This is only a small part of the money raised every year for charities throughout Cumbria.
Back Row L to R: Billy King (Chairman), Don Messenger (Secretary), George Rumney (Vice Chairman).
Front Row L to R: Hugh Robinson (Musical Director), Barbara Sharpe (Macmillan Cancer Support representative), Ronnie Copeland (former Choir member and founder of the West Cumbria Heart and Angina Support Group), Bill Raine (Treasurer) and Mr and Mrs Pendlebury (West Cumbria Heart and Angina Support Group representatives). 

 
Nominated Charities - 2007

Every year the Choir's committee nominate local charities to be the beneficiaries of the Christmas Celebration Concert and fundraising sing in Whitehaven's Tesco superstore.
The nominated charities for 2007 were the West Cumbria Heart and Angina Support Group, and the local branch of Macmillan Cancer Support.
To read The Whitehaven News report of the Christmas Celebration Concert, click link below:
 

Christmas Celebration Concert, December 15th 2007
Christmas Celebration Concert 2007
St Begh's Church, Whitehaven

Tesco, Whitehaven, December 22nd 2007
Tesco charity singing 2007
Christmas Charity singing

 
30th Anniversary Year Celebrations - 2007

Whitehaven Civic Hall, September 8th 2007
30th Anniversary Party in Whitehaven Civic Hall
The Choir performing during their 30th Anniversary Party

In 2007 the Choir are celebrating their 30th anniversary year, with many concerts and events throughout Cumbria.
As part of the celebrations, the Choir hosted an anniversary party in Whitehaven Civic Hall on Saturday 8th of September. This sell out event included a two course meal followed by entertainment from the Choir, Sethera Brass and local female guest soloists who have entertained our concert audiences during recent years.
Also as part of the celebrations, the Choir displayed an exhibition of their history and activities at The Beacon on Whitehaven's harbour-side. The exhibition was officially opened by Copeland MP Jamie Reed on Monday 7th of May, accompanied by the choir in song. The exhibition which successfully ran for six weeks, featured choir photos, concert programmes, archive material and information about the present choir’s links with Whitehaven Male Voice Choirs of the past. The Choir also performed a concert there to commemorate the final day of the exhibition and as part of Whitehaven's International Maritime Festival (June 15th-17th)
Following the concert The Beacon closed for an exciting refurbishment and re-opened on October 5th 2007. The Choir recorded several sea shanties, which will be played continuously in part of the new Beacon for the next ten years!

The Beacon, Whitehaven, May 7th 2007
The Beacon exhibition 2007, photo John Story
The Choir performing 'Alexander's Ragtime Band' during the exhibition opening ceremony.

'Miner triumph'
By Margaret Crosby
 courtesy of 'The Whitehaven News'

Haig Mining Museum, July 2007
Haig Mining Museum, Whitehaven, July 15th 2007

The unique setting of the old engine winding hall at Haig Colliery Mining Museum provided the perfect acoustics for a performance by Whitehaven Male Voice Choir.
The concert was well attended and there was a welcome from museum manager Pamela Telford who also gave a vote of thanks to the choir.
She said: "Part of what we are trying to do here is to get people used to thinking of us as a venue for events, a place to see and hear things as well as being a museum. It was really wonderful to hear the male voice choir and we would love to have them back again," she said.
There were solo performances from Diane Hunter - particularly poignant as her grandfather's long service certificate is on display in the museum.
Museum volunteer Andy Ainsworth said: "It's great to try out all these new things and get more activities going on in the museum, the male voice choir were fantastic, we have also had Whitehaven Brass Band here and in the past school children singing Christmas carols."
The museum situated at Solway Road, Kells, Whitehaven is open seven day a week from 9:30am to 4:30pm and entry is free. More details can be found on their website: www.haigpit.com

 
Annual Concert Review - June 2007
By Sue Raine

 

Whitehaven Male Voice Choir’s annual concert, this year titled 'Come and Hear', was presented to a very full Civic Hall on Sunday 10th June in the presence of the Mayor of Copeland, Councillor Anne Faichney. It had been a very warm day and the hall was stiflingly hot, but that didn’t stop the choir performing well or the audience enjoying a really good show. It must have been hard work for the men on stage, dressed as they were in full uniform for the first half of the programme, coping with the heat from the stage lighting as well.

This year saw a return to Whitehaven of Kate Woolveridge, a Welsh born mezzo-soprano, with an impeccable musical pedigree. She alone looked as though she was undeterred by the heat in the hall, giving us, in turn, opera, stage, traditional and show music. Her timing was enviable, her stage presence warm and welcoming, her flirtatiousness with the choir pitched just right and all delivered with a warm Welsh sense of humour. It was good to see her back. Her programme, which included Habenera, from Bizet’s ‘Carmen’, George Gershwin’s Embraceable You, and Richard Rodger’s Bewitched, was well chosen for the occasion and clearly delighted the audience who requested her back for an encore.

The choir, whose programme was introduced by their Musical Director, Hugh Robinson, continue to surprise their followers with the range of their performance, switching with seeming ease between operatic choruses, (Gounod’s Soldiers Chorus from ‘Faust’, Richard Wagner’s Prayer from ‘Lohengrin’, and Dvorak’s Goin’ Home), songs from the shows (Some Enchanted Evening by Richard Rodgers, Rhythm of Life by Cy Coleman, and All I Ask of You by Andrew Lloyd Webber), and spirituals (Hand me Down My Silver Trumpet, Shall We Gather at the River, My Lord, What a Mornin'). Add in some ‘middle of the road’ (Unchained Melody, Alex North, You Raise Me Up, Graham & Lovland, My Dearest Dear, Ivor Novello) and jazz, (Alexander’s Ragtime Band, Irving Berlin), and you get a sense of their repertoire.

I almost forgot to mention the accompanists Joan Johnston and Aileen Rule, and Alan Jackson who accompanied Kate Woolveridge. Each gave of their best throughout the evening and without whom the evening would have been lacking.

Once again we were treated to a concert that was varied in content, professionally performed, and delivered with obvious pleasure and which included a soloist of excellence. Well done, all of you.

Annual Concert at Whitehaven Civic Hall, June 2007
The Choir during the Annual Concert
The Choir directed by Hugh Robinson

Annual Concert at Whitehaven Civic Hall, June 2007
The Choir and Kate, June 2007
The Choir enjoying Kate's performance

Annual Concert at Whitehaven Civic Hall, June 2007
The Choir and Kate, June 10th 2007
The Choir enjoying Kate's performance, one top tenor in particular!!

 
 
Festival of Brass & Voices, Royal Albert Hall, 4th November 2006
'Choirs Raise Huge Sum To Help Beat Cancer'

Whitehaven Male Voice Choir along with choirs from all over the country got together last November to raise a staggering amount of money for Cancer Research UK with The Festival of Brass and Voices 2006.

The event, which took place at the prestigious Royal Albert Hall, took the Yorkshire based Festival committee almost three years to organise. Now the organising and fundraising has paid off as the total sum raised for Cancer Research UK's vital work is a monumental £95,000.

The impressive sum was presented to Cancer Research UK at the Leeds science centre at St James' Hospital where Cancer Research UK fund £5.6 million of world class research.
 
The huge cheque was presented to Cancer Research UK's Claire Marshall by Peter Dix, Choir Liaison Officer for the Festival; William Relton, Festival Musical Director and David Johnson, Band Manager of Sellers International Band.

The Chair of the Festival, Syd Harris said: "I want to thank all the choirs and the two bands for all their hard work on the Festival of Brass and Voices 2006. The event was a really impressive occasion and we already have choirs signing up for the next event in October 2009. I am delighted to be able to present the wonderful sum of £95,000 to Cancer Research UK on behalf of all the choirs, bands and the fantastic Festival organising committee".

Claire Marshall, Cancer Research UK's Community Fundraising Manager said: "Not only was the Festival of Brass and Voices 2006 a wonderful and moving occasion, the Festival committee and all the choirs and bands have managed to raise such an impressive amount of money for Cancer Research UK's work. To raise £95,000 is a huge achievement and the Festival is a living embodiment of our vision "Together we will beat cancer".

Cancer Research UK is the world's leading charity dedicated to research on the causes, treatments and prevention of cancer. We support the work of over 3,000 scientists, doctors and nurses working across the UK. Our annual scientific spend is more than £213 million, which is raised almost entirely through public donations.
 
Visit the Cancer Research UK website for more information about their vital work: www.cancerresearchuk.org
 
A recording of highlights of the concert is available on CD at a cost of £10 from the Festival organisers: 'The Noddle', Scapegoat Hill, Huddersfield, HD7 4NS. Tel: 01484 647146.

Royal Albert Hall, London, November 4th 2006
Festival of Brass and Voices 2006
Festival of Brass and Voices 2006

 
Choir Newsletter

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Click here to view the April 2007 Choir newsletter

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