Category: News

On the hottest day of the year so far, the choir and band assembled prior to the concert to rehearse the joint performance songs “You’ll Never Walk Alone” and “World in Union”. Greetings and the renewing of friendships and contacts was the natural precursor to achieving a blend of sound which is always challenging as the volume level of voices hardly matches that delivered by any band. It is with some considerable thought and skill that the band arrangement for these two songs was prepared to complement our voices instead of drowning out our efforts, and it worked, beautifully: thanks, and well done to band leader Carolyn Beedle.

The choir’s set list was comprised of songs that we have performed previously in other concerts, so they were tried and tested audience pleasers and performed well with sensitive dynamics and perfect intonation. This complete list was, “Anthem”, “Unchained Melody”, “An American Trilogy”, “African Trilogy”, “We Rise Again”, “Shine”, Calon Lan”, “ Let it Be Me”, “This is the Moment”, “The Wonder of You”, “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Medley” and the two joint items. Compere for the choir was Paul Bennett with his own inimtable style of humour and friendly guidance through the evening. The audience were pleased, and in many cases sang along with us. Each song was followed by immediate, generous, appreciative applause, whistles and whoops and there was an instant, natural standing ovation at the end of the concert which makes performing for such audiences a real buzz and reinforces our pride and love of singing and performing together.

The swing band performance was a complete contrast to the male voice choir. You couldn’t help but clap, stamp your feet and join in with the accompanying vocalists Sarah and Andrew as they delighted the audience with swing time classics like Pennsylvania 65000, La Bamba, Georgia, Mas que Nada, Something Stupid and many others. It is a great sound and made the evening bright and engaging. They do it so well and with such enthusiasm.

The venue, Mansfield Rugby Club, was new to both the choir and the audience and our thanks go not only to the club for hosting the event, providing a bar service and working with our team of Lynden Lowe, Phil Millns and Alun Roberts in setting out tables in a café style allowing friends and families to sit together, share their food and make the evening so much more convivial than theatre style seating. We will undoubtedly return as it is likely that this concert will become an annual event: the choir and the band are up for it!

We don’t often mention and thank the complete list of choir organisers and helpers that made this and other concerts possible, so it is about time; here goes:-
Musical Director – Ian Grice, Accompanist – Maureen Lockwood, Concert Manager – Lynden Lowe, Stage Manager – Phil Millns, Compere – Paul Bennett,
Publicity- Geoff Mansfield, Treasurer – John Wakeland, Secretary (for ticket sales, programme design and printing and on the door) – Eileen Lawrence, also on the door – Julie Bexon,
Raffle – Marilyn Mansfield, Jo Scanlon, Joyce Cree, Adele Stenton, Transport of the piano, staging etc in Ian’s large van – almost all the choir members – thanks guys.

Special thanks go Alun Roberts. Al is our Baritone section leader and an active member of the Rugby Club as a player and junior teams’ coach. Interesting isn’t it, a Welsh born rugby and choir fanatic – it’s in the blood!.

Through his contributions not only did we secure the venue but perform to some folks that had never before experienced one of our concerts.
The photo shows Al on the back row in his white shirt and choir tie. The What’s App message read:-
“These guys and gals have never heard us before! They thoroughly enjoyed our performance and can’t wait for next year!
Favourite song – Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Medley
Enough said!.

St Katherine’s Parish Church, Teversal is a 12th Century Grade 1 listed building, i.e. of “exceptional architectural international importance” which is dedicated to an Egyptian martyred princess and has been a centre of Christian worship down the centuries to the present day. The passage of time has left a treasure trove of religious art, furnishings and architecture and many visitors make special journeys to soak in the beauty of the church. The church was last restored in the Victorian era and our concert was arranged to help contribute to funds desperately needed for a roof restoration.

Parishioners have met to worship and exchange news here for centuries and in the bucolic setting for our concert this tradition was continued. Three former members of our music team were in the audience, Musical Directors Jean Ward and Meryl Chambers, and accompanist Margaret Ball. Jean, as a young Jean Tansley, sang soprano with the choir in 1953 and Estelle Ellis, nee Bacon, also in the audience and a former soloist, sang soprano and contralto with the choir between 1953 and 1972. What a pleasure to meet and talk with these ladies who represent a long history with the choir to within 9 years of its founding in 1944. Further connections occurred between audience members Jill Lowe (wife of Lynden our Concert Manager) and a Mr. Howard Rockley who were both born in the village and who met for the first time and reminisced over 70 years of joint history and experience. I’m sure there will have been other examples which are of great community value and lend dignity and a grounded history to our venerable and vibrant choir.

As is usual with our concerts the church was packed to capacity and the audience thoroughly enjoyed the performance of the choir ably led by Ian Grice MD and accompanist Maureen Lockwood. Ian Bartle kept us entertained with his Master of Ceremonies presentation to guide us through the programme. The Chitty Chitty Bang Bang medley is becoming a firm favourite and the mixture of modern, hymnal and popular songs kept the audience interested and involved. To select pieces as highlights is difficult but for me our rendering of My Lord What a Morning with such delicate soft and controlled singing is a favourite and our energetic delivery of Shine, Anthem and We Rise Again are always a pleasure. Someone from the church mentioned that our performance of Ar Hyd y Nos (All Through the Night) was beautiful – most gratifying. The GentleMen gave tight performances of five popular culture songs which were well received.

Although a small church and our staging position was both congested and unusual everyone felt comfortable and performed with their usual enthusiasm and skill making for a lovely, varied and wholesome sound. The half time refreshments of soft drinks and cakes provided by the church members was enjoyed by audience and choir alike. Overall, this was a lovely evening in a countryside setting imbued with the traditional English values of hospitality, community care and mutual support- increasingly rare in the wider population. Thanks are due to the care and welcome of the church members and of course to our music team and organisers for their work to arrange and manage the concert.

Further examples of connections – how about these. Our choir has strong associations with the Welsh association of Choirs and our recent South Wales tour was well received by the host choirs. We sang in Welsh (Ar Hyd y Nos) , sang Welsh hymns (Cwm Rhondda and Llanfair) in St Katherine’s Church which was the family church of the Earls of Carnarvon. The 5th Earl of Carnarvon in 1922 commissioned and financed the work of Howard Carter who discovered the tomb of the Egyptian King Tutankahmun and as stated above, St Katherine’s church is dedicated to an Egyptian martyred princess. Coincidences I’m sure, but interesting nevertheless.

We had been looking forward to our 2025 trip, all arranged by our Concert Manager Lynden Lowe, to the home of male voice choirs, South Wales. It is certain that singing together brings choirs together – what I mean is, that both Chepstow and Cor Meibion de Cymru (South Wales Male Voice Choir) were colleague choirs at the Royal Albert Hall in May 2024 and Pembroke and District Male Voice Choir are a choir with whom we have staged joint concerts and reciprocal visits over many years. It is these occasions that make for great links and collaboration and thus. three concerts in South Wales which otherwise would not have happened with such warmth and mutual respect by each choir. It feels like a brotherhood when old friends meet to share the glorious sound of male voices, but it can also be measured by the effort each of our hosts put in to looking after us. The hospitality and overt friendliness of all three choirs made our visit to Wales a true Tour de Force. We departed in strength, fully practiced in our song choices and met with strength of friendship, vocal and conducting skill and seamless concert arrangements.

We began with a leisurely coach trip to Cardiff, checked into the very comfortable Clayton Hotel and enjoyed our first evening meal. The hotel did us proud for all our delicious meals, perfectly served on time in accordance with Lynden’s detailed planning. On Saturday, two local visits were enjoyed by everyone, one group visited the Royal Mint and another group took a harbour boat trip around Cardiff Bay with time for sampling the delights of Mermaid Quay.

Our first concert was in All Saints Church in Penarth which was initially built between 1889 and 1891, later rebuilt in 1926 after a fire, then again in 1954 after suffering damage during the Blitz. It was a wonderful setting for not only our two male voice choirs but a superb young soloist Ethan Hartley and brother and sister violinists Megan and Rhys Cook. Directed by Elaine Robbins and the very accomplished accompanist Sian Davies, Cor Meibion de Cymru, true to their roots and name, beautifully performed five Welsh standards, in Welsh, and it was a pleasure to hear the contrasts in dynamics and tempo. Ethan Hartley was simply brilliant, his diction, timing and sense of occasion had everyone mesmerized whilst our Mansfield choir presented an audience pleasing mix of male voice classics, popular modern songs and a great performance of the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Medley. This brought light and fun to the whole concert which was followed by a buffet and an afterglow sing in the local Conservative Club.

Travelling to Pembroke was like a day trip to the seaside. We were met by our old friends Pembroke and District Male Voice Choir and the newly elected mayor of Pembroke Councillor Gareth Jones. A most welcome meal preceded a wonderful concert in Saint Nicholas and St. John’s church in which both choirs, along with The Gentlemen (an octet from within the Mansfield choir) presented a lovely balanced range of songs. The finale pieces My Lord What a Morning and You’ll Never Walk Alone never disappoint and were sung with sensitivity and gusto in equal measure. The quality of performance suited the church on the south bank of the Milford Haven Waterway with its medieval origins linked to Monkton Priory which was founded in the 11th century. The group photograph clearly shows the integration, friendliness and respect afforded each choir and the afterglow was truly amazing. We were treated to a fabulous buffet enhanced by truly remarkable joint singing. The host of the pub did a marvelous job. Here is a facebook from David Powell of the Pembroke Choir which captures the sheer pleasure we all enjoyed.
“What a full day, absolutely brilliant! Massive thank you Mansfield and District Choir, for blessing us with your voices, thanks also goes out to Pembroke Town hall staff, the Mayor Cllr Gareth Jones, Reverend Heidi Monkton Priory Church, Tory and your team for the beautiful spread you put on both at Lunch and after the concert, last but not least Tony and staff Pembroke Power Station club where we rounded off a beautiful memorable day.

On the way home we were invited to join Chepstow Male Voice Choir for an afternoon concert in the Drill Hall. Once again, we were enthusiastically welcomed and both choirs gave of their best including a set from Chepstow to mark the 80th VE day celebrations of 8th May. Most fitting and enjoyed by the audience who joined in where appropriate.. A facebook posting from Chepstow reported “What a treat of an afternoon for all who attended our concert in a packed Drill Hall yesterday. Two choirs with over 50 male voices performing a full and varied programme to an appreciative audience, which included Chepstow’s deputy mayor. Many thanks to all audience members for supporting us, to Mansfield and District Choir for visiting, and singing with us, and everyone in the Chepstow Male Voice Choir Team who work so hard to make these events successful. THANK YOU!! Tired and replete following another super buffet we boarded the coach at 7pm to travel 3 hours home.

The post tour comments we share via facebook and What’s App can be summarised as “We didn’t want it to end”. This was a well organised, well-conducted and musically diverse range of concerts which was enjoyed by every one of our choir members and guests. The choral, directing, accompanying and organisational skill involved could not really have been improved. This was a superb trip and thanks are due to the hosting choirs for their work in making all the local concert arrangements, to our musical team, Ian and Maureen, Lynden our organiser, Kevin the coach driver from Vallances coaches and to each and every chorister because without your efforts and dedication it really would not have happened.
A true four-day Tour de Force!