Sent by Paul Barnes, Loveny MVC
News item posted 17/11/2011

GRAND REGIONAL CONCERT
REDRUTH METHODIST CHURCH
SATURDAY, 26TH NOVEMBER, 7.30pm

Featuring Holman-Climax Male Voice Choir, Mevagissey Male Choir, Mousehole Male Voice Choir and the Cornwall Boys Choir

In aid of Cornwall Hospice Care and Shelter Box Trust

Admission £5, by programme on the door

During the year the Cornish Federation of Male Voice choirs presents a series of ‘grand regional concerts’ in which three or four member choirs join together to sing in aid of charity. On Saturday 26th November, three of Cornwall’s best known male voice choirs will be joining together to raise the roof of Redruth Methodist Church in aid of Cornwall Hospice Care and the Shelter Box Trust. They will be joined by Cornwall’s youngest male voice choir, the Cornwall Boys Choir, to present an evening of music that is guaranteed to entertain anyone’s tastes. Each choir will present a short programme of their own choice before the three senior choirs join together to close the evening with a set of pieces sung as a massed choir.

The programme of music for the evening includes arrangements of Freddy Mercury’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, Paul Simon and Joseph Shabalala’s ‘Homeless’, Richard Rogers’ ‘Blue Moon’, an arrangement of ‘It’s a Grand Night for Singing’ and local folk song, ‘The Queen of the May’, as well as the more traditional religious and secular pieces historically sung by male voice choirs in Cornwall. Angela Renshaw, musical director of the Cornwall Boys Choir is keeping the details of the pieces they will be singing under her hat until the evening itself but there is no doubt that their set will be joyous and exciting with plenty of surprises.

Compere for the evening is Bruce Taylor who is the Marketing and PR Manager for Countrywide South West Estate Agents which includes Miller Countrywide and Stratton Creber. Miller Countrywide set up their “Charity Challenge” around ten years ago and since then has raised many thousands of pounds for local charities.

So, here is an evening not to be missed. Those familiar with male voice choir singing in Cornwall know that they will be royally entertained. Those who are new to or unfamiliar with male voice choir singing will find themselves having an experience that will live long in the memory.

Sent by Jim Christophers, Federation Publicity Officer
News item posted 9/11/2011

NEWS FROM NEWLYN MALE CHOIR IN THE YEAR OF THEIR 90th ANNIVERSARY

NEW MUSICAL DIRECTOR

David Hamilton is the new Musical Director for Newlyn Male Choir. David is 23 years of age and comes from Scotland. The choir feels lucky to have David; he is ambitious and very enthusiastic in the job. All the men in the choir like him very much. David is hoping to do some modern music as well as some of the traditional Male Voice music.

The Annual General Meeting of the Choir will be held on Monday 28th of February at the Trinity Centre Newlyn at 8-30pm.

The Buccas Fair on the 30th of July will take place at St Peter's Church School room. This is a different venue from previous years.

The choir will be putting together a CD MARKING THEIR 90 YEARS ANNIVERSARY. The CD will contain old and new music.

Sent by Mike George, Newlyn MC
News item posted 20/02/2011

BIRTHDAY BASH CONCERT (BBC) FOR MUSICAL DIRECTOR, TIM HOSKEN

Saturday 1 October 2011, Chapel Street Methodist Church, Penzance, 7.30pm

BBC coming to Penzance? Well not quite what you're thinking but at least we've got you interested! In October Tim Hosken of St Buryan will be celebrating his 50th birthday with a 'Birthday Bash Concert', hence 'BBC'!

Tim is the Musical Director of three choirs and the concert will feature each of them: The Marazion Apollo Male Voice Choir, The Penzance Amateur Operatic Society and The Penzance Choral Society plus a full, personally invited orchestra and on top of that, local soprano, Laura Nicholas, will be coming especially from the Royal Welsh College of Music.

Tim wanted to use the excuse of his birthday to do something different and help to raise money for charity. These three choirs have never sung together before. Each group of singers will have an individual slot in the first half of the concert with the orchestra opening and closing each half with a popular overture and with Laura Nicholas adding some well loved solos. The second half will see the three choirs singing together - for the first time ever! The climax of the evening will involve orchestra, all choirs, Laura, and audience as we sing all the songs from the 'Last Night of the Proms'.

Tim has chosen two charities: 'Help for Heroes' Help For Heroes and Race 2 Recovery, a charity based near Penzance that converts used 4X4's into vehicles for disabled ex-service men and women.

So make a note in your diary as this is a once in a lifetime opportunity!!

Saturday 1st October 2011 at Chapel Street Methodist Church, Penzance 7.30pm. More details on how to get tickets will be published in 'The Cornishman' under the 'down your way' column nearer the date.

Sent by Stuart Meyers, Marazion Apollo MVC
News item posted 14/08/2011

NEWLYN MALE CHOIR CELEBRATE 90th ANNIVERSARY

Newlyn Male Choir celebrate their 90th anniversary this month with two special events:

A Commemoration Service to be held at 3.30pm in Penlee Quarry on Sunday 18 September
The Anniversary Concert in the evening at 7.45pm on Sunday 18 September in St Mary's Church, Penzance.

The Concert will be with Newlyn Male Choir and St Keverne Male Voice Choir and soprano Laura Nicholson. Compere is Daphne Skinnard from Radio Cornwall. Admission is free, but a retiring collection will be made for the Phoenix Appeal.

HOW NEWLYN MALE CHOIR BEGAN 90 YEARS AGO
There is a touching story at the heart of the choir's history. In October 1920 a man was killed in an industrial accident in the Penlee Quarry, leaving a wife and 9 children. A group of men, who had been singing together joined with local Church and Chapel choirs and performed a charity concert to raise money for the man's family. This was so successful that in 1921 the men formed what was then known as the Penlee Male Voice Choir, later to become the Newlyn Male Choir.

The Commemoration Service will acknowledge how the choir came into being. Members of the choir have been able to trace 3 grandchildren of the deceased man and they and their families will be joining the Service in the Quarry. The choir will be providing them with tea and they will then be guests at the 90th Anniversary Concert in the evening.

Sent by Bryan Marshall, Newlyn MC
News item posted 09/09/2011

KEN CARGEEG - 70 YEARS SINGING WITH CORNISH MALE VOICE CHOIRS

Federation Chairman, Terry Hodge, presented Ken Cargeeg of Marazion Apollo Male Voice Choir, with a Federation Certificate in acknowledgement of 70 years of service to male voice singing in the county. Ken Cargeeg first began singing with male voice choirs over 70 years ago when he began as a founder member of St Buryan. He has also sung with the old choir of Heamoor and now sings with Marazion Apollo MVC. The presentation took place at the joint concert between St Buryan MVC and Marazion Apollo MVC recently, held at St Buryan Church.

NANKERSEY MALE CHOIR PRESENTS CHEQUE FOR CHORAL SCHOLARSHIP

Nankersey Male Choir recently presented a cheque for £500 towards the fund set up for a choral scholarship in the memory of the late Olaf Schmid. The monies were raised in the summer by the choir and it was the unanimous wish of choir members that the money otherwise destined for choir funds was used in this way to honour the bravery of Olaf and the stoicism and fortitude shown by his widow at his funeral. Olaf Schmid was a former Truro Cathedral chorister.

Sent by Fred Bidgood, Nankersey MC
News item posted 12/11/2010

NEW PRESIDENT and VICE PRESIDENT FOR THE FEDERATION

Lord Taylor of Goss Moor, President of The Cornish Federation of MVC

Lady Mary Holborow, Vice President of The Cornish Federation of MVC

The Federation is delighted to announce the appointment of new President, Lord Taylor of Goss Moor and also the new position of Vice President to be held by Lady Mary Holborow.

Lord Taylor of Goss Moor, familiar to local people as Matthew Taylor, was one of Cornwall's most popular MPs who chose to retire from this position earlier this year, after many years in office. He has been well known for his loyal support of Cornwall and its heritage and for the work he has done to benefit the county. The Federation is delighted that he has kindly accepted this honorary position, representing the male voice choirs of Cornwall.

Lady Mary Holborow, currently Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall, has been supportive of male voice singing in Cornwall for many years. She is, in addition, President of the Cornwall International Male Choral Festival. We are delighted that she has accepted this honorary position within the Federation.

The Federation is a registered charity and its members are all volunteers. Every Federation concert raises funds for charity. We are growing in strength and versatility and are proud of the work we do in the community, including initiatives such as bringing choral music to children in schools and sharing workshops and concerts with them. Member choirs are regularly collaborating with similar choirs from across the UK and abroad - Australia, Brittany, Canada and many more.

Almost all the male voice choirs of Cornwall are members of the Federation, representing the length and breadth of the County. In addition we have Associate members, The Cornwall Boys' Choir and The Maesteg-Gleeman MVC from Wales. Each choir runs its own individual programme and has its own style. The Federation brings the choirs together to sing in joint and massed choir concerts.

The Federation is proud to have our work acknowledged by our new President and Vice President, both notable figures within the community whose support and interest is greatly appreciated by the choirs.

News item posted 11/11/2010

PELYNT MVC'S CHOIR LIBRARIAN RETIRES AFTER MORE THAN 20 YEARS' SERVICE

Pelynt Male Voice Choir's Librarian, Noel Ford and his wife Joyce, are leaving Pelynt and moving to Launceston. Noel has been with the Choir since 1983 and choir librarian for at least 20 years. As a farewell present to Noel and Joyce, choir chairman, Dennis Julian and his wife Evelyn, arranged a surprise visit to the Bodmin and Wenford Railway last Sunday afternoon. Choir members made their way direct to Bodmin General and Noel and Joyce were taken for a surprise outing. It was a wonderful afternoon as we arranged to hire one complete carriage and the choir members and their wives took food for a picnic on board. Noel had been a railwayman all his working life, starting as a signalman at Helston, then moving to Truro East box before going to Royal Oak between 1957-60 and then West Ealing 1960-63. You can imagine Noel and Joyce's delight at having an outing on the preserved railway; "Just the job! 'ansom!" was Noel's response. We all had a really enjoyable afternoon of cameraderie and fun.

We all wish Noel and Joyce every happiness in their new abode and we will miss them both very much. Our new librarian is John Trewin, the only founder member still with the choir. We wish him the best of luck in handling all our vast library of music.

Sent by John Trethewey, Pelynt MVC
News item posted 26/08/2010

LONG SERVICE AWARDS for MOUSEHOLE MVC CHOIR MEMBERS

Mousehole Male Voice Choir is now in its 101st year of singing history, growing from a group of 12 men who met in a net loft in the tiny fishing village to practise carols for Christmas 1909. In his poem, "Ode", the Irish poet, Arthur O'Shaughnessy writes: "They had no vision amazing of the goodly house they were raising". Those few Mousehole men could scarcely have dreamed that from them would grow one of the biggest choirs in Cornwall, with more than 80 members today, whose name would be known around the world. Some of the descendants of those original members are members today and the choir has a remarkable record of long service history in its ranks, many with 20 years and 30 years membership, some with 40 and 50 years; Tenors Sidney Waters and Ivor George achieving 60 years. The latest to be honoured for 60 years of loyalty and allegiance is 1st Tenor, Derek Harvey. Choir President, Douglas Williams, was pleased to present Derek with a gold badge, awarding him Life Membership and a framed certificate from his fellow members at the choir's 78th Summer Festival Concert in St Mary's Church, Penzance on Sunday 1 August. Douglas remarked that singing Tenor, like Guinness, must be good for you. Referring to this 'Diamond Jubilee' Douglas said that Derek followed in family and Methodist Chapel Choir footsteps and tradition, joining when he was 17 and the male voice choir was just 23 strong - all from Mousehole - with subscriptions at "tuppence a week". In his time, he was Choir Librarian for a few years, Attendance Officer since 1968 and has been Assistant Treasurer since 1955 when he came back from his national service. Over the 60 years he has been in the front row for thousands of concerts and rehearsals and has missed very few.

Douglas Williams took pleasure in also awarding Life Membership to Garfield Matthews who first joined the choir in 1939. Only war service and some years of shift work kept him away from the choir - he would otherwise have created an even greater record. Garfield is still singing with the choir at the age of 87 and it is a real family affair with his son, John, also a member; Garfield's wife, Betty and John's wife, Kath, are the keenest of supporters for the choir, and grand-daughters, Jenna and Morwenna are regular guest duettists with the choir. Tributes were also paid to three absent friends whose health problems prevented their presence at the Summer Festival Concert. Greetings and affection were sent to Diana Ford, a piano soloist and accompanist for nearly 65 years, and to past President, Canon Harvey Pentreath and his wife, Dorothy.

Sent by Trevor Walker, Mousehole MVC. Photography by Ray Sowden.
News item posted 08/08/2010

LETTER TO PRIME MINISTER

A letter has been written to the Prime Minister by Trevor Walker of Mousehole Male Voice Choir, urging the repeal of the law which created Temporary Events Notices. Trevor has sent a copy of this letter for members to view. See below.

Sent by Trevor Walker, Mousehole MVC
News item posted 13/07/2010

SEVEN NEW MEMBERS for MOUSEHOLE MVC!

Mousehole Male Voice Choir has recently had the biggest single boost to its numbers in recent times, with 7 new members taking the platform and there are now 81 men to proudly wear the choir badge. Not only have the new men swelled the numbers, they have reduced the average age of the choir by several years!

The 12 founding fathers who gathered in a net loft in Duck Street in the tiny Cornish fishing village of Mousehole to practise carols for Christmas 1909 can hardly have imagined that their small group would become on of the largest male voice choirs in Britain, with more than 89 members whose recordings would be heard around the world, performing at least 30 concerts each year and some new bookings are already being made for 2012. As well as a full concert programme, the choir will be taking part in school assemblies to encourage youngsters, particularly boys, to sing.

Mousehole Male Voice Choir has an impressive string of 'firsts' in national radio programmes, then TV appearances and was the first non-Welsh choir to be invited to take part in the 1000 Welsh Voices Concerts in the Royal Albert Hall, London. The choir has performed in Germany, France and America and their international appearances have helped to bring thousands of tourists to visit their tiny and picturesque village base.

The choir will shortly present its Summer Festival Concert in St Mary's Church, Penzance on Sunday 1 August. This annual concert has been a very special feature in the choir's engagements since 1933 and has brought to Penzance as guest artistes, some of the big names on the international music scene, amongst them Owen Brannigan, Bryn Terfel, Dame Felicity Lott, Dame Valerie Masterson, Cynthia Glover, Alan Opie, Benjamin Luxon, Buonaventura Bottone, John Treleaven. This year's guest is the Devon based Soprano, Heloise West, making a welcome return after her thrilling performance in 2006.

Musical Director, Stephen Lawry, has chosen a varied repertoire for the 2010 season, many of them new pieces, and the choir's accompanist, Annette Turton, will be a very busy lady!

Six of the new members are shown above
David Noall, David Williams, Rodney Ward, Brendon Sleeman, Keith Hopkins and Perran Nye.

Sent by Trevor Walker, Mousehole MVC
News item posted 3/07/2010

CHOIR UNIFORMS ON OFFER

Sent by Alan Dawe, Tintagel Orpheus MVC
News item posted 30/05/2010

CHRIS BENNETT JOINS NEWQUAY MVC MUSICAL TEAM

Newquay MVC is delighted to confirm the appointment of Chris Bennett as its new accompanist. Chris has recently (April 2010) joined our music team and is now working well with our Musical Director, Judith Pinguey. With this partnership in place, the choir is looking forward to further developing its enviable reputation for the quality of its singing and the entertainment value of its programme.

Sent by Rob Spowart, Newquay MVC
News item posted 30/04/2010

NEWQUAY MVC WIN THE PRESIDENT'S PLATE

At the recent AGM, Newquay Male Voice Choir was awarded the President's Plate in recognition of their work with young people.

Jim Christophers, Publicity Officer, spoke on behalf of the Federation Executive, informing the meeting that three brilliant applications had been received. These were from Mousehole MVC, Newquay MVC and Praze Hayle MC. It was 'heart warming reading' he said, to realise the work that has been going on, involving young people in music. The Federation officers had read each application carefully, had thought about each carefully and in the end had made a unanimous decision. All three choirs more than met the criteria that were set out. However it was felt that one choir had the edge in terms of the proactive way in which they engaged with local school groups and were able to demonstrate a significant impact on the community. This choir was Newquay Male Voice Choir.

Terry Hodge, Chairman, congratulated the winners and presented the silver plate to Rob Spowart, representative of Newquay MVC. In giving his thanks, Rob Spowart included all those at Newquay and everyone in the male voice choir community working hard to connect with young people. He stated that if Newquay MVC can help in any way with ideas they would be delighted to do so, commenting that it can be 'exciting stuff' and a really good experience. We all wish to keep male voice singing thriving in Cornwall.

Left to Right: The Rev Barry Jennings (retired President, who donated the Silver Plate for the Awards),
Terry Hodge, Chairman and Rob Spowart, Newquay MVC

News item posted 25/04/2010

Contributions sought for a Pub Song Book!

Nankersey Male Choir is hoping to create a "Pub Song Book". Fred Bidgood of Nankersey states he is sure other choirs will have experienced the older hands performing songs in pubs and at "afterglows" whilst the newcomers can only mouth what they think are the correct words!! He suggests that should any choir already have a songbook which they could share with Nankersey it would be most appreciated. It is not the Choir's intention to pinch everyone's songs and in due course they would be pleased to circulate what they have gleaned to others should they wish.

If you would like to contribute to this collection of songs for a Pub Song Book, please contact Fred Bidgood (01326) 373984.

Sent by Fred Bidgood, Nankersey MC
News item posted 11/02/2009

Last archived on 01 April 2012 by Linda Jones