Category: News

Mario Curtis, one of our long serving second tenors, coined this phrase from the opening song of our first concert of 2025, Christus Salvator, to describe the concert held at The Hill Methodist Church in Kirkby in Ashfield. Our choir was ready for this spring event having ensconced ourselves in learning new pieces for the first three months of the year but none of us expected the sheer heights of performance and pleasure we all experienced as we and the audience witnessed a treat – a real treat. Through Wesley Pierpoint , another second tenor, Lynden Lowe, our Concert Manager arranged for us to be joined by “Novadi” (meaning counties), the Latvian Ladies choir from Mansfield and both choirs gave their bodies, souls and spirits to the songs and the performance.
Led by Helmuts Feldmanis, Novadi’s, 15 ladies gave a mellifluous performance not only of songs in their national language but also in Latin. Whilst, of course, the Latvian language was alien to all in the male voice choir and the audience it was absolutely spellbinding to hear the wonderful close harmonies achieved by the ladies through the skilled arrangements developed and conducted by Helmuts. My favourites were “If I Were” and “Sunrise” in the first half and the “Sanctus” in the second half.

As for the Mansfield & District Male Voice Choir, well, we included, for the first time, a seven-minute-long medley of songs from the film “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” which has taken some concentrated work to learn but boy, did it pay off. The audience were cheering, whooping and applauding with genuine delight as we sang the last few bars and our smiles at a job well done were a pleasure to behold. Well done to Ian Grice, MD, for selecting this piece which neatly fits into our expanding repertoire. We also performed “Anthem” and “Three Times A Lady” for the first time and the audience enjoyed these as much as the male voice standards of “Llanfair” and “Gwahoddiad.” I must mention the concert favourite “Shine” which always seems to uplift the audience, Mario and Dan Hayes (1st Tenor) performed and acted solo descant in this piece which just blew us away. Again, cheers, whoops and extended applause was heard from the audience.
The two songs that were chosen to close the first and second half were “Lord, I Need You” and “You Raise Me Up”. The blend of male and female voices was so harmonious and delicate as were skilfully directed by Helmuts and Ian respectively. Have a look at our Facebook page to hear these two haunting performances with the expert piano accompaniment by Maureen.

It is incumbent upon me to thank several people who made this concert such a delight. For arranging the concert Lynden Lowe, for directing us Helmuts and Ian, for accompanying us Maureen and Marcis, for hosting us the Team at The Hill Methodist Church, for filming and photographing us Katia, and for providing a wonderful buffet and welcome, the ladies of the Mansfield and District Male Voice Choir Supporters’ Group.

During the last 16 years since Mick Tunney (Baritone) has been a member of the choir, we have had some wonderful concerts and memories.
None, for Mick, can surpass his involvement in The National Lottery Big Night of the Musicals held at the Manchester AO Arena on 27th January and broadcast by BBC 1 on Sunday 23rd March 2025 and hosted by Jason Manford.

Mick also belongs to the actor, Vicky McClure’s, Our Dementia Choir which began as part of a documentary created for BBC1 in 2018.
Vicky formed a choir of people all living with dementia in her hometown of Nottingham to see whether music can make a measurable difference in their lives in 2018. The result: Our Dementia Choir having the firm belief in the incredible power of music to bring happiness, connection, and comfort to those affected by dementia. The choir is more than just a singing group; it’s a secure space where the therapeutic effects of music extend beyond the boundaries of memory. The musical leadership of Mark De-Lisser and Daniela Smith (the daughter of our choir Chairman, Geoff Hursthouse who also supports Mick in the Dementia Choir) brings to life one of their mottoes “Music is Medicine”

Mick proudly took to the stage, with Geoff in support, to join the famous singer, actor and presenter Michael Ball in the fabulous Big Night of the Musicals Show to sing “The Impossible Dream” from the musical Man of La Mancha delivering a superb performance that had everyone wiping their eyes in marvel and pride. After the song Jason and Michael interviewed one of the choir members – guess who, “our Mick” who added to the light and pleasure of the event.

At choir practice on Tuesday 25th March Ian Grice just asked Mick to step up the front next to the conductor’s rostrum and no one needed to say a word, the applause, cheers and support for Mick was spontaneous, deafening and genuine. What a star! His only comment was “ I haven’t actually seen the programme yet!”. We are blessed to have such love and friendship pervading our choir.

Mick is 4th left on the front row next to Michael Ball with the microphone and Geoff is behind him, 5th left on the back row.
Well done and thank you gentlemen, not only for the performance, but the compassion you demonstrate for others in both the Dementia Choir and the Mansfield and District Male Voice Choir.

All the way through the funeral mass for our esteemed colleague, Tommy Dillon (2nd tenor with 41 years membership), I kept thinking of the fifth verse of the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament “The meek shall inherit the earth” It is the third verse of the Sermon on the Mount and the third Beatitude. The phrase “inherit the earth is similar to “theirs is the kingdom of Heaven” also in Matthew 5.3. Of all the people I have met in life I cannot think of many who personify these phrases. Tom was a “good” man. He was never materialistic, always considerate of others, caring and kind. The family tribute written by his daughter Maureen and read by Martin, his nephew, shone out with love and recognition of his unassuming nature and in consequence the high regard and respect with which he was held in the community, his church and naturally our choir. His meek (not weak) nature will surely grant him his place in the Kingdom of Heaven.

What an age! Tom lived to be 101 and choir members recall with fondness going to the home of Maureen and husband John to sing for his 100th birthday. He truly appreciated the gesture and his eyes lit up with pleasure as we sang. The performance of the choir, at this most respectful funeral, was magical, imbued with affection and conviction as we sang Gwahoddiad, Morte Criste and two of Tom’s favourites ; You’ll Never Walk Alone and The Rose. Carefully managed and so appropriate, was the laying of single roses by a procession of mourners, instead of a large memorial wreath, as we sang The Rose. Simply beautiful. We had to smile as the roses were placed next to a jar of marmalade and a small Paddington Bear on the top of the coffin, clearly of importance to Tom.

Tom joined the choir in 1978 and sang with a strong 2nd Tenor voice. He was choir librarian between 1984 and 2002 and appeared in promotional video we published in 2014 – please search on YouTube. He gave diligent service to all the roles in his life, many can remember him as the caretaker at All Saints School, and many can remember his small acts of kindness and fellowship, too numerous to mention.
He was devoted to his wife Doreen who predeceased him by 33 months and his children and grandchildren. Although small in stature, Tom was a giant in character – a good man, sorely missed.